Actor Ron Palillo reveals the downer origins of "the Horshack laugh"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/welcome-back-kotter/kotter-the-movie-the-reaction-161120.php

Who among us wasn't thrilled to hear that Ice Cube, the rap artist behind such hits as "Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here," and "Fuck Dying" would be taking over the beloved title role in the movie adaptation of Welcome Back, Kotter. Gabe Kaplan, the original Kotter, told Access Hollywood Cube "is the perfect guy... He has shown what kind of crossover appeal he has." Even the original Horshack, Ron Palillo, was approached for comment; after jokingly suggesting he "should play Mr. Woodman," he then managed to put a swift, awkward end to all the nostalgic fun with this downer of a story:

He has officially retired his ultimate crowd-pleaser, the Horshack laugh — a gag that has haunted him for years.

"You know where that came from?" he says. "When I was 10 years old my dad died of lung cancer. And the last week he was alive the only way he was able to breathe was by making that noise.

Many thanks to Palillo, and his tale of the Horshack Cancer Death Rattle, which will likely drain a good portion of any joy we derive from watching the Sweathogs in the future. Let's hope John Travolta doesn't choose to share any similarly disturbing revelations on the origins of "up your nose with a rubber hose" that involve his gardening-enthusiast father's cruel and unorthodox disciplinary methods.

[johnnie]

1. Yeah

He's been telling that story on every show he has been on for the last 30 years.

[CBGLuthier]

2. They left out the next part

"I didn't realize until I was two or three years into the show that I had actually taken my father's death gasp and turned it into a national joke. … That story itself put me on a shrink's couch for years to come."



Leaving that part out makes it sound like he did it on purpose.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. Here's the link to the full story that "Defamer" excerpted:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=1728414&page=1

[underpants]

3. Ice Cube does have a lot of cross over appeal

Fridays was hilarious and so was "Are we there yet?" pretty funny for a standard movie like that.

Now as for the mystery of Gabe Kaplan. Where did he go to? Well it turns out that SOMEONE back in the 70's gave him the stock tip of the century (Microsoft? Apple?) and he is stinking rich 10 times over. He is well known as a mark for golf hustlers but he doesn't care because he has that much money. He plays golf and plays cards every day. --this info is from Rick Reilly's "Who's your Caddy?" book