Joseph Gerald Shea (/ʃeɪ/; September 20, 1919 – August 4, 2005) was an American law enforcement official who was a Special Agent for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
He was the third child in a family of four sons born to Frank Shea and his Irish-born wife, Alice Mary.
Shea joined the Army in 1942, after working at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Boston Navy Yard.
After his retirement, Shea moved to Kentucky, where he and his wife lived on a farm and visited St. Thomas each winter.
In the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, fictional character Carl Hanratty, portrayed by Tom Hanks, is loosely based on the relationship that Shea had with Frank Abagnale.