Ron Palillo, Arnold Horshack, dead at 63 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

ronaldmcdonald · 08-14-2012, 12:40 PM

Mike Galanos of CNN has JUST reported that actor Ron Palillo, best known as Arnold Horshack on the hit 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, has died of unknown causes at age 63.

Ronald Gabriel Paolillo was born on April 2, 1949 in Cheshire, Connecticut, USA.

According to FOX5 News, Palillo died in his Palm Beach Gardens, Florida home and had not been Physically Ill OR in the hospital.

Palillo was cast as Arnold Horshack in 1975 on Welcome Back, Kotter by Gabe Kaplan, who cast himself as Gabe Kotter, the teacher of a group of students who included Robert Hegyes (who himself died earlier this year at age 60), Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs and a young kid named John Travolta, who would go on to greater fame as a movie star.

In later years Palillo retired from acting and was a high-school teacher in Florida, where he moved to in order to help care for his elderly mother.

Funeral services are pending.

Per the Internet Movie Database, at age 14, Ron had started a Youth Summer Camp in Connecticut the decade before being cast on Welcome Back, Kotter.

He never married or had any children, but is survived by a legion of fans who grew up watching Welcome Back, Kotter.

spunkygirl · 08-14-2012, 12:45 PM

TMZ is reporting he died of a heart attack

http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/14/ron-pa...ts-fullwrapper

Zoneboy · 08-14-2012, 12:52 PM

Link

Ron Palillo, best known as mouthy classroom goofball Arnold Horshack on the 1970s TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, died at his Palm Beach Gardens home early this morning, according to Stacy Sacco, Palillo’s friend.

Sacco said Palillo passed away suddenly at 4:30 a.m. He was 62.

“He just couldn’t have been more fun and intelligent or talented. He was an amazing human being,” said Sacco of Palm Beach Gardens, who met Palillo 20 years ago when he was a guest on Ellen DeGeneres’ sitcom in Los Angeles, on which Sacco was a script supervisor.

“I had been a fan. We all knew who he was. He was a shining star,” Sacco said.

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.

Before being hired by the charter school, Palillo had lectured in colleges and high schools all over the country.

“From the moment I heard about G-Star seven, eight years ago, it sounded like everything I wanted as a student when I went to high school,” Palillo told The Palm Beach Post in 2009.

“To have this when I was a kid would’ve been astonishing and I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

Greg Hauptner, founder and CEO of G-Star Academy, said in 2009 that Palillo asked to join the school after working with the students on the film Dog Gone Tale: Destiny’s Stand.

“I almost fell out of my chair,” Hauptner recalled. “I didn’t think he was serious.”

Palillo, a University of Connecticut graduate, played Horshack on the popular sitcom Welcome Back Kotter. The show also starred Gabe Kaplan and a young John Travolta. It originally aired on ABC and ran from 1975-79.

The show focused on Kaplan’s character Gabe Kotter, who returned to his high school in Brooklyn — the fictional James Buchanan High — to teach a remedial class to which he once belonged, according to tv.com.

The main group of students were known as the Sweathogs, an unruly group who always got in trouble. Palillo played the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack, who would often yell “Ooh! Ooh, ooh!” when he thought he knew the answer to a question.

The cast also included Travolta, who played lady’s man Vinnie Barbarino, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who played the always cool Freddie “Boom-Boom” Washington and Robert Hegyes, who played the tough Jewish Puerto Rican wheeler-dealer Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, according to tv.com.

Hegyes died in January from an apparent heart attack. He was 60.

The show was based on Kaplan’s own high school experiences with remedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students, according to tv.com.

Palillo told the Post in 2009 he loved Palm Beach County, having served as artistic director for the Cuillo Center for the Arts where he directed and acted in A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline and The Phantom of the Opera.

“I’ve always felt very at home here,” Palillo said . “People go out of their way for you in West Palm Beach. They don’t do that in New York.”

Palillo told his G-Star students in 2009 that they should project as if they’re performing at a 500-seat Broadway theater and not inside a cramped high school classroom.

Palillo stressed the importance of getting his students comfortable with telling unrehearsed stories.

“I want them to get the feeling of what it’s like to be totally unprepared and to bond with each other in a way scientists think perhaps primitive man bonded by sitting around the campfire and eating a pterodactyl leg and saying, ‘I caught a brontosaurus this big last night,’” he said, laughing. “It also helps to create a good ensemble.”

Palillo said his fellow Kotter actors paid careful attention to their characters. “The writers asked us to write our characters’ autobiographies as our characters,” Palillo told the Post. “I wrote how Arnold’s mother had been married so many times and how he just wanted to be liked and how no one was going to read this autobiography he was writing. The writers used all of it.”

Palillo was born April 2, 1949 in Cheshire, Conn.

Zoneboy · 08-14-2012, 12:53 PM

That's 3 from WBK this year.

spunkygirl · 08-14-2012, 12:59 PM

Courtney Hazlett from MSNBC

Courtney Hazlett ‏@courtneyhazlett

Just spoke to Ron Palillo's (Arnold Horshack on Welcome back Kotter) agent. Sad news, he died in his sleep of a heart attack. He was 63.

