HispanicBusiness

Robert Hegyes, who played Juan Epstein, the Jewish-Puerto Rican kid on "Welcome Back, Kotter," has died, his family announced. He was 60.

Robert Hegyes arrived at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., in full cardiac arrest, NPR reported.

Robert Hegyes left Broadway in 1975 to join the cast of "Kotter," a show about misfit high school kids, with Gabe Kaplan starring as the teacher, Mr. Kotter.

The show was built around Kaplan, whose comedy relied heavily on a Groucho Marx impression, but it was John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino whose career took off.

A retrospective of the show can be found here.

Here's a scene introducing the cast members: