Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III (born December 31, 1948) is an American actor and Warhol superstar.

Rolling Stone magazine declared Dallesandro's second starring film Trash (1970) as the "Best Film of the Year", making him a star of the youth culture, sexual revolution, and subcultural New York City art collective in the early 1970s.

Having returned to the United States, he also crossed over into mainstream roles such as mobster Lucky Luciano in the film The Cotton Club (1984).

Joe Dallessandro was born on December 31, 1948 in Pensacola, Florida, to Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro II, who was in the U.S. Navy.

[4] He became aggressive and repeatedly ran away from his foster home until his father finally relented and allowed Joe to live with him.

[4] At age 13, Dallesandro and his brother moved to Queens, New York to live with their paternal grandparents and their father.

Dallessandro managed to escape being caught by police, but was later arrested when his father took him to the hospital for his gunshot wound.

[9] Dallesandro began working at the Factory as Warhol's bodyguard, general factotum, and occasional actor.

"[11] After starring in Trash (1970), Dallesandro's underground fame began to cross over into the popular culture and he was viewed as a sex symbol.

[11] New York Times film critic Vincent Canby wrote of him: "His physique is so magnificently shaped that men as well as women become disconnected at the sight of him.

"[12] Newsday film critic Jerry Parker wrote that "Joe Dallesandro, who is a mere 21 is to Andy Warhol what Clark Gable once was to Louis B.

[13] According to Dallesandro, Francis Ford Coppola wanted him to screen test for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972).

[8] However, the offer fell through when Warhol told Coppola's entourage that Dallesandro was a drug addict.

[8] After his return to the U.S. in 1979, he resided in a trailer park close to Seattle with his estranged mother and indulged in excessive drinking.

He had roles in Critical Condition (1987) opposite Richard Pryor, Sunset (1988) with Bruce Willis and James Garner, Cry-Baby (1990) with Johnny Depp, Guncrazy (1992) with Drew Barrymore, and Steven Soderbergh's 1999 film The Limey.

The film was based on Lommel's own biography and partly on Dallesandro's memories of the period during which he worked with Andy Warhol.