John Aprea, an actor who said his greatest career accomplishment was playing young Salvatore in 1974’s “The Godfather Part II,” died August 15 of unspecified causes. He was 83.
His friend and former co-star Paul Carafotes, author of the children’s book “The Adventures of Charlie Bubbles!,” announced Aprea’s death on Instagram late Saturday, writing, “I just heard that my old pal, friend Actor, father, husband, brother. Passed away 8/15/2024 We had lots of laughs. We met on the set of CBS television show Knots Landing, 1987 Over 40 years ago. Many will miss this man! Rest old friend. I’ll see you on the other side PC.”
He included a flashback photo and a more recent image, showing himself with Aprea in Aprea’s hospital bed.
Born March 4, 1941, in Englewood, New Jersey, Aprea was a first-generation Italian-American who studied business before exploring a long-suppressed desire to act. He studied acting with blacklisted Actors Studio member Joshua Shelley, making his film debut in Steve McQueen’s 1968 action film “Bullitt.”
He was rarely out of work after that, working both on TV and in the movies.
Of his most famous work, he said in a 2020 interview, “[‘The Godfather II’] is one of the best films ever made. Each time it comes on television, I tell myself, ‘I’m not going to see it again,’ but before I know it, I’ve watched every minute of it. Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo wrote an amazing screenplay.”
As young Salvatore Tessio — Abe Vigoda played the older version — his performance set him up to play mob figures many times over, but he enjoyed dramatic and comedic roles, and found his longest-running gig as Lucas Castigliano on more than 400 episodes of the soap “Another World” (1989-1998).
His other prominent TV roles were on “The Gangster Chronicles” (1981), as Lt. Vince Novelli on “Matt Houston” (1982-1984), as Sheriff North on “Falcon Crest” (1987), as Manny Vasquez on “Knots Landing” (1988), as Lionel Wakefield on “American Heiress” (2007), and playing the dad of John Stamos’ character on both “Full House” (1988-1991) and “Fuller House” (2017).
Other films included “The Seven-Ups” (1973), “Caged Heat” (1974), “The Stepford Wives” (1975), “Crazy Mama” (1975), “The Idolmaker” (1980), “Dead Man on Campus” (1998), and “The Manchurian Candidate” (2004).
More recently, Aprea had a recurring role on “The Bay” (2020-2023).
Divorced twice, he is survived by his daughter.
