Gervase Duan "G.D." Spradlin, a character actor best known for playing authority figures in television and films, including 'The Godfather: Part II' and 'Apocalypse Now,' has died. He was 90.

The 'Los Angeles Times' reports that Spradlin died of natural causes at his cattle ranch in San Luis Obispo on Sunday.

Born in Oklahoma in 1920, Spradlin served in the Army Air Forces in China during World War II and worked as a lawyer before becoming rich as an independent oil producer.

He turned to acting in his 40s and used his real-life experience as an attorney, oilman and rancher to play men in charge.

Spradlin also directed John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign in Oklahoma and ran for mayor of Oklahoma City, unsuccessfully, in 1965.