R.I.P. Horshack – 5 Things I Bet You didn’t Know About Ron Palillo!
Ron Palillo more popularly known as Horshack, or formally Arnold Dingfelder Horshack passed away yesterday at the age of 63. A heavy smoker, it’s thought that he suffered a heart attack at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.
Palillo was most known for his role in the break through comedy “Welcome Back Kotter” where he was a member of a group of misfits called the Sweathogs. He played alongside John Travolta, for 4 years from 1975 through 1979. For Travolta his role as Sweathog, Vinnie Barbarino would be a launching pad, for Palillo he was already at his peak.
Palillo was the 2nd member of the beloved Sweathogs to pass away this year. We just said bye to Robert Hegyes aka Epstein back in January at the age of 60.
There’s a bunch of quotes about how talented he was and amazing, including one from longtime friend Stacy Sacco,
“He just couldn’t have been more fun and intelligent or talented. He was an amazing human being.”
The sad truth of the matter is, Palillo was just a regular guy who lead a regular life after Welcome Back Kotter. How about some interesting things that made him maybe not so ordinary?
5 THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT RON PALILA
- Ron was below average in height but above average in intelligence. He graduated from college at age 19 with a 3.6 grade point average.
- At age 14, he co-founded a community theater in New York
- He was Gay and lived with his longtime partner Joseph Gramm
- Palillo auditioned for the role of Arnold Horshack with ABC and improvised the Horshack laugh on the spot.
- He suffered a severe depression and essentially became a recluse.
As interesting as those facts are, lets’ face it, Ron Palillo was just an ordinary guy. During an interview with People 20 years ago, Palillo said stage work saved him. He said,
“I finally have something more to say than ‘I played Arnold Horshack.’ “
Sadly I’m not sure If that is totally true, and I’m not sure if there is anything wrong with that.
RIP Horshack.
HOW ABOUT A HORSHACK CLIP (Actually You get to See all the Sweathogs including a then Travolta)
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