Arnold Horshack!

 

Ronald Gabriel Paolillo was born in New Haven, Connecticut on April 2, 1949. He was the son of Gabriel and Carmel, the former of whom died of lung cancer when Ronald was just ten years old.  He graduated from high school in 1967 and attended the University of Connecticut at Storrs.  Intent on becoming an actor, he made his way to Hollywood, where he changed his name to Ron Palillo.

In 1975, he was cast in his signature role, that of Arnold Horshack on the sit-com Welcome, Back Kotter.  It was his first television role.  The series ran for four seasons totaling 94 episodes.  The final episode was a back-door pilot that would serve as a starring vehicle for Paolillo, but the new series was never produced.

In the 1980s, he made guest appearances on many popular shows of the day, including The Love Boat, Chips, and of course, Murder, She Wrote.  He also appeared in a number of feature films, including Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives (1986) and the charmingly titled Snake Eater (1989), an action vehicle for Lorenzo Lamas.  Apparently the movie was a success, because later the same year, he reprised his role in its sequel, Snake Eater 2: The Drug Buster.

In 1991, he returned to the New York stage, where he played Mozart in Amadeus and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, among many other roles.  He was also a talented stage director, releasing his first full-length play, The Lost Boy, in 2006.  It told the story of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie.

In 2012, Paolillo was living in Palm Beach, Florida with his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm.  It was there that he suffered a heart attack on August 14th.  Although he was rushed to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival.  He was just 63 years old.  A memorial tribute, hosted by Cagney and Lacey star Tyne Daly, was held in New York City later that year.

Ron Paolillo was laid to rest in Saint Larence Cemetery in West Haven, Connecticut.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Paolillo was the second Sweathog to pass away in 2012, the first being Robert Hegyes, who also died of a heart attack.
  
  
• In the early 1980s, Paolillo became a voice actor for several Saturday morning cartoons, including Laverne and Shirley in the Army.  He provided the voice of Sargeant Squealy, a talking pig.  Think I'm making this up?  You can watch an episode in its entirety on YouTube.
  
  
• Paolillo was also an illustrator who worked on the children's book The Red Wings of Christmas with fellow former child star Wesley Eure.  You can pick up a copy on Amazon.  He illustrated a second children's book with author Michael Mele entitled A Gift for the Contessa, which is also available on Amazon.
  
  
• In 1983, Paolillo cut a public service announcement for The Alcoholism Center in Chicago.  Check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• In the 1990s, Paolillo returned to the University at Connecticut, this time as a professor.
  
  
• Remember Celebrity Boxing?  It was a guilty pleasure back in 2002.  During the second season, Paolillo fought a fellow TV nerd about three decades younger, Saved by the Bell's Dustin Diamond.  You can watch the fight in its painful entirety on YouTube.