John Aprea: Remembering “Matt Houston” and more

John Aprea played Vince Novelli the 1980s detective series "Matt Houston".

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Whenever a popular new movie or TV show came along in the ‘80s, it was often followed by a bunch of imitators trying to capitalize on that success.

When I first saw the ads for a new show airing on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial in 1982 called “Matt Houston”, I immediately thought it was a cheap imitation of “Magnum P.I.”.

“Magnum P.I.” starred Tom Selleck as a handsome private investigator living and working in Hawaii. “Matt Houston” starred Lee Horsley, who bore a passing resemblance to Tom Selleck, as a handsome private investigator. However, in Houston’s case, he was a wealthy millionaire who was a private investigator on the side. Initially, “Matt Houston” even aired right after “Magnum P.I.”.

Like every other show with a private investigator, the lead character had to have a contact in the local police department.

In “Matt Houston” that was Lieutenant Vince Novelli, played by John Aprea. He was your standard cop dealing with a private eye, willing to work together but often annoyed Houston went too far.

I saw John Aprea died a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of “Matt Houston”, but also that he had a solid career otherwise.

The years before
John Aprea got his start in 1968 with a part in the movie “Bullitt” starring Steve McQueen, and appeared in other movies most notably “The Godfather Part II” in 1974, and “The Stepford Wives” in 1975.

He also had a lot of parts on television including “That Girl”; “Mannix”; “The F.B.I.”; nine episodes in “The Montefuscos”; “Kate McShane”; “The Rookies”; “Wonder Woman”; “Mrs. Columbo”; and “A Man Called Sloane”.

He would build on that career in the ‘80s, and get his big break in network series television.

Matt Houston
After appearances in “The Gangster Chronicles” for 13 episodes; “The Powers of Matthew Star”; and some other theatrical and TV movies, John Aprea landed the role of Vince Novelli in “Matt Houston” in 1982.

What did make Novelli different from a lot of police in private detective series, is that Novelli and Houston were friends outside work. In fact, Houston would be invited into Novelli’s home where his mother always fed him.

However, when the second season of “Matt Houston” started, Novelli was gone. Houston had a new cop to pester named Lieutenant Michael Hoyt, played by Lincoln Kilpatrick. Buddy Ebsen would join the cast as Houston’s uncle for the third and final season.

Novelli would make one more appearance, needing Houston’s help because he was in trouble. Now retired, he returned from vacation in Hawaii accused of stealing cocaine from police evidence lock up. Novelli also looked different, as his hair was longer and lighter. I don’t think the creators explained too much why Novelli was gone.

John Aprea appeared in a total of 24 episodes over those two seasons of “Matt Houston”.

The rest of the decade
John Aprea appeared in a lot of other shows including “Three’s a Crowd”; “Mike Hammer”; “Hardcastle and McCormick”; “Simon and Simon”; “Street Hawk”; the TV movie “Stingray”; “The A-Team”; “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”; “The Fall Guy”; “Private Eye”; 16 episodes of “Falcon Crest”; “Tales from the Darkside”; 12 episodes of “Knots Landing”; two episodes of “Father Dowling Mysteries”; “Night Court”; and seven episodes of “Full House” playing the father of John Stamos’ character.

He was also in the movie “American Anthem” in 1986 starring Janet Jones, the future Mrs. Wayne Gretzky.

The years after
John Aprea kept on acting, in shows such as “The Hat Squad”; “Dark Justice”; "Melrose Place”; “Saved by the Bell: The New Class”; “Heaven Help Us”; “Renegade”; two episodes of “Silk Stalkings”; 423 episodes of “Another World”; “The Sopranos”; “The District”; two episodes of “Philly”; “NYPD Blue”; 28 episodes of “American Heiress”; “Cold Case”; “Lie to Me”; six episodes of “Days Of Our Lives”; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”; 10 episodes of “Decker”; one episode of “Fuller House” where he reprised his role from “Full House”; nine episodes of “The Bay”; and much more.

He was also in movies such as “New Jack City”; “The Manchurian Candidate”; and more.

Sadly, John Aprea died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on August 5, 2024.

He was 83.

Parting thoughts
In the end, “Matt Houston” was not a knock-off of “Magnum P.I.”, and one of the reasons was the relationship Houston had with Vince Novelli. They were not only allies and adversaries at work, but friends outside of work.

John Aprea brought flare to the role of Vince Novelli. Despite roles in “The Godfather Part II”, “New Jack City”, and several different TV shows, John Aprea will always be Vince Novelli to me,