Joe Conley was born in Buffalo, New York. He started acting after returning from military service in Korea, and ran real-estate companies on the side. He was married to and divorced from Jacqueline Stakes, with whom he had two children. He married Louise Teecher in 1969 and had two children with her. He is probably most remembered for the part of storekeeper "Ike Godsey" in The Waltons opposite Ronnie Claire Edwards, who portrayed the bossy wife Corabeth Walton Godsey. In 2009, Conley published his autobiography, "Ike Godsey of Walton's Mountain".
