The son of Mr. and Mrs. Alphonse Olivieri of Garfield, New Jersey, Joel attended Our Lady of Mount Virgin School before he moved to California with his mother and older brother.

[4] He began performing when at age 8 he sang a radio jingle for the local Yoo-hoo beverage company owned by his father.

[1] On television, Joel played Roy Strickland on The Betty Hutton Show, a situation comedy on CBS.

[8] Billed as Dennis Olivieri, he portrayed Stanley on The New People[9] and appeared in the made-for-TV film The Whole World Is Waiting.

[11] Joel's personal appearances included co-starring with Hutton in a variety show that ran for 10 weeks at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.