Getty Images
Actor John Aprea, who said that playing the young Salvatore in the 1974 film “The Godfather Part II” was the greatest achievement of his career, passed away on August 15th. The cause of death is unknown. He was 83 years old.
His friend and former co-star, Paul Calafotes, author of the children’s book “The Adventures of Charlie Bubbles!”, announced Aprea’s death: Instagram Late Saturday, he wrote, “Just heard that my old friend, companion, actor, father, husband and brother passed away on August 15, 2024. We shared many laughs. We met on the set of the CBS TV show “Knots Landing” in 1987. Over 40 years ago. This man will be missed by many! Rest in peace old friend. See you on the other side, PC.”
He attached throwback photos and recent photos of himself and Aprea with her at Aprea’s hospital bed.
Born March 4, 1941, in Englewood, New Jersey, Aprea is a first-generation Italian-American who studied business before pursuing a long-suppressed desire to become an actor. He studied acting with blacklisted Actors Studio member Joshua Shelley and made his film debut in 1968 in the Steve McQueen action film “Bullitt.”
He continued to work little after that, working in both television and film.
Paramount Pictures
In one of his most famous pieces he states: 2020 Interviews“[‘The Godfather II’] “Star Wars is one of the greatest movies of all time. Every time it was on TV I thought, ‘I’ll never see it again,’ but before I knew it, I watched it all the way through. Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo wrote a fantastic script.”
As a young Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda played the older man), his acting ability landed him a number of mobster roles, but he also enjoyed both dramatic and comedic roles, with his longest-running role being as Lucas Castigliano in over 400 episodes of the soap opera Another World (1989-1998).
Other notable television roles include The Gangster Chronicles (1981), as Lt. Vince Novelli on Matt Huston (1982–1984), as Sheriff North on Falcon Crest (1987), as Manny Vasquez on Knots Landing (1988), as Lionel Wakefield on American Hire (2007), and as the father of John Stamos’ character on both Full House (1988–1991) and Fuller House (2017).
His other films include Seven-Ups (1973), Caged Heat (1974), The Stepford Wives (1975), Crazy Mama (1975), The Idolmaker (1980), Dead Man on Campus (1998) and Maniklian Kadidate (2004).
Most recently, Aprea had a recurring role on “The Bay” (2020-2023).
He has been divorced twice and leaves behind a daughter.