TVFactFan · 08-14-2012, 01:26 PM

This has been a horrible year

RIP Ron Palillo

Marvo301 · 08-14-2012, 01:40 PM

I grew up watching WBK and I can't believe that two of the Sweathogs have passed away already.

Ron Palillo

Penny Lane · 08-14-2012, 02:43 PM

Wow! There sure have been a lot of celebrity deaths lately! RIP Arnold Horshack

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/14...-horshack.html

Mr. Television · 08-14-2012, 02:47 PM

Ron created one of the great tv characters of all time. This is awful. It's been an awful year for deaths.

R.i.P. Ron

mets82 · 08-14-2012, 03:11 PM

Thats too bad. RIP. I thought he was the funniest Sweathog on Welcome Back Kotter.

Brad Russ · 08-14-2012, 03:49 PM

Very sad to hear. Rest in peace Mr. Palillo!!!

Cheryl Harrell · 08-14-2012, 04:27 PM

So sad. I love the and am a huge John Travolta fan. I remember being in high school when the show was on and kids would imitate him in school We all did. Wanted to post my condolences. So sad, he went like my late hubby did.

catlover79 · 08-14-2012, 04:48 PM

NO!!!! This is beyond awful. I remember he had to drop out of the TV Land reunion last year because he was ill and needed surgery. I wonder if the cause of his passing was related to that.

In any case, he was a terrific human being. God bless him.

Retro4Life · 08-14-2012, 04:55 PM

For those of us "of a certain age" there was about a two year period where WBK was as hot as a supernova. Everyone was quoting the show and talking about what happened (and, in many cases, trying to emulate the characters, Heaven help us, lol).

This is indeed very sad news. He seems to have been a wonderful gentleman; humble, giving and intelligent.

"He is survived by his partner of 41 years..." That's a loooong time for any relationship these days, let alone one from Hollywood.

RIP Ron.

catlover79 · 08-14-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

That's 3 from WBK this year.

I'm wracking my brain. Who is the third, besides Hegyes and Palillo?

08-14-2012, 12:40 PM	#1
ronaldmcdonald Banned Banned!! Occasional Poster Join Date: Jun 26, 2012 Posts: 14	BREAKING NEWS! Ron Palillo DEAD At Age 63 Mike Galanos of CNN has JUST reported that actor Ron Palillo, best known as Arnold Horshack on the hit 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, has died of unknown causes at age 63. Ronald Gabriel Paolillo was born on April 2, 1949 in Cheshire, Connecticut, USA. According to FOX5 News, Palillo died in his Palm Beach Gardens, Florida home and had not been Physically Ill OR in the hospital. Palillo was cast as Arnold Horshack in 1975 on Welcome Back, Kotter by Gabe Kaplan, who cast himself as Gabe Kotter, the teacher of a group of students who included Robert Hegyes (who himself died earlier this year at age 60), Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs and a young kid named John Travolta, who would go on to greater fame as a movie star. In later years Palillo retired from acting and was a high-school teacher in Florida, where he moved to in order to help care for his elderly mother. Funeral services are pending. Per the Internet Movie Database, at age 14, Ron had started a Youth Summer Camp in Connecticut the decade before being cast on Welcome Back, Kotter. He never married or had any children, but is survived by a legion of fans who grew up watching Welcome Back, Kotter.

