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Robert Hegyes, the Jersey-born actor who played Jewish Puerto Rican wheeler-dealer Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein on the 1970′s classic “Welcome Back Kotter,” died from an apparent heart attack after suffering chest pains at his Metuchen home this morning. He was 60.
Hegyes, who also co-starred on “Cagney and Lacey” and taught occasional master classes at his alma mater, Rowan University, was best known for his work on “Kotter” – in which he performed alongside a young John Travolta as one of the tough remedial students known at the Sweathogs. Hegyes and nearly all of the original cast members reunited last year at the TV Land Awards to recognize the show’s 35th anniversary.
On his website, Hegyes wrote that he modeled the swaggering, skirt-chasing Epstein after Chico Marx, whom he played in a national touring production of “A Night With Groucho.” He was a big fan of the Marx Brothers – “They were immigrant Jews, and I was an immigrant Italian. Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo were intellectuals … They all played the piano and took music lessons, and they were all juvenile delinquents; I could definitely relate.”
Hegyes had suffered a heart attack a couple of years ago and was not in good health, his brother Mark Hegyes of Montana said. Metuchen police responded to a call for medical assistance from Hegyes’ home at 9:02 a.m., and Hegyes, who was experiencing chest pains, was taken to JFK Medical Center in Edison, police said. By the time he arrived at the emergency room at 9:40 a.m., he was in full cardiac arrest and died, according to hospital spokesman Steven Weiss.

Robert Hegyes.

Actor Robert Hegyes died Thursday after suffering an apparent heart attack in his Metuchen, N.J., home, his family said. He was 60.
Hegyes is a Rowan University graduate best known for his work as Juan Epstein in the 1970′s sitcom “Welcome Back Kotter” and as Detective Manny Esposito in the 1980s police drama “Cagney and Lacey.” He also made guest appearances on: “NewsRadio,” “Diagnosis Murder” and “The Drew Carey Show.”
Mark Hegyes told the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger his brother had previously suffered a heart attack a couple of years ago and had not been in good health since.
The newspaper said Metuchen police and paramedics responded to a 911 call because Robert Hegyes was experiencing chest pains. He was taken to JFK Medical Center in Edison, but died shortly after he arrived – the report said.
Robert Hegyes was honored with the rest of his “Kotter” cast-mates, including John Travolta, at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards last year.

Robert Hegyes, the actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970′s TV show “Welcome Back Kotter” has died. He was 60.
The Flynn & Son Funeral Home in Fords, N.J., said it was informed of Hegyes’ death Thursday by the actor’s family.
A spokesman at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., told the Star-Ledger newspaper that Hegyes, of Metuchen, arrived at the hospital Thursday morning in full cardiac arrest and died.
Hegyes was appearing on Broadway in 1975 when he auditioned for “Kotter” – a TV series about a teacher who returns to the inner-city New York school of his youth to teach a group of irreverent remedial students nicknamed the “Sweathogs.” They included the character Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta.
The show’s theme song, performed by John Sebastian, became a pop hit.
Hegyes also appeared on many other TV series, including “Cagney & Lacey.”
He was born in Perth Amboy and grew up in Metuchen, the eldest child of a Hungarian father and Italian mother.
He attended Rowan University, formerly Glassboro State College, in southern New Jersey, before heading to New York City after graduation. He returned to Rowan on several occasions to teach master classes in acting, a university spokesman said Thursday.
“He was a good friend to the university” – spokesman Joe Cardona said.