Joseph Mascolo (born March 13, 1929) is an American actor and soap opera veteran.
He was born in and lived in West Hartford, Connecticut in his early life. He then went onto the University of Miami , with a full scholarship and then West Point Academy. He was originally training in Classical Music.
Mascolo appeared in the 1978 film Jaws 2 as a member of the city council who confronted Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) when the Chief brought forth the underwater photograph of what he believed was another shark. He also played a police detective in the Burt Reynolds feature Sharky's Machine.
Mascolo is known as Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives from 1982 to 1985, returning briefly in 1988, and from 1993 to 2001 and then again from 2007 to 2008. He returned again to show in August 2008. He has also played a wide range of roles on many different series including (but not limited to) a Stefano-like villain named Domino (Nicholas Van Buren) on General Hospital, Carlos Alvarez on Santa Barbara. Before achieving his fame, he previously performed in the earlier soap operas Where the Heart Is and From These Roots. He made primetime television appearances on All in the Family, Lou Grant and The Rockford Files.
He played the character of Massimo Marone on CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful beginning August 2001. He decided not to renew his contract with the show in July 2006 due to lack of storyline and decided to return to Days of our Lives, where his character Stefano DiMera was resurrected after six years.
