Ron Palillo

Ron Palillo
Born	April 2, 1949 (1949-04-02) (age 60) Cheshire, Connecticut, U.S.

Ronald Gabriel "Ron" Palillo (born April 2, 1949) is an American television and film actor, perhaps best known for his role as high school student Arnold Dingfelder Horshack on the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, which aired from 1975 to 1979.^[1]

Life

Palillo was born in Cheshire, Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut (where he returned to teach during the late 1990s).

Career

After Welcome Back, Kotter, Palillo appeared in supporting roles in various television series and performed the voice in various animated series such as Laverne and Shirley in the Army, Darkwing Duck, and Rubik, the Amazing Cube where he played the lead character. In 1996, Palillo played himself in several episodes of Ellen, where he became the love interest of Ellen's friend Audrey. Outside of acting, Palillo is also an artist, having provided the art for two children's books: The Red Wings of Christmas and A Gift for the Contessa. He is credited on these as "Ronald G. Paolillo", which he uses in memory of his father.

Palillo returned to New York in 1991, and played such diverse theatre roles as Mozart in Amadeus, George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls- to name just a few. He appeared on Broadway in 2008 in Broadway Backwards 4- a charity event for people with AIDS.

In 1996, Palillo hosted a promotional event in New York City's Grand Central Terminal, where he and actors dressed in 1970s clothing distributed special MetroCards publicizing a week of 1970s programming on VH1 to passing commuters. These MetroCards are very rare today and have sold for as much as $300–$400 on eBay. In 2007, Ron introduced a new clothing line specializing in limited-edition t-shirts produced by Rotter and Friends.

In 2005, his first full length play, The Lost Boy, the true story of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, was produced in New York State to unanimously glowing reviews. A new mounting will occur in 2009 with Palillo playing the title character. A film version of the play is also in discussion.

His film role as Micah Rood in The Curse of Micah Rood has been winning awards- including 'Best Actor' in film festivals across the country^{[citation needed]}.

Palillo, is now living in Palm Beach County, Florida, where he teaches at G-Star School of the Arts for Motion Pictures and Broadcasting.

External links

• Ron Palillo at the Internet Movie Database
• Corporate Speakers site for Ron
• Would you wear a T-shirt designed by Horshack?
• Rotter and Friends Palillo Designed Shirt

References

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