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Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio Photo Op GalaxyCon Richmond 2019 (3x4 cropped).jpg
Macchio in 2019
Born
Ralph George Macchio Jr.

(1961-11-04) November 4, 1961 (age 63)
Occupation Actor
Years active 1979–present
Spouse(s)
Phyllis Fierro
(m. 1987)
Children 2

Ralph George Macchio Jr. (born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is famous for playing Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid movies. These include the first film in 1984, and its sequels in 1986 and 1989. He also plays Daniel in Cobra Kai (2018–present), a TV series that continues the story.

Ralph Macchio has also starred as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders (1983). He was William Gambini in My Cousin Vinny (1992). In 2024, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This star is right next to the one for his Karate Kid co-star, Pat Morita.

Early Life

Ralph Macchio was born in Huntington, New York. His parents are Rosalie and Ralph George Macchio Sr. His father owned laundromats and a company that handled wastewater. Ralph has a younger brother named Steven. His father has both Italian and Greek family roots. His mother's family is from Italy. Ralph shared in 1980 that his family came from Naples. He finished high school in New York in 1979.

Ralph started learning tap dancing when he was just three years old. A talent agent discovered him when he was 16.

Career

Starting Out

Ralph Macchio's first big role was Jeremy Andretti. He played this character for two seasons in the TV series Eight Is Enough. After that, he got the part of Johnny Cade in the 1983 movie The Outsiders.

The Karate Kid Star

His work in The Outsiders helped him get the role of Daniel LaRusso. This was for the huge hit movie The Karate Kid in 1984. Ralph kept playing Daniel in two more movies: The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). In The Karate Kid, he played a high school student. This student learned karate from his friend and teacher, Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi was played by Pat Morita. The Karate Kid movies made Ralph Macchio very famous.

Other Cool Roles

In 1986, Ralph appeared in the movie Crossroads. He played Eugene Martone, a music student. That same year, he acted on Broadway in a play called Cuba and His Teddy Bear. In 1992, Ralph starred in the funny movie My Cousin Vinny. He played Billy Gambini, who was wrongly accused of a crime.

In 1996, Ralph played the main role in a musical called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He toured the U.S. with this show and got good reviews. He remembered dancing in a high school play of the same musical. He said he was known as the "Dancing Kid" because he had been dancing since he was three.

In 2008, Ralph appeared in the TV series Ugly Betty. He played Archie Rodriguez, a local politician. In 2011, Ralph competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. He made it to the semi-finals and finished in fourth place.

Cobra Kai and Beyond

Ralph Macchio (36077374162)
Macchio in 2017

In 2013, Ralph Macchio appeared in How I Met Your Mother. In this show, one character joked that Daniel LaRusso was not the real karate kid. They said it was Johnny Lawrence, Daniel's rival.

In 2014, there was a party for the 30th anniversary of The Karate Kid. Ralph shared that the yellow 1947 Ford car from the first movie was in his garage. This was the car Mr. Miyagi gave to Daniel.

In 2017, it was announced that Ralph would play Daniel LaRusso again. This was for a new TV series called Cobra Kai. The show started in 2018. Ralph also helps produce the series. Cobra Kai takes place 33 years after the first movie. It shows the story from Johnny Lawrence's point of view. Johnny decides to open the Cobra Kai karate dojo again. This brings back his old rivalry with Daniel. Daniel has been trying to live his life without his teacher, Mr. Miyagi, who has passed away.

In 2022, Ralph wrote a book about his life. It is called Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me. In the book, he talks about the Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai.

Personal Life

Ralph Macchio met his future wife, Phyllis Fierro, through his grandmother. He was 15 years old at the time. They got married on April 5, 1987. They have two children. Their daughter, Julia, was born in 1992. Their son, Daniel, was born in 1996 and is named after Ralph's character, Daniel LaRusso. Phyllis is a nurse. Julia appeared in Cobra Kai as her father's character's cousin, Vanessa LaRusso.

Ralph is a big fan of the New York Islanders hockey team. In 2016, a special bobblehead doll was made of him. It showed him in the team's uniform doing the famous "crane kick" pose from The Karate Kid.

