Sarno was born in 1921 and grew up in Amityville on Long Island.

Sarno, a pioneer of the sexploitation film genre, completed his first adult-oriented feature, Nude in Charcoal, in 1961. Among his best-known films in the genre are Sin in the Suburbs (1964, which was about wife swapping), Flesh and Lace, The Swap and How They Made It (1966, in which his wife appeared), and Moonlighting Wives (1966). Sarno’s work of the sexploitation period was typified by stark chiaroscuro lighting, long takes, and rigorous staging. He was also well known for scenarios centering on issues of psycho-sexual anxiety and sexual identity development.

Beginning in 1968, Sarno’s work became somewhat more explicit, predicting the emergence of soft-core. His breakthrough feature Inga (1968) was one of the first X-rated films released in the United States. Other noteworthy soft-core features include Vibrations (1968), Passion in Hot Hollows (1969), Daddy, Darling (1970), Young Playthings (1972), Confessions of a Young American Housewife (1974, which was about foursomes), and Misty (1975). Sarno was also the director of Deep Throat Part 2 (1974), the R-rated sequel to the hardcore classic Deep Throat.

After 1968, Sarno’s soft-core work was divided between films produced in the United States and films produced in Europe, principally Sweden, Germany, and Denmark. Many of Sarno’s European features were made with American backing. In Europe, he was known for having worked with actresses Marie Liljedahl, Christina Lindberg, Helli Louise, and Marie Forså.

Sarno died of natural causes on April 26, 2010 at the age of 89 in his native New York City.

Virgile Iscan interviewed Joe Sarno and his wife shortly before Sarno’s death in 2010. The interviews appear in Iscan’s documentary The Divine Joe Sarno.