NEW YORK, NY.- John Aprea, an actor who played crooks in “Godfather Part II” and other films, and later appeared briefly as the strict but loving father of a popular character on the sitcom “Full House,” died Aug. 5 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 83.
His manager, Will Levine, confirmed the death. No cause was given.
In “The Godfather Part II” (1974), the second installment of the mafia family trilogy, Aprea played a young version of Salvatore “Sal” Tessio, an earnest mobster.
Aprea had lost out to Al Pacino for the part of Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” (1972). But his turn as Tessio helped to launch his career.
“That was the credit, I think, that turned everything around,” he said in a 2019 interview with actor Clint Culp.
On several episodes of the hit ABC family sitcom “Full House,” which ran from 1987 to 1995, he played Nick Katsopolis, an exterminator and the father of John Stamos’ character Jesse Katsopolis, known as “Uncle Jesse.”
John Aprea was born March 4, 1941, in Englewood, New Jersey. For a few years, he moved with his family to Italy, where his parents were from, before they all moved back to New Jersey.
Aprea moved to New York in the 1960s to pursue an acting career before heading to Hollywood in 1968. His first break was playing a killer in the 1968 crime thriller “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen.
He was originally cast to be a look-alike of another actor in the film, Aprea said in the 2019 interview. But the crew found a stronger doppelgänger. Aprea was called in for his scene as filming was just wrapping up, he said.
Aprea’s other film credits include “The Stepford Wives,” a 1975 thriller set in Connecticut; “The Idolmaker,” a 1980 film based on the life of rock promoter and producer Bob Marcucci; “New Jack City,” a 1991 crime drama about urban violence; and “The Manchurian Candidate,” a 2004 remake of the 1962 political thriller.
He reprised his “Full House” role for the Netflix reboot, “Fuller House,” which ran from 2016 to 2020. And he appeared on popular shows like “NYPD Blue,” “CSI” and “The Sopranos."
Aprea is survived by his wife, Betsy Graci, and a daughter, Nicole, from a previous marriage to actress Ninon Aprea.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.