What He's Been In

Movies

Year Title Role Notes
1980 Up the Academy Chooch Bambalazi
1982 High Powder Eddie Television film
Dangerous Company Denny Brody
1983 The Outsiders Johnny Cade
1984 The Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso
Teachers Eddie Pilikian
The Three Wishes of Billy Grier Billy Grier Television film
1986 Crossroads Eugene Martone
The Karate Kid Part II Daniel LaRusso
1988 Distant Thunder Jack Lambert
1989 The Karate Kid Part III Daniel LaRusso
1990 Too Much Sun Frank Jr.
1992 The Last P.O.W.? The Bobby Garwood Story Robert Garwood Television film
My Cousin Vinny Bill Gambini
1998 Dizzyland N/A Short film
The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue Timmy Brisby Voice, direct-to-video
1999 Can't Be Heaven Hubbie Darling
2000 The Office Party Sean Short film
2001 Popcorn Shrimp Cop #2
2003 A Good Night to Die Donnie
2006 Beer League Maz
2009 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead Bobby Bianchi
2010 Wax On, F*ck Off Himself, concept writer Short film
2012 Hitchcock Joseph Stefano
Holiday Spin Ruben Television film
2013 He's Way More Famous Than You Himself
2014 A Little Game Tom
2015 Lost Cat Corona Dominic
2017 Psych: The Movie Nick Conforth Television film
2018 A Dog and Pony Show Aaron
2025 Karate Kid: Legends Daniel LaRusso Post-production
Also executive producer

TV Shows

Year Title Role Notes
1980–1981 Eight Is Enough Jeremy Andretti Recurring role (19 episodes)
1982 CBS Afternoon Playhouse Tony Barnett Episode: "Journey to Survival"
1999 The Outer Limits Dr. Neal Eberhardt Episode: "The Other Side"
2000 Chicken Soup for the Soul Max Episode: "Letters to Suzie"
Twice in a Lifetime Officer Dan Payello/Phillip Barbosa Episode: "My Blue Heaven"
2005 Entourage Himself Episode: "Aquamansion"
2007 Head Case Episode: "Ralph Macchio and Liz Phair"
2008–2009 Ugly Betty Archie Rodriguez Recurring role (11 episodes)
2010 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Louis Marciano Episode: "Inhumane Society"
Psych Nick Conforth Episode: "We'd Like to Thank the Academy"
2011 The Whole Truth Frankie Berlito Episode: "Lost in Translation"
Dancing with the Stars Himself (contestant) Placed in fourth (17 episodes)
2012 Happily Divorced Frankie Episodes: "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (Parts 1 & 2)
2013 Robot Chicken Daniel LaRusso, Colonel Steven Shay, Janitor Voice, episode: "Caffeine-Induced Aneurysm"
How I Met Your Mother Himself Episode: "The Bro Mitzvah"
2014 Psych Logan Phelps Episode: "Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement"
2016 Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe Himself/roaster Television special
2017–2019 The Deuce Officer Haddix Recurring role (17 episodes)
2017 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Himself Special Guest (Season 13, Episode 8)
2018 Kevin Can Wait Alviti 2 episodes: "The Smoking Bun" and "Phat Monkey"
Conan Himself Episode: "Conan Without Borders: Japan"; pre-recorded video clip
2018–present Cobra Kai Daniel LaRusso Main role, also directed "Sleeper"
Continuation of The Karate Kid film series

On Stage

Year Production Role Theater
1986 Cuba and his Teddy Bear Teddy The Public Theater
1996–1997 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying J. Pierrepont Finch US national tour

Music Videos

Music videos
Year Title Artist Role
2007 Sweep the Leg No More Kings Himself / Daniel LaRusso
2010 "Had Enough" Danko Jones Dr. Lee Dorian
2011 "I Think Bad Thoughts"
2012 "The Ballad of Danko Jones"
2024 "The Karate Kid" Coldplay Busker

Video Games

Year Title Role
2020 Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues Daniel LaRusso
2022 Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ralph Macchio para niños

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