Joseph Bowen is originally from upstate New York, where he was first exposed to the theatre at 15 years old. Shortly after that he was doing summer stock and balancing his other obsession, music. He began playing the trumpet at 13, and began singing shorlty after.

After attending the Junior College of Albany, SUNY Binghamton and SUNY Albany, he moved to Boston, where he studied acting with members of Shakespeare & Co. and the American Repertory Theatre, as well as studying with master teacher Niels Miller. During the 11 years he spent in Boston, he played some of his favorite roles, among them Norman in The Boys Next Door, Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man, Teddy in Arsenic and Old Lace, Norman in Table Manners and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He also had the pleasure of appearing on stage several times with his wife, Lila M. Stromer.

In 1994, he moved to Chicago, where he is now a company member of ShawChicago and a member of the Chicago Chamber Choir. Since arriving in Chicago, he has worked in theatres throughout the Chicagoland area as well as around the country. Since moving to Chicago his credits include Sunday in the Park with George with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald and Michael Cerveris at the Ravinia Festival (directed by Lonny Price); Ragueneau in Cyrano de Bergerac and The Duke of York in Richard II (Playmakers Repertory Co., Chapel Hill, NC); Orisini-Rosenberg in Amadeus and Rev. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest (New Harmony Theatre); Pumblechook and Wemmick in the World Premiere musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke, VA); The Ghost of Christmas Present, Fezziwig and Charity Man in A Christmas Carol (Meadow Brook Theatre, Rochester, MI) and Lady Windermere's Fan, On the Rocks, Geneva, Back to Methuselah Fanny's First Play and Caesar and Cleopatra (ShawChicago). In addition, he has performed in countless readings and workshops.