Today, Gabe Kaplan is very well known among his fellow high-level professional poker players, but to the American TV audience, he is closely identified with his portrayal of Gabriel "Gabe" Kotter in the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter."
This popular show, which ran from 1975 to 1979, was about an unconventional high school teacher who, only ten years out of school himself, comes back to teach at the same hard-bittin inner-city Brooklyn school where he had been a student.
His students were a motley but funny gaggle of trouble-prone youth collectively called "the Sweathogs."
Kaplan was marvelous as Kotter, but the brightest star born in this show was John Travolta in the role of Vinnie Barbarino, the greaser who got all the girls.
Kaplan had begun his show biz career doing stand-up comedy. His big break was a series of appearances on the "Johnny Carson Show," which led to his role as Kotter.
No comments:
Post a Comment