John Aprea, who played Vito Corleone’s right-hand man Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather Part II, has died at the age of 83.
The news was confirmed by the actor’s manager Will Levine, who stated that he passed away from natural causes.
Aprea portrayed the younger version of Tessio in Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed 1974 sequel to The Godfather, picking up the role played by Abe Vigoda in the original film.
Aprea’s Tessio befriends Robert De Niro’s Corleone as they begin their careers in the Manhattan Mafia underworld in the early 1940s. As Corleone rises to power, he enlists Tessio as his capo – a made man – and Tessio establishes his own regime in Brooklyn.
In preparing for the role, Aprea contacted Vigoda for advice, receiving the response: “I don’t know what I did. Just have a good time, kid.” These words became a guiding mantra for the rest of Aprea’s career.
Jonathan Aprea was born on March 4, 1941 in Englewood, New Jersey to an Italian immigrant family. He pursued an acting career in New York in the early 1960s and landed a debut role in the 1968 action classic Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen.
After a number of roles on television and in film, Coppola cast him in The Godfather Part II, handing him his big break.
He had further high-profile film roles in the ‘70s, including in The Stepford Wives, but found his home on television in the ‘80s, starring in shows such as the crime drama Matt Houston and the sitcom Full House.
He often made appearances in major series, including The A Team, Saved By The Bell: The New Class, NYPD Blue and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and appeared in the season finale of the first season of The Sopranos as a US Attorney.
Aprea is survived by his wife Betsy Graci, his daughter Nicole and stepchildren Marika and Valentino.