From the Publisher of the Abbot Kinney Venice Blog:
Actor Robert Hegyes, best known for the role of Juan Epstein in the seminal 1970’s tv series, “Welcome Back Kotter” passed away last week at age 60.
Robert was a resident of Venice for a number of years before deciding to move back to New Jersey approximately two years ago.
Several years before he moved, we met each other when he was working on the edgy internet series he created, “The Venice Walk”. I worked with him in updating the website for it, plus the Official Robert Hegyes Website.
Robert was a generous and genuine person and truly funny, always reeling off the one liners. He talked about his family frequently and was very proud of his four kids.
I was privileged to be his friend and am sad to see him go. A few photos are below from a few events that I hosted when he made guest appearances.
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| Robert Hegyes & Janet Gervers |
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| Cheryl Gelling, Robert Hegyes, Edizen Stowell |