Joe Longo

Joseph "Joe" Anthony Longo  was, as member of the art department, the property master on , , the first five seasons of  and all seven seasons of . On The Next Generation he shared this occupation in a weekly rotation with Alan Sims. Longo was interviewed on  about the props of the shows first season for the DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Alien Artifacts: Season One" (originally a segment from the 1993 documentary Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes). In 1996, Longo was interviewed by Syfy for the The Making of Star Trek Deep Space Nine Trials And Tribble-ations documentary.

Upon first meeting Longo, he was often perceived by his fellow Star Trek production staffers as a curmudgeon, which soon enough turned out to be a false impression as Production Illustrator John Eaves, for example, recalled upon the occasion of his passing away, "When I was hired onto DS9 for season 4, Joe was the guy I was to work with. Our first meeting was in the art department and he came across as a grumpy, old rough and tough kinda guy. I thought that I'll never make this guy happy with anything I draw. Needless to say when I took the first group of designs to the production meeting, he was overly happy. Under the rough exterior he was a real sweetheart and we became good friends right away. He had hundreds of stories of working on The Munsters and everything in between, and knew of all kinds of secrets about the Paramount lot. He was a great man and knew his craft well. I will miss him dearly and I so loved the days working with dear Joe Longo." 

Longo was honored by SkyBox International with an individual card entry, no. 12, in their 1993 specialty Star Trek: The Next Generation - Behind the Scenes trading card set. A source of pride, his family used SkyBox' layout design as a template for the cover of the memorial program on the occasion of his memorial services. 

Over the years, Longo had accumulated a considerable amount of production items stemming from his Star Trek years. Nevertheless, after his death, his next of kin decided to have his collection auctioned off and consigned the commission to Alec Peters's auction house Propworx. Peters decided to spread the sale over three auctions in 2015, as Longo's collections was augmented with those of former Star Trek visual effects supervisors Gary Hutzel and Ronald B. Moore, the first of which being the Star Trek Auction IV of 21 February 2015.

Career 
Born in Collinwood, Cleveland, Ohio to Charles and Charlene Longo, he graduated from the Van Nuys High School in 1958. Between 1962 and 1964 he served in the US Navy as aircraft carrier engineer apprentice aboard the USS Ticonderoga. After leaving the Navy in 1964, Longo started working in craft service at Universal Studios and later moved to IATSE Local 44 as prop master for Paramount Pictures. 

The by Eaves mentioned 1964 CBS spoof horror television series The Munsters, was actually Longo's first gainful employment in the motion picture industry, but his start was less than auspicious as he once related to Scenic Artist Doug Drexler, "Joe told me an amusing anecdote about his first job at Universal where he started out with craft services in the 60′s. Not sure what to do with the the young Longo on his first day at work, his boss handed him a broom and told to clean up the soundstage. Joe was determined to make a good impression, and cleaned that danged stage from top to bottom. It was very dusty, and literally filled with cobwebs, but Joe made it sparkle. Unfortunately it was the Munster house, and was supposed to be dusty and full of cob webs! 40 years later and we are still laughing about it! Here’s to Joe, one of the most fun guys I got to work with!" 
 
Besides Star Trek, Longo was the property master on the television drama The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd (1980), the television series Tucker's Witch (1982, starring Catherine Hicks and Alfre Woodard), and the television mini series If Tomorrow Comes (1986). Prior to this he served as art department lead man on the science fiction thriller Capricorn One (1977). In 2000 he appeared in the television documentary Shooting War on which he also worked as consultant.

Other projects he worked on include the drama Paint Your Wagon (1969), the comedy Paper Moon (1973), the science fiction film Coma (1978, starring Genevieve Bujold), the television drama The Jesse Owens Story (1984), the comedy Summer Rental (1985), and the television comedy A Very Brady Christmas (1988). Longo also worked on the television series Bonanza, The Munsters, Mannix, Love American Style, and Happy Days.

Longo passed away on 5 January 2014 in Yucaipa, California. He is leaving behind his wife Paula Longo, children Jill and Alexis, and grand child Dylan Lewis.

Star Trek credits 
 
  (Season 1)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 2)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 3)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  – 2nd Unit Property Master (uncredited)
 
  (Season 5)
 
 
 
 
  (uncredited)
 
 
  (uncredited)
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 6)
 
  (Season 1)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 2)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 3)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 5)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 6)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Season 7)

Star Trek interviews 
 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes, documentary (1993)
 reissued as "Alien Artifacts: Season One" special feature on DS9 Season 1 DVD (2003)
 The Making of Star Trek Deep Space Nine Trials And Tribble-ations, documentary (1996)
 "Joe Longo Propery Master", Larry Nemecek, , August 1999, pp. 51-53

External links 
 
 
 
 

es:Joe Longo
Art department