08-14-2012, 12:52 PM	#3
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,381	Link Ron Palillo, best known as mouthy classroom goofball Arnold Horshack on the 1970s TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, died at his Palm Beach Gardens home early this morning, according to Stacy Sacco, Palillo’s friend. Sacco said Palillo passed away suddenly at 4:30 a.m. He was 62. “He just couldn’t have been more fun and intelligent or talented. He was an amazing human being,” said Sacco of Palm Beach Gardens, who met Palillo 20 years ago when he was a guest on Ellen DeGeneres’ sitcom in Los Angeles, on which Sacco was a script supervisor. “I had been a fan. We all knew who he was. He was a shining star,” Sacco said. 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. Before being hired by the charter school, Palillo had lectured in colleges and high schools all over the country. “From the moment I heard about G-Star seven, eight years ago, it sounded like everything I wanted as a student when I went to high school,” Palillo told The Palm Beach Post in 2009. “To have this when I was a kid would’ve been astonishing and I knew I wanted to be part of it.” Greg Hauptner, founder and CEO of G-Star Academy, said in 2009 that Palillo asked to join the school after working with the students on the film Dog Gone Tale: Destiny’s Stand. “I almost fell out of my chair,” Hauptner recalled. “I didn’t think he was serious.” Palillo, a University of Connecticut graduate, played Horshack on the popular sitcom Welcome Back Kotter. The show also starred Gabe Kaplan and a young John Travolta. It originally aired on ABC and ran from 1975-79. The show focused on Kaplan’s character Gabe Kotter, who returned to his high school in Brooklyn — the fictional James Buchanan High — to teach a remedial class to which he once belonged, according to tv.com. The main group of students were known as the Sweathogs, an unruly group who always got in trouble. Palillo played the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack, who would often yell “Ooh! Ooh, ooh!” when he thought he knew the answer to a question. The cast also included Travolta, who played lady’s man Vinnie Barbarino, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who played the always cool Freddie “Boom-Boom” Washington and Robert Hegyes, who played the tough Jewish Puerto Rican wheeler-dealer Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, according to tv.com. Hegyes died in January from an apparent heart attack. He was 60. The show was based on Kaplan’s own high school experiences with remedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students, according to tv.com. Palillo told the Post in 2009 he loved Palm Beach County, having served as artistic director for the Cuillo Center for the Arts where he directed and acted in A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline and The Phantom of the Opera. “I’ve always felt very at home here,” Palillo said . “People go out of their way for you in West Palm Beach. They don’t do that in New York.” Palillo told his G-Star students in 2009 that they should project as if they’re performing at a 500-seat Broadway theater and not inside a cramped high school classroom. Palillo stressed the importance of getting his students comfortable with telling unrehearsed stories. “I want them to get the feeling of what it’s like to be totally unprepared and to bond with each other in a way scientists think perhaps primitive man bonded by sitting around the campfire and eating a pterodactyl leg and saying, ‘I caught a brontosaurus this big last night,’” he said, laughing. “It also helps to create a good ensemble.” Palillo said his fellow Kotter actors paid careful attention to their characters. “The writers asked us to write our characters’ autobiographies as our characters,” Palillo told the Post. “I wrote how Arnold’s mother had been married so many times and how he just wanted to be liked and how no one was going to read this autobiography he was writing. The writers used all of it.” Palillo was born April 2, 1949 in Cheshire, Conn.
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

08-14-2012, 01:40 PM	#7
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,453	I grew up watching WBK and I can't believe that two of the Sweathogs have passed away already. Ron Palillo
	__________________ Only a life lived for others is worth living. Albert Einstein A life isn't worth living unless it has impact on other lives. Jackie Robinson Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

08-14-2012, 02:43 PM	#8
Penny Lane Butter Pie Forum Icon Join Date: Jul 03, 2001 Location: Beneath the blue suburban skies Posts: 51,211	Ron Palillo, Arnold Horshack, dead at 63 Wow! There sure have been a lot of celebrity deaths lately! RIP Arnold Horshack http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/14...-horshack.html Attached Images
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08-14-2012, 02:47 PM	#9
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,133	Ron created one of the great tv characters of all time. This is awful. It's been an awful year for deaths. R.i.P. Ron
	__________________ Sonny

08-14-2012, 12:45 PM	#2
spunkygirl Member Moderator Forum Celebrity Join Date: Apr 26, 2003 Posts: 21,563	TMZ is reporting he died of a heart attack http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/14/ron-pa...ts-fullwrapper

08-14-2012, 12:53 PM	#4
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,381	That's 3 from WBK this year.

08-14-2012, 12:59 PM	#5
spunkygirl Member Moderator Forum Celebrity Join Date: Apr 26, 2003 Posts: 21,563	Courtney Hazlett from MSNBC Courtney Hazlett ‏@courtneyhazlett Just spoke to Ron Palillo's (Arnold Horshack on Welcome back Kotter) agent. Sad news, he died in his sleep of a heart attack. He was 63.

08-14-2012, 01:26 PM	#6
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,062	This has been a horrible year RIP Ron Palillo

08-14-2012, 03:11 PM	#10
mets82 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Mar 14, 2011 Location: Connecticut Posts: 5,058	Thats too bad. RIP. I thought he was the funniest Sweathog on Welcome Back Kotter.
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08-14-2012, 03:49 PM	#11
Brad Russ Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 17, 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 10,085	Very sad to hear. Rest in peace Mr. Palillo!!!
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08-14-2012, 04:27 PM	#12
Cheryl Harrell I Love You Mike 4-Ever Forum Veteran Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Location: Pixley!!!! Actually VA--USA LOL! Posts: 6,192	So sad. I love the and am a huge John Travolta fan. I remember being in high school when the show was on and kids would imitate him in school We all did. Wanted to post my condolences. So sad, he went like my late hubby did.
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08-14-2012, 04:48 PM	#13
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	NO!!!! This is beyond awful. I remember he had to drop out of the TV Land reunion last year because he was ill and needed surgery. I wonder if the cause of his passing was related to that. In any case, he was a terrific human being. God bless him.
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

08-14-2012, 04:55 PM	#14
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,708	For those of us "of a certain age" there was about a two year period where WBK was as hot as a supernova. Everyone was quoting the show and talking about what happened (and, in many cases, trying to emulate the characters, Heaven help us, lol). This is indeed very sad news. He seems to have been a wonderful gentleman; humble, giving and intelligent. "He is survived by his partner of 41 years..." That's a loooong time for any relationship these days, let alone one from Hollywood. RIP Ron.
	__________________ Alex Reiger :[Trying to convince Louie not to antagonize Bobby] "It's not hard to make people feel bad about their lives. What's hard is making people feel good about their lives."