Robert Hegyes
Robert Hegyes, best known for his role as Juan Epstein in 70s classic “Welcome Back, Kotter,” has died after suffering from an apparent heart attack, the Star Ledger reported. He was 60. Reuters

Sherman Hemsley -- who played George Jefferson on The Jeffersons -- died of natural causes Tuesday, just a few months after Welcome Back Kotter star Robert Hegyes died of a heart attack.

Hemsley was 74 years old when he passed away in El Paso, Texas, according to a police source there who spoke with gossip website TMZ.com, which broke the news of his death Tuesday.

The sad news comes about six months after the television world was saddened by the death of another beloved figure, Welcome Back Kotter star Robert Hegyes, who died of a heart attack in January at only 60 years old, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.

Hegyes was best known for portraying one of the thuggish Sweathogs, namely Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein, on ABC's hit sit-com Welcome Back Kotter.

Robert Hegyes went on to guest-star on more than 30 TV shows including Saturday Night Live and NewsRadio, and to act in movies including Underground Aces and Bar Hopping.

Sherman Hemsley's hilarious performances first on the CBS TV series All in the Family then on the spinoff hit The Jeffersons made him into a beloved figure in television history, and his death Tuesday struck a chord with many fans throughout the world.

Hemsley, who had no wife or children, was also a star of Jim Henson's hit TV comedy Dinosaurs, and he played a deacon on the NBC show Amen.

He was living in El Paso up until his death on Tuesday, according to TMZ.