"Ohhh..Ohhhh Mister Kotter"- You could always depend on Arnold Horshack to utter that phrase at least once per episode. Horshack was one of the most popular "Sweathogs" on the show.the man that created the character died today in Palm Beach Gardens.

Ron Palillo (center) flanked by Robert (Juan Epstein) Hegyes and Lawrence(Freddy "Boom-Boom" Washington) Hilton-Jacobs

 

 

The post "Kotter" years were not kind to Palillo. At one point he even appeared on a reality show in which he boxed Danny Bonaduce.  Sacco

A friend of Palillo's, Stacy Sacco,  said Palillo passed away suddenly at 4:30 a.m. He was 62.

According to Sacco, “He just couldn’t have been more fun and intelligent or talented. He was an amazing human being. I had been a fan. We all knew who he was. He was a shining star.”

Palillo taught acting classes at G-Star Academy, a charter school in Palm Springs.

Sacco said that no cause of death has been determined, but that Palillo had not been ill or in the hospital. Palillo was a Connecticut native who lived in New York for about 40 years before starting teaching at G-Star a little over three years ago.

He is survived by his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm, a retired actor.

 

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