Joseph Bologna (born December 30, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor.

He is of Italian descent and was raised Roman Catholic.

The actor has a long history in film and television. His breakthrough film, Lovers and Other Strangers, written with his wife Renée Taylor, was based on the true-life circumstances of organizing a wedding on short notice with the involvement of his Italian extended family and Renee's Jewish clan. Several relatives performed as extras in the final cut. A year later, in 1971, the couple again collaborated to write and perform in the movie Made for Each Other.

Bologna stayed close with his old-neighborhood aunts and uncles after becoming successful. Two of them were slightly famous on their own: his Uncle Pat was "Blacky the Bootblack", whom Joseph Kennedy credited as his main influence when he sold all of his stock holdings in the summer of 1929 (the market crashed in October) and his aunt Pauline was one of the best-known chefs to the stars, working for Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynolds and many other luminaries.

A decade later, Bologna's aunt Pauline chastised him for starring in the nudity-filled Blame it on Rio co-starring Michael Caine. Bologna replied, "Blame it on me, it's the last time I invite Aunt Pauline to a film premiere." Bologna's other best-known film role is that of temperamental 1950s television star Stan "King" Kaiser in the 1982 comedy hit My Favorite Year, starring Peter O'Toole.

He is married to the actress Renee Taylor, with whom he has a son, Gabriel Bologna. Taylor and Bologna have also co-starred on stage and on TV. Bologna played a love interest for his real-life wife in the "Maternal Affairs" episode of the CBS sitcom The Nanny, in which Taylor plays Syliva, the already-married mother of Fran Drescher's character.

Before signing with director Stanley Donen to play Michael Caine (I)'s libidinous best friend in Blame It on Rio (1984), Joe Bologna netted rave reviews for his Sid Caesar send-up in the well-received comedy My Favorite Year (1982) with 'Peter OToole (I). Well known as both a writer and an actor, Bologna dates his interest in the theater from his student days at Brown University, when a casting notice called for "non-actor" types to fill roles in a stage production of "Stalag 17." He landed the leading part but did not act again for ten years. Bologna graduated from Brown with a degree in art history, and a tour with the Marines followed. When he was discharged from the service, he started directing short films and writing special comedy material. "A monologue is the hardest thing in the world to write, because you're only as good as your last joke," explains Bologna. "That's why comedians are so neurotic." Bologna made his Broadway debut as the star and co-author of the comedy smash "Lovers and Other Strangers." Together with his wife Renée Taylor, he wrote and starred in Made for Each Other (1971). His other film credits include roles in Cops and Robbers (1973), Honor Thy Father (1973) (TV), Big Bus, The (1976) and Chapter Two (1979). He also co-starred with Taylor in the Emmy-winning television special "Acts of Love and Other Comedies," which they wrote together, and then starred in the made-for-television movie Torn Between Two Lovers (1979) (TV) with Lee Remick, before reuniting with Taylor in the critically acclaimed Broadway hit "It Had To Be You." From there it was back to television for the CBS TV movie One Cooks, the Other Doesn't (1983) (TV) with Suzanne Pleshette. In 1991 he starred with Matt LeBlanc in "Top of the Heap" (1991), a spin-off from the hit series _"Married... with Children" (1987)_, but it didn't click with audiences the way "MWC" did and was canceled rather quickly.