Robert Heyges, who was Juan Epstein on Welcome Back Kotter, dead at 60!

Robert Hegyes, an actor whose Jewish-Puerto Rican character Juan Epstein was one of the Sweathogs on the 1970s TV sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter,” died Thursday of a heart attack in New Jersey. He was 60. A resident of Metuchen, N.J., Hegyes arrived at JFK Medical Center in nearby Edison in full cardiac arrest and died there, hospital spokesman Steven Weiss confirmed. The last time I saw Bobby in person, was back in the 70′s when my L.A. radio station at the time, played a pre-game softball game at Dodger Stadium against the cast of “Happy Days”, and Bobby was playing left field at the time for the sitcom’s team! He will be missed!