Gay Actor Ron "Horshack" Palillo Dies

Openly gay actor Ron Palillo died of a heart attack today at the age of 63. Some of you will remember him as Horshack on the hit 70s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. TMZ has the story:

We're told Palillo was found by his partner of many years Joseph Gramm around 4:00 AM. Gramm called an ambulance and Palillo was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. We're told the heart attack was very unexpected. Palillo was 63. According to one of Palillo's colleagues at G-Star School of the Arts, Palillo had appeared to be in good health ... but was a heavy smoker. We're told he had been suffering from a bad cough and had even scheduled a doctor's appointment for today.

In 2009 I met Palillo after he appeared in Broadway Backwards, the annual LGBT Center fundraiser in which performers sing showtune standards written for the opposite sex. Palillo's skit was a hilarious satire of Proposition 8 and he was fantastic in it.