Ralph Macchio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ralph Macchio
Macchio in 2019
Born	Ralph George Macchio Jr. (1961-11-04) November 4, 1961 (age 63) Huntington, New York, U.S.
Education	Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, New York
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1980–present
Notable work	The Outsiders The Karate Kid My Cousin Vinny
Spouse(s)	Phyllis Fierro ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	2

Ralph George Macchio Jr. (born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is most famous for playing Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid movies and the TV series Cobra Kai. This role made him a star in the 1980s and brought him back into the spotlight decades later.

Macchio also played important roles like Johnny Cade in the 1983 movie The Outsiders and Bill Gambini in the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny. For his amazing work, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.

Early Life and Discovery

Ralph Macchio was born in Huntington, New York. His father, Ralph Sr., owned several businesses, and his mother's name is Rosalie. He has a younger brother named Steven. His family has Italian and Greek roots.

Macchio started taking tap dancing lessons when he was only three years old. His talent was noticed by an agent when he was 16, which helped start his acting career. He graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School West in 1979. Interestingly, he had a little bit of karate training in elementary school, long before he was cast in his most famous role.

Acting Career

Macchio's career took off in the early 1980s with roles in TV shows and movies that made him a household name.

First Big Roles

From 1980 to 1981, Macchio appeared in the TV show Eight Is Enough as Jeremy Andretti. Soon after, he landed the role of Johnny Cade in The Outsiders (1983). This movie, directed by the famous Francis Ford Coppola, featured a cast of rising stars, including Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze.

Macchio in 2017

The Karate Kid Universe

Macchio's role in The Outsiders helped him get the part that would define his career: Daniel LaRusso.

The Original Karate Kid Movies

In 1984, Macchio starred in The Karate Kid. He played a teenager who moves to a new town and gets picked on by bullies. He learns karate from his wise mentor, Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita), and learns to stand up for himself. The movie was a huge success and made Macchio incredibly famous.

He returned as Daniel in the sequels The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). In 2014, Macchio revealed that he owns the yellow 1947 Ford car that Mr. Miyagi gave his character in the first movie.

Cobra Kai

Decades later, Macchio returned to his famous role in the TV series Cobra Kai, which ran from 2018 to 2025. The show continues the story of Daniel LaRusso and his old rival, Johnny Lawrence. It explores their lives as adults and what happens when they start their own karate dojos. The show was a big hit, first on YouTube and later on Netflix.

In 2022, Macchio wrote a book called Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, where he shared his memories of making the movies and the show.

Karate Kid: Legends

In 2025, Macchio played Daniel LaRusso again in the movie Karate Kid: Legends, starring alongside action star Jackie Chan.

Other Roles

Besides the Karate Kid series, Macchio has appeared in many other movies and TV shows.

In 1986, he starred in the movie Crossroads as a young music student. In 1992, he played a man wrongly accused of a crime in the popular comedy My Cousin Vinny.

He also performed on stage. In 1996, he starred in a traveling production of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

More recently, he had recurring roles on TV shows like Ugly Betty (2008-2009) and The Deuce (2017–2019). He also competed on the show Dancing with the Stars in 2011, where he finished in fourth place.

Personal Life

When he was 15, Macchio's grandmother introduced him to Phyllis Fierro. They got married in 1987 and have two children, Julia (born 1992) and Daniel (born 1996). Phyllis is a nurse practitioner. His daughter, Julia, even appeared in Cobra Kai as Daniel LaRusso's cousin, Vanessa.

Macchio is a big fan of the New York Islanders hockey team. In April 2025, after more than 40 years of playing a karate student on screen, Macchio earned his own black belt in karate.

Selected Filmography

Film

Television