Claim to Fame: If you know who Ron is then you HAVE to know him for
his role as the goofy and loveable sweathog Arnold Dingfelder Horshack from the
TV show 'Welcome Back Kotter.'
Family Life: I couldn't find any information on his marriage, but did find
that he has three kids: Son: Richard; Son: Robert; Daughter: Ann
Info:
Being Horshack made it nearly impossible for Ron to get other roles right
after the series was over. It seems that no one could take him seriously.
Trivia:
Ron is an amazing color and black-and-white pen-and-ink artist. His works have
been shown and sold in New York, Hawaii, and California. He has taken his talent
to the world of children's literature, where he
has done illustrations for two books, A Gift for the Contessa and The Red Wings
of Christmas.
Was defeated by Dustin Diamond (Screech from 'Saved by the Bell') in Fox's
Celebrity Boxing 2 (2002).
At 14, Ron Palillo started his own summer theater in Cheshire,
Connecticut
It was Ron who came up with Horshack's over-enthusiastic "ooh-ooh."
According to an episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter", Horshack means, "the cattle
are dying."
Ron combined the accents of his late Aunt from New Haven, Connecticut and the
Dustin Hoffman character in "Midnight Cowboy" to develop the unique accent of
Arnold Horshack.
He uses his given name Ronald G. Paolillo when he works as an artist. He uses it
in memory of his father.
The name Paolillo is Italian and has its origin in the town of Bari, Puglia.
Where
is He Now:
Today, Ron Palillo sports a new look and an exciting, busy life as an actor,
writer, teacher, artist and producer. After the series ended in 1979, Ron says,
"I lost ten years. Because of typecasting, there was nothing I could do." He set
out reinventing himself. "I got a nose job, started working out, took the curl
out of my hair -- I just felt like I had to do something."
Appears in operas and other stage performances. To date he has been in over over
40 states in numerous productions including Amadeus (Mozart), for which he won a
Clevie Award for Best Actor, P.S. Your Cat is Dead (Vito), for which he won a
Dramalogue Award for Best Actor.. plus numerous other productions.
CREDITS:
The Root of All Evil (2004) (V) .... Dougie Styles
"Mr. Rhodes"
- The Welcome Back Show (1997) TV Episode .... Arnold Dingfelder Horshak
"One Life to Live" (1968) TV Series .... Gary Warren (1994)
Wind (1992) .... Tony
"Darkwing Duck"
- Planet of the Capes (1991) TV Episode (voice) .... Ordinary Guy
Snake Eater II: The Drug Buster (1990) .... Torchy
"Potsworth & Co." (1990) TV Series .... Additional Voices
Snake Eater (1989) .... Torchy
Hellgate (1989) .... Matt
Committed (1988) .... Ronnie
"Cagney & Lacey"
- Rites of Passage (1986) TV Episode .... Jason Weinstein
"Trapper John, M.D."
- Elusive Butterfly (1986) TV Episode .... Kussman
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) .... Allen Hawes
Doin' Time (1985) .... Pappion
"Murder, She Wrote"
- Hooray for Homicide (1984) TV Episode .... Norman Lester, Esq.
Surf II (1984)
... aka Surf II: The End of the Trilogy
"Matt Houston"
- The Beverly Hills Social Club (1983) TV Episode .... Charlie Arbis
The Invisible Woman (1983) (TV) .... Spike Mitchell
"CHiPs"
- Journey to a Spacecraft (1983) TV Episode .... Nick
"The A-Team"
- Mexican Slayride: Part 1 (1983) TV Episode .... Zack
"Rubik, the Amazing Cube" (1983) TV Series (voice) .... Rubik
"The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz Show" (1982) TV Series (voice)
.... Sgt. Squealy
"Laverne and Shirley in the Army" (1981) TV Series (voice) .... Sgt. Squealy
"Alice"
- The Wild One (1981) TV Episode .... Mutner
"The Love Boat"
- Lose One, Win One/For the Record/Mind My Wife (1981) TV Episode .... Casper
Martin
- The Gopher's Oppurtunity/Home Sweet Home/Switch (1979) TV Episode .... Al
Breyer
Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979) .... Frankey
"Welcome Back, Kotter" .... Arnold Horshack (1975-1979)
"Greatest Heroes of the Bible" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Hevet (episode
"Tower of Babel")
Updated:
4/30/2006
Trivia:
Ron is an amazing color and black-and-white pen-and-ink artist. His works have
been shown and sold in New York, Hawaii, and California. He has taken his talent
to the world of children's literature, where he 
