Robert Hegyes, who played Juan Epstein on 'Welcome Back Kotter,' dies at 60
Photo credit: AP | Robert Hegyes starred as the beloved Juan Epstein in the 1970s comedy series "Welcome Back Kotter." He died of a heart attack on Jan. 26, 2012 at age 60 .
Robert Hegyes, of 'Welcome Back Kotter,' dies
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Robert Hegyes, an actor whose Jewish-Puerto Rican character Juan Epstein was one of the Sweathogs on the 1970s TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter," died Thursday of a heart attack in New Jersey. He was 60.
A resident of Metuchen, N.J., Hegyes arrived at JFK Medical Center in nearby Edison in full cardiac arrest and died there, hospital spokesman Steven Weiss confirmed.
Hegyes, who had a mop of dark curly hair, played Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein on "Welcome Back, Kotter," which also starred John Travolta, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Ron Palillo as wise-cracking students at a Brooklyn high school who were mentored by their teacher, played by Gabe Kaplan. It aired on ABC from 1975 to 1979.
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Of Hungarian and Italian descent, Hegyes was born May 7, 1951, in Perth Amboy, N.J. He graduated from what is now Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., and worked as a substitute teacher between acting jobs before landing the part in "Welcome Back, Kotter."
After the show ended, he played Chico Marx onstage in a national touring production of "Groucho" with Kaplan in the title role. Hegyes later had a recurring part as Detective Manny Esposito on the 1980s TV police drama "Cagney and Lacey," did stand-up comedy and tried writing screenplays.
But he would be best remembered for "Welcome Back, Kotter."
"It's a job where I went to work and laughed every day," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1995. "So how do you beat that?"
