R.I.P. Juan Epstein

I know I’m totally dating myself with this post, but ’nuff respect to actor, Robert Hegyes, who just passed away at the age of 60.

He is best known and remembered as the Puerto Rican / Jewish character Juan Epstein on the popular 70’s sitcom, Welcome Back Kotter, where he played alongside  a teen-age John Travolta and Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (Cooley High) as one of ‘The Sweathogs”, a band of inner-city high school misfits in Mr. Kotter’s (Gabe Kaplan) class.

I can not count the number of laughs he gave me as a kid, but his tv performances were a memorable part of my childhood.  Just hearing the catchy theme song again brings back warm and fuzzy memories of curling up with my mother at primetime as a little boy and laughing out loud together.

R.I.P. Juan Epstein.  Thanks for the laughs and the memories.

The Welcome Back Kotter Theme Song

Substitute Teacher Clip

The Sweat Hog Debate Club