He made a memorable impact in some of the most notable movies and TV shows of our day.
After confirmation from his manager Will Levine, it's been revealed that actor John Aprea passed away of natural causes in Los Angeles, California on Monday August 15th. He was 83 years old.
Aprea was born in New Jersey in 1941 to Italian immigrants. He spent time in his youth growing up in Italy before eventually returning to New Jersey. After completing school in the early 1960s, Aprea decided to pursue acting. He enrolled in acting classes in New York City before moving to Los Angeles.
He went on to land a role in the 1968 film Bullitt opposite Steve McQueen. He later found work on the 1970s TV series Mannix as well as the films The Grasshopper and Caged Heat.
One of his most well-known roles came when he met the legendary film director Franis Ford Coppola. The two first met when Aprea was bartending in Los Angeles. Initially, Aprea auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone in the first Godfather film. Although the part was given to Al Pacino, Coppola clearly didn't forget Aprea as he later cast him as the younger version of Abe Vigoda's character in The Godfather Part II.
Following his role in The Godfather sequel, Aprea had a lead role on the 1975 comedy series The Montefuscos. The show was focused on the weekly Sunday dinners of an Italian-American family living in Connecticut. Unfortunately, the show ended after just nine episodes.
Other roles followed though. Aprea's film credits around this time included The Idolmaker and The Stepford Wives. Aprea later found even more success on television. From 1981 to 1987, he was a regular on the ABC series Matt Houston. He later appeared on the soap operas Another World and Knots Landing. For the latter, he earned a "Soap Opera Digest" award nomination for outstanding villain in a prime-time series.
Aprea's second most well-known role came when he played the father of Uncle Jesse (Played by John Stamos) on the beloved ABC family comedy Full House. Aprea went onto reprise his role in the Netflix reboot Fuller House. Later roles included film roles in New Jack City, The Game, Dean Man on Campus and The Manchurian Candidate. His later television roles included NYPD Blue, CSI and The Sopranos.
John Aprea passed away in his Los Angeles home surrounded by family. He is survived by his wife and partner of 25 years, Besty, his daughter Nicole from a previous marriage, and his stepchildren Marika and Valentino. His sister Rosanna preceded him in death. A private service is set to be held to honor his memory.
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