Joseph John Santos (née Minieri Jr.; June 9, 1931 – March 18, 2016) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Police Sgt. (later Lt.) Dennis Becker on the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–80), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
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Early life and education
Santos was born Joseph Minieri Jr. to Italian American parents in Brooklyn on June 9, 1931. He was born the same day his father died. His mother Rose (née Sarno), sold olive oil and eventually became a nightclub owner and singer in New York City and Havana. She later married Puerto Rican singer Daniel Santos, and Joe took his name. Santos' cousin was sexploitation filmmaker Joseph W. Sarno, who would go on to give him some of his earliest film roles.
During the Korean War, Santos served in the United States Army. He was a football player at Fordham University, and even turned semi-pro, before finding a new avenue in acting. He struggled in show business, and worked blue-collar jobs until his friend Al Pacino helped him get a role in the 1971 movie The Panic in Needle Park.
Career
Film
Santos had roles in a number of notable films of the early 1970s, including The Panic in Needle Park (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), as the leader of a slave-catching posse in the western The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972), Shaft's Big Score! (1972), as a policeman in Shamus (1973), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Don Is Dead (1973), Blade (1973) and Zandy's Bride (1974).
More than two decades later he appeared in the big budget Kevin Costner flop, The Postman (1997).
Television
From 1974 to 1980, Santos played LAPD Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Dennis Becker, the friend of the easy-going private investigator Jim Rockford (played by James Garner) in The Rockford Files. The role earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1979. He reprised the Dennis Becker role in eight The Rockford Files television movies (1994-1999).
He portrayed Lt. Frank Harper in the TV series Hardcastle and McCormick (1985–86).
Santos appeared in various television movies during the 1970s and 1980s, including Nightside (1973), The Blue Knight (1973), The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974), A Matter of Wife... and Death (1975), Power (1980), The Hustler of Muscle Beach (1980), The Selling of Vince D'Angelo (1983), and The Ratings Game (1984). His character was often a police detective or lieutenant. He portrayed Marty Sinatra, Frank's father, in the four-part 1992 television miniseries Sinatra.
In 1980, Santos played Norman Davis in the short-lived (10 episodes) NBC comedy Me and Maxx. In 1984, he portrayed Domingo Rivera on the ABC comedy a.k.a. Pablo, which was cancelled after six episodes.
Santos made guest appearances on television shows throughout his acting career, including Room 222, Toma, Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, Kung Fu, Baretta, Lou Grant, Police Story (in 8 episodes), Black Sheep Squadron, Trapper John, M.D. , The Greatest American Hero, Hill Street Blues (in 3 episodes), The A-Team, Remington Steele, T. J. Hooker, Hardcastle and McCormick (in 10 episodes), MacGyver (in 2 episodes), Magnum P.I. (in 5 episodes), Murder, She Wrote (in 2 episodes), Miami Vice, Quantum Leap, Santa Barbara (in 5 episodes), Hunter (in 2 episodes), and NYPD Blue.
From 1978 to 1980 he appeared on the CBS game show Match Game, always sitting in the top left seat.
Santos also appeared on The Sopranos as Angelo Garepe in seven 2004 episodes.
Personal life
In 1958, Santos met and married Maria Montero while he was in Cuba. They were married 30 years until her death in 1988.
Death
Santos died in Santa Monica, California on March 18, 2016, two days after suffering a heart attack at the age of 84.
Filmography
Television
1972: Room 222 — Season 4 Episode 6 "The Imposter" as Manny Galvez
1973: The Blue Knight — Sgt. Cruz Segovia
1973: Police Story Season 1 Episodes 12 - 13 "Countdown" — Det. Sally Pickel
1974–80: The Rockford Files — Sgt. (later Lt. in Season 5) Becker (recurring), also in 8 subsequent TV-movies (1994–99)
1975: A Matter of Wife... and Death — Lt. Promuto
1978: Black Sheep Squadron — CPO Miller Timmons (one episode)
1978-80: Match Game — Himself (multiple episodes)
1974: Kung Fu Season 3 Episode 52 "A Lamb to the Slaughter" — Señor Sanjero
1983: The Greatest American Hero — Season 3 Episode 8 "Space Ranger" as Henry Fletchner
1984: a.k.a. Pablo — Domingo Rivera (6 Episodes)
1984: Remington Steele — Alf Nussman
1984 Hunter - Season 1 Episode 3 "The Hot Grounder" as Det. Ortega
1985–86: Hardcastle and McCormick — Lt. Frank Harper
1986–87: MacGyver — Jimmy 'The Eraser' Kendall (two episodes)
1987: Murder She Wrote—Episode "The Bottom Line Is Murder"—Joe Rinaldi
1986–88: Magnum, P.I. — Police Lt. Nolan (five episodes)
