‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ Star Gabe Kaplan on the Show’s 50th Anniversary & Where He Is Now (Exclusive)
In this business there are stars who are easy to track down and others who prove to be far more challenging. Finding Gabe Kaplan, the brilliant creator and star of the hit comedy series Welcome Back, Kotter started early this year via various calls and email requests. Clearly, we were looking to talk to the comedy genius about Welcome Back, Kotter’s 50th anniversary and the comedy’s enduring legacy, as the series first debuted on Sept. 9, 1975.
After several months, I started to think this interview with Kaplan, who played Mr. Kotter, a Brooklyn-based high school teacher placed in charge of a rough and rowdy remedial class known as “the Sweathogs,” just wasn’t going to happen. Another one of our writers for ReMIND, Denise Ames, put in a good word to another rep and we waited. Out of the blue, on a Monday in July, the great Gabe Kaplan randomly called. Honestly, I’ve talked and met my share of Hollywood A-listers over the years, but hearing his voice (it’s hasn’t changed) warmed my heart and took me back to that 1975 classroom, where Mr. Kotter was managing the cocky Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta), oddball Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), ultra-hip Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and tough guy Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes) through life’s challenges.
Kaplan, who is also the subject of an extended piece in Emmy Magazine this month, told us he still has his character’s infamous green corduroy jacket, along with all the scripts, as he graciously took time to answer some questions and share what’s next for him.
In addition to starring in the series, you were also the creator (along with Alan Sacks). The sitcom was progressive in so many ways, especially with the diversity of the characters — how did it come about?
Everett Collection
Gabe Kaplan: In my stand-up act in the mid ’70s, I talked about the students in my old school. During the 1950s, in most NYC schools, there were five classes in every grade. They would put you in a specific class depending on how bright they thought you were. For instance, in sixth grade, you had 6-1 to 6-5. 6-1 were the brightest kids in the sixth grade, on down to the 5s. I was always in the 4s, which was next to the dumbest. Actually, the 4s were the dumbest. Because the 5s were the criminals. I would say the Sweathogs were between 4s and the 5s.
Alan Sacks, the producer of Chico and the Man, came to the Comedy Store one night with Freddie Prinze and he happened to catch my act. We got together the next day and tried to fashion a sitcom based on my material. … We came up with the concept for Welcome Back, Kotter in one long lunch. The only difference were the adults — Mr. Kotter, Mrs. Kotter (Marcia Strassman) and Mr. Woodman (John Sylvester White). The students were all based on the ones in my act. There were originally five students including a Puerto Rican and a Jew. ABC thought five was too many and Michael Eisner suggested we make one a Puerto Rican Jew. We liked that, and enter Juan Epstein.
When you look back at the four seasons of Welcome Back, Kotter, what episode is your favorite?
My favorite episode is one where Kotter’s father comes to school to see his son teach. The great character actor Harold J. Stone played and actually looked like my father. My dad didn’t think I’d be successful as an entertainer and Kotter’s father thought he was wasting his time as a teacher. Although my father watched the show every week, we never discussed that episode.
Share a funny prank or moment you remember.
Everett Collection
After the first episode, I falsely told John Travolta he had a lot of fan mail in the office. The office wasn’t close to the rehearsal hall, but he trudged over and asked for his letters. He came back disappointed and empty-handed. Everyone laughed a little and he said, “Very funny.” A few weeks later he got a whole canvas sack of fan mail.
How often do you keep up with your surviving castmates John Travolta and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs?
Everett Collection
Larry, John and I had a lot of fun together doing the show. I’ve seen Larry frequently over the years and have seen John at reunion events. I talked to him for the article in Emmy Magazine [the September issue of Emmy Magazine features an in-depth interview with Gabe and others] and it was like we didn’t miss a beat, we had a great time reminiscing. Marcia Strassman’s daughter and my daughter wound up in the same school. One day I heard someone yell “Gabriel” across the schoolyard. I knew instantly who it was. We stayed friendly until she passed. Cancer finally got Marcia but it had one of its hardest battles. Bobby Hegyes and I did a play about Groucho Marx together. Unfortunately Bobby, Ron and John White are also gone now.
You’ve had such a diverse and fascinating career — from originally wanting to play baseball to working as a bellman and then successfully launching a stand-up career … and then moving into acting and writing/recording music … to playing poker professionally! Catch us up on what you are doing now.
I still do a little stand-up and play a little poker. I’m still pretty good at stand-up but a lot funnier at poker. I’ve also written a movie based on a summer I spent in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when I was 14. It’s a coming-of-age story. I have the financing, so look for it in about a year. It’s called Lucky Feinberg. I wanted to play the juvenile lead but the producer thought it was a bad idea.
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Puzzler '80s Comedy Classics
Vol 1, Issue 6
This issue is packed with puzzles and trivia from all your favorite '80s sitcoms.
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