Joe Spano was a member of the San Francisco improv group The Wing, and in college debuted as Paris in a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1967. In 1968, he helped found the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, appearing in its first production, and stayed with the company for 10 years. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1970s, landing guest shots on TV and bit roles in American Graffiti (1973) and The Enforcer (1976/I).