Ron Palillo, of 'Welcome Back, Kotter,' dies at 63
Palillo suffered an apparent heart attack at his home about 4 a.m., said Karen Poindexter, a close friend of the actor. He was pronounced dead at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.
Palillo was inextricably linked with the character he played from 1975 to 1979 on "Kotter," the hit ABC sitcom, in which title character Gabe Kotter returns to his Brooklyn alma mater to teach a group of loveable wiseguys known as the Sweathogs. Horshack was the nasally teen who yelped, "Oooh, ooh," and shot his hand skyward whenever Kotter posed a question.
The show was a ratings success and pop cultural phenomenon, injecting smart-Alec phrases such as "Up your nose with a rubber hose" into the mainstream and propelling co-star John Travolta to stardom. But the series only lasted as long as a high school education and its end, for Palillo, brought difficulty.
He said he felt exiled throughout the 1980s, unable to find parts, sinking into depression, and rarely venturing from his apartment. When offers did come, he felt typecast as Horshack.
"While I loved him, I really loved him, I didn't want to do him forever," he told the Birmingham News in 1994.
Ronald Paolillo was born April 2, 1949, in Cheshire, Conn., eventually dropping the first "o'' from his surname. His father died of lung cancer when he was 10 and he developed a stutter. His mother thought getting him involved in a local theater might help. He fell in love with the stage and overcame his speech impediment.
He attended the University of Connecticut and earned parts in Shakespearean productions before his big break.
He told interviewers that his dying father's voice inspired Horshack's trademark wheezing laugh, but when he auditioned for "Kotter" he thought he'd be passed over for others who had more of a tough-guy New York look. The casting agents knew better, and so did Gabe Kaplan, who played Kotter.
"When Ron walked into the audition and did his first line, 'Hello, how are you, I'm Arnold Horshack,' I said 'That's him, That's the guy,'" Kaplan recalled in an email to The Associated Press.
"Ron was a wonderful person and talent, and helped catapult 'Welcome Back, Kotter' to great success," Travolta said. "We will miss him."
Besides Travolta, who played Vinnie Barbarino, also cast for the series was Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington and Robert Hegyes as Juan Epstein. Hegyes died earlier this year.
"I think he was the smartest kid in school," Palillo said of his character in a 2009 interview with the Miami Herald. "He was giving up his aptitude in order to be liked. Then and now, that is a very common thing in teenagers."
Palillo went on to get a host of bit parts in shows from "The Love Boat" to "Cagney and Lacey" to "The A-Team," and played himself for a time on the series "Ellen." But he remained best-known for his role on "Kotter," and focused in his later years on stage directing and writing.
His last act in life mirrored his most famous one, in a real-life classroom instead of one at the fictional James Buchanan High School. Palillo taught acting at G-Star School of the Arts, a high school in West Palm Beach. He was due to return for the school year Tuesday morning, Poindexter said, and classes were to resume next week.
Palillo is survived by his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm; two brothers, and a sister. Poindexter said that while her friend might, at times, have resented the shadow Horshack cast over him, he remained fond of the character and knew the part was always more of a blessing than a curse. He remained close to his co-stars, she said, and knew how closely fans related to the characters.
"All of us have been or known one of those Sweathogs," he told The Los Angeles Times last year.
Filmography
Film and Television
Year Title Role Notes
1975–1979 Welcome
Back, Kotter Arnold Horshack 94 episodes
1976 Mr. T and
Tina Arnold Horshack Episode: "Pilot"
1979 The Love Boat
Al Breyer Episode: "Gopher's Opportunity / The Switch / Home
Sweet Home"
1979 Sweepstakes Harold Episode
#1.2
1979 Greatest
Heroes of the Bible Hevet Episode: "The Tower of Babel"
1979 Skatetown,
U.S.A. Frankey Feature film
1981 The Love Boat
Casper Martin Episode: "Lose One, Win One / The $10,000 Lover/Mind My
Wife"
1981–1982 Laverne
& Shirley in the Army Sgt. Squealy
Voice, 12 episodes
1981 Alice Mutner Episode:
"The Wild One"
1982 Mork &
Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour Sgt.
Squealy Voice, 8 episodes (Laverne
& Shirley with the Fonz segment)
1983 Rubik, the
Amazing Cube Rubik Voice, 13 episodes
1983 The A-Team Zack Episode:
"Mexican Slayride"
1983 CHiPs Nick Episode:
"Journey to a Spacecraft"
1983 The Invisible
Woman Spike Mitchell TV film
1983 Matt Houston Charley Arbis Episode: "The Beverly Woods Social Club"
1984 Surf II Inspector Underpants Feature film
1984 Murder, She
Wrote Norman Lester, Esq. Episode: "Hooray for Homicide"
1985 Doin' Time Pappion Feature film
1985 Pound Puppies
Scrounger Voice, TV film
1986 Friday the
13th Part VI: Jason Lives Allen
Hawes Feature film
1986 Trapper John,
M.D. Kussman Episode: "Elusive
Butterfly"
1986 Cagney &
Lacey Mr. Larkin Episode: "Rites of Passage"
1987 Little Clowns
of Happytown Arnie and Ralphie's
Dad Voice, 18 episodes
1988 Superman Additional voices Episode: "Night of the Living
Shadows / Graduation"
1989 Snake Eater Torchy Feature
film
1989 Hellgate Matt Feature film
1989 Snake Eater
II: The Drug Buster Torchy Feature film
1990 The
Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda Additional
voices Episode: "Pity
the Poor Pirate"
1990 Midnight
Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone Additional
voices 13 episodes; aka
Potsworth & Co.
1991 Committed Ronnie Feature
film
1991 Darkwing Duck
Ordinary Guy Voice, Episode: "Planet of the Capes"
1992 Wind Tony Feature
film
1994 One Life to
Live Gary Warren Daytime drama
1996 Ellen Himself Sitcom
1997 Mr. Rhodes Arnold Horshack Episode: "The Welcome Back Show"
2003 Dickie
Roberts: Former Child Star Himself
Cameo, Feature film
2003 Style Court Juror Episode
#2.26
2004 Trees 2: The
Root of All Evil Dougie Styles Feature film
2008 The Curse of
Micah Rood Micah Rood Short film
2010 The Guardians
Professor Walker Feature film
2010 It's a Dog
Gone Tale: Destiny's Stand Randolph
Baines Feature film, (final
film role)
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