Joe DiMaggio – Biography, Net Worth, Parents, Death and Cause of Death

Quick Facts

Joe DiMaggio otherwise known as ‘Joltin Joe’ was an American baseball superstar who competed as a center fielder in the Major League Baseball. He completed his 13-year professional career with the New York Yankees. As a player, Joe was named All-Star thirteen times consecutively and was equally a three-time MVP of the MLB finals. Amazingly, Joe was regarded as baseball’s greatest player of all time and was enrolled in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. Also, DiMaggio garnered fame through his marriage to the iconic American actress .

Joe Dimaggio’s Biography

Born as Joseph Paul DiMaggio on the 25th day of November 1914, Joe was born in Martinez, California in the United States. He is the son of Rosalia and her husband Giuseppe DiMaggio who were Italian immigrants to the United States. During his childhood days, Joe attended Galileo High School but dropped out prior to his graduation. Afterward, he started doing odd jobs while playing baseball in their neighborhood.

While he was still playing with local teams, his elder brother Vince DiMaggio who played for the San Francisco Seals of the Minor League helped to recruit Joe to his team where he started playing the shortstop position. Joining the team, Joe made his first appearance in October 1932. Two years later, the player had a career-threatening knee injury. While recovering from the injury, the New York Yankees of the Major League sought for his service and later signed him up with a contract of $50,000.

Joe DiMaggio made his first appearance in the Major League Baseball in 1936. Joining the Yankees, Joe played the center fielder position for the team and throughout his thirteen-year professional stint with the team, he led the team to win nine World Championship Series and ten American League Championships. He won the league’s most valuable player award three times and was named All-Star for thirteen seasons. Joe ended his professional career in 1951 and found his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame four years later in 1955.

Joe Dimaggio’s Net Worth

The baseball legend Joe DiMaggio played professionally for the New York Yankees for thirteen seasons before his retirement in 1951. Following his exceptional playing style, Joe was able to establish himself as one of the greatest players that ever played in the league. He also earned a huge fortune from his career and his net worth is penned at $50 million. He got his wealth from his baseball career, adverts, and other endorsements.

Parents and Wife

Just like we earlier stated, Joe DiMaggio was born to Italian immigrants to the United States. While in the US, Joe’s parents Rosalia and Giuseppe were among the thousands of Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants that were tagged ‘enemy aliens’ by the US Government. This was as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy in 1941.

After the attack, each immigrant was required to carry their photo identity booklets at all times. His father was also stopped from fishing at the San Francisco Bay and his boat was seized. In 1944, Rosalia got her US citizenship and the following year, Giuseppe equally became a US citizen. Amazingly, Joe was not the only child of his parents; he had eight other siblings out of which two, Dom and Vince also played baseball professionally. His father passed on in 1949 while his mother also died two years later in 1951.

Joe DiMaggio married twice; his first marriage was to Dorothy Arnold, an American actress. The pair first saw each other in January 1937 and seeing the connection between them, they started a romantic relationship. Two years later, they walked down the aisle in a wedding ceremony held in San Francisco in 1939. The couple had a son named Joseph DiMaggio III, born on 23rd October 1941. The couple got divorced three years later in 1944.

After their divorce, Joe went on to marry the popular American actress and model Marilyn Monroe. The pair had a catastrophic relationship; they were married at some point in 1954 and divorced nine months later. Marilyn was later found dead in her Brentwood mansion in August 1962. Joe and Marilyn didn’t have any kids from their relationship.

Also Read: 

Death and Cause of Death

While Joe DiMaggio was very young, he was a chain smoker and during his old age, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was later taken to the Memorial Regional Hospital situated in Hollywood, Florida where he had a cancer surgery in October 1998. After the session, Joe remained in the hospital for 99 days. When he returned to his mansion in Hollywood, he gave up the ghost two months later. His death occurred on the 8th day of March 1999. He was buried three days later at Holy Cross Cemetry in Colma, California. Sadly, a few months after his death, his son also died in August that year at the age of 57.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.