Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis (played by Jack Kruschen) was Jesse and Pam's grandfather and Nick's father. He was an elderly Greek man; well, more of a child in an old man's body.
Visiting from Greece, Iorgos is a jolly, friendly old man with a failing memory. In 1994, he died at the age of 89 from heart failure.
Description[]
Iorgos Katsopolis was born on January 24, 1905, to Hermes Katsopolis, a businessman. Hella the mother of Papouli was a baker. The young Iorgos followed his dreams to become a fisherman, later marrying Gina and having a son named Nicholas.
Nicholas or "Nick" would later immigrate to the US, and start his own extermination business. He would marry Irene, and the two would have their own family with two children, Pam and Jesse.
In 1994, Iorgos comes to San Francisco, to visit his family, including his three great-grandaughters. At first, Michelle calls him "Grandpa", to which he responds by telling her to call him Papouli, his reasoning being that "grandpa means an old man with grey hair," whereas Papouli "also means an old man with grey hair, but sounds so much better". He also meets his two great-grandsons, Jessie's twin boys, Nicky and Alex for the first time.
Papouli seems to be a good cook, making dinner for the family before engaging in a "celebration" with Stephanie, Michelle, and eventually Jesse, which consisted of tossing flour into the air, and yelling "Opa!" (which normally is yelled when celebrating in a similar manner by throwing dishes to the ground, causing them to break).
D.J. is in a mood about Kimmy buying a pair of sunglasses that D.J. had wanted. Papouli addresses her situation with a story about two men in his Greek village who had a similar scuffle over a pair of slippers, but D.J. misses the point, comparing the one man to Kimmy.
Papouli begins teaching Michelle The Great Dance. They invite Jesse to join them, but Jesse declines, because of his two left feet, and opts to clean up the celebration in the kitchen. Michelle asks him to come to her school for Share Day and teach her class the dance. He gladly agrees.
Unfortunately, in the early morning hours the next day, Papouli contracts heart failure and dies in his sleep. When Danny discovers this, he has to break the news to his family. Although upset, everyone seems to understand that, with his superannuated state, this was to be somewhat expected.
Jessie is beside himself with grief, questioning what he could've done to avert this tragedy, although Becky and the rest of the family insist that Papouli's death was inevitable. Although Jesse accepts this, he then opts to get busy notifying family members, and making funeral arrangements. The rest of the family offer to take care of it, but Jesse, declines any assistance, insisting it's his responsibility. D.J. is hurt that Jesse won't allow them to insist, but Becky says he's just keeping busy to deal with the pain.
Michelle comes home from her Honeybee meeting, unaware of what's going on, and shows off the project she was going to give to Papouli. When Danny breaks the news of his death, she insists Papouli isn't dead, throws her project to the floor, destroying it, and storms off. The family does their best to explain what had happened, Danny and Stephanie explain to their loved one how to cope with the loss and control her emotions as best she can.
Joey and Danny, purchase a boat, and decide to christen their new vessel the "Papouli", in honor of their recently deceased patriarch. Jesse, who announces he's taking a trip to Greece to head a memorial for Papouli, loves the boat, and claims Papouli would've loved it too. D.J. finally understands the point of Papouli's story was that sunglasses and slippers are not worth breaking up a friendship, and reconciles with a sympathetic Kimmy.
Michelle finds herself skipping school, as she's unable to face Share Day, without Papouli. Jesse helps her to allow her to show her emotions, and the two cry in each other's arms. Later, he accompanies Michelle to school, where he, realizing it's what Papouli would've wanted, helps Michelle show her class the Greek 'Great Dance' for Share Day.
Family[]
- Gina Katsopolis – wife
- Hermes Katsopolis – father
- Hella Smith-Katsopolis - mother
- Arthur Katsopolis - grandfather
- Spiro Katsopolis - great-grandfather
- Nick Katsopolis – son
- Irene Katsopolis – daughter-in-law
- Jesse Katsopolis – grandson
- Pamela Katsopolis Tanner – granddaughter; deceased
- Danny Tanner – grandson-in-law
- Rebecca Katsopolis – granddaughter-in-law
- D.J. Tanner – great-granddaughter
- Stephanie Tanner – great-granddaughter
- Michelle Tanner – great-granddaughter
- Nicky Katsopolis – great-grandson
- Alex Katsopolis – great-grandson
- Stavros – grandson
- Tommy Fuller, Sr. – great-grandson-in-law; deceased
- Jackson Fuller – great-great-grandson
- Max Fuller – great-great-grandson
- Tommy Fuller, Jr. – great-great-grandson
- Danielle Tanner-Gibbler – great-great-granddaughter
- Steve Hale – great-grandson-in-law
- Jimmy Gibbler – great-grandson-in-law
- Demetri Katsoplolis – grandson
- Melina Katsopolis – great-granddaughter