American retired actor Joe Penny was born 68 years ago as Joseph Edward Penny Jr in Uxbridge, London and is married.
Although Joe was born in the UK, he was brought up in the state of Georgia in the USA, and later moved with his mum to California, following his parents’ divorce. There he attended a public high school and used to play basketball as well as football.
His first acting debut was in 1977 in a minor role in a satirical soap opera where he appeared in 8 episodes. For the rest of the 70s, Joe starred in other TV series like ‘CHiPs’ and ‘Lou Grant’, TV movies and the drama film ‘Our Winning Season’.
Joe proceeded with his career and appeared in numerous TV films and series. He gained popularity when in 1984 he was offered the leading role of detective Nick Ryder in the then-famous series ‘Riptide’ alongside actors Perry King and Thom Bray, appearing in a total of 56 episodes. The year after ‘Riptide’ ended, Joe got another leading role, again as a detective, this time in the crime drama series ‘Jake and the Fatman’, interpreting the character of Jake Styles, also starring William Conrad. This series had a total of 106 episodes and ran for 5 years, ending in 1992.
During the 90s, Penny appeared mostly in TV films such as ‘Terror in the Night’, ‘Young at Heart’ and ‘Stranger in my Home’. In the next decade, Joe starred in all 9 made-for-TV mystery films of the series ‘Jane Doe’ alongside actress Lea Thompson, released between 2005 and 2008.
Afterwards, Joe continued acting until 2016, his last appearance being in the feature film ‘The Last Night Inn’.
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