Joe was born on July 1st 1962 in New York City. He is the son of Sonia and Abraham (Rem) Dolinsky. When he was younger he wanted to play profession baseball. He once tried out for the St Louis Cardinals. As time flew by that dream faded. He bounced around from college major to college major until he realized that acting gave him the same thrill that sports did, so he decided to study theater. He attended the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida and earned his BA in Fine Arts, Theater.