John Aprea, whose acting career brought him roles in “The Godfather Part II” and “Full House,” died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Monday. He was 83 years old.

His death was confirmed by Will Levine, Aprea’s manager.

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Born to Italian immigrants in Englewood, New Jersey in 1941, Aprea spent part of his early years in Italy before his family returned to the United States. In the early 1960s, he began pursuing his passion, acting, and took acting classes in New York with Joshua Shelley (who also taught Mia Farrow and Jon Voight). He eventually landed a role in the 1968 Steve McQueen classic Bullitt, playing a hitman.

After his spectacular debut, Aprea worked as an actor on the sets of the 1970s television series “Mannix,” the film “The Grasshopper,” and Jonathan Demme’s 1974 feature film “Caged Heat.”

John’s career took off when he landed the role of young Tessio in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II. Before accepting the role, he reportedly asked Abe Vigoda, who played the older version of the character in the first film, for advice. According to his manager, Vigoda’s response, “I don’t know what I did. Just have fun, kid,” became a guiding principle for John’s career.

After starring in the 1975 comedy television series The Montefuscos (which revolves around the weekly Sunday dinners of an Italian-American family in Connecticut), he played a major role as the brother of the character played by Ray Sharkey in Taylor Hackford’s debut film The Idolmaker.

From 1981 to 1987, Aprea was a series regular on ABC’s Matt Houston, playing Lt. Vince Novelli. He eventually returned to New York to star in the soap opera Another World as Lucas Castigliano for six years (until his character was killed off). During this time, Aprea was also nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain in a Primetime Series for his role in Under the California Sun.

Aprea also played the father of John Stamos’ character Uncle Jesse in “Full House” and recently reprised the role for the Netflix reboot. The actor continued to work well into his career, including playing Don Armeteo in the 1991 feature film “New Jack City” directed by Mario Van Peebles and landing roles in “NYPD Blue,” “CSI” and “The Sopranos.”

Aprea was preceded in death by his sister Rosanna Sole. He leaves behind his wife and partner of 25 years, Betsy Graci, his daughter Nicole from a previous marriage, and his stepchildren Marika Parker and Valentino Graci. A private memorial service will be held in honor of his life.

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