papp was born as "joseph papirofsky" in the brooklyn borough of new york city, the son of yetta (née miritch), a seamstress, and samuel papirofsky, a trunkmaker. his parents were jewish immigrants from russia. (the 2010 documentary film "joe papp in five acts" says his mother was a lithuanian jew, and his father a polish jew.) he was a high school student of harlem renaissance playwright eulalie spence.