Marcia Strassman

Marcia Strassman was an actress best known to TV viewers for playing Gabriel Kaplan's wife on the 1970s comedy Welcome Back Kotter.

A native of New York City, Strassman grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. She began modeling at an early age, and by her teens she was performing in off-Broadway plays.

By the late 1960s she was scoring small television roles on programs that included The Patty Duke Show and Ironside. During the first season of the hit comedy M*A*S*H, she played Nurse Margie Cutler.

Several other guest roles led to her breakthrough as Julie, wife of Gabe Kotter, the high school teacher played by Kaplan on Welcome Back, Kotter. The ABC hit aired from 1975 to 1979 and launched actor John Travolta to stardom.

After Kotter, Strassman continued to appear on television for more than three decades. Her dozens of credits included guest parts on The Love Boat, The Rockford Files, Tremors, Third Watch and Magnum, P.I. She also had regular or recurring roles on such shows as Good Time Harry, E/R, TV 101, Booker, Noah Knows Best and Providence. 

Her feature films included the hit family comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its sequel, Honey I Blew Up the Kid.

In addition to her work as a performer, Strassman was active in the Screen Actors Guild, including a stint on the organization's board, and she volunteered for several charities.

Strassman died on October 25, 2014, in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 66.