José de Udaeta was born in Barcelona on 27 May 1919 into an upper class family. He studied medicine, but secretly took dance lessons alongside his studies. He married Marta Font and together they had two sons, Alberto and Santiago, and five grandchildren. José carried out his first stage performances as a classical and modern dancer under an assumed name in order to evade his family's criticism of his chosen career. These first performances were the foundation of what to date has been a career spanning more than 50 years as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, castanet concert soloist and author. José de Udaeta died on 14 September 2009 in Barcelona.

José de Udaeta gave his well-known collection of castagnets in his lifetime to the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona in order to view them in that location.