Growing up, I loved the show “Welcome Back Kotter.” But, I did not have a whole lot in common with the characters on that show. They were from the north (Brooklyn, New York) while I was from the south (Memphis, Tennessee). They were older (high school age) while I was younger (middle school age). But, apparently there’s something about trying to drive your teacher crazy that resonates through any differences I had with the Sweathogs.
In actuality, all the Sweathogs, just like “Happy Days” high schoolers, were past high school age when they appeared on the show. The show ran from 1975 until 1979 and when it started, John (“Vinny Barbarino”) Travolta was 21, Ron (“Arnold Horshack”) Palillo was 26, Lawrence (“Freddie ‘Boom-Boom’ Washngton”) Hilton-Jacobs was 22, and Robert (“Juan Epstein”) Hegyes was 24.
Today, I had two friend text me, saying “Did you see where Juan Epstein died?” It’s true – yesterday, we lost as Sweathog when Robert Hegyes died at the age of 60 of a heart attack.
Hegyes began acting at his Metuchen New Jersey high school in the ‘60s. He got a B.A. in Speech/Theater from the Glassboro State College then became a member of Greenwich Village’s “Theater in a Trunk” group, which performed educational theater. He appeared in both on and off Broadway and while performing, he got a call from James Komack to audition for “Welcome Back Kotter.”
Although he would go on to appear in more than 30 different television shows (including “Saturday Night Live,” “NewsRadio,” “CHiPs,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “Cagney & Lacey,” and “The Drew Carey Show”), the character of Epstein would his television legacy. Hegyes toured as Chico Marx in “An Evening with Groucho” and was the “Artist-in-Residence” at his former college. He also taught essay writing and public speaking at Brooks College in Long Beach, California.