Bona fide '80s classic The Karate Kid is 34 years old (11 years older than Ralph Macchio was at the time). But what ever happened to the cast of this uplifting martial arts film? Digital Spy investigates…
Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio became an instant '80s icon thanks to his role as The Karate Kid's fresh-faced Daniel LaRusso. Prior to The Karate Kid's release, he starred in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders alongside Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. After that, he played Danny again in two Karate Kid sequels.
He also starred in My Cousin Vinny and more recently appeared in Entourage, Ugly Betty and Dancing with the Stars. You can currently see him in Cobra Kai, the "problematic" Karate Kid reboot on YouTube Premium, in which Daniel is kind of a douchebag.
Pat Morita
Pat Morita was already a veteran screen star when he took on the role of The Karate Kid's wise mentor Keisuke Miyagi. He appeared in more than 20 episodes of Happy Days (stretching from 1975-1983) before earning an Oscar nomination for The Karate Kid in 1985. He appeared in the film's numerous sequels (including the Hilary Swank version), and continued to work in TV and film until his death in 2005.
Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Shue made her movie debut in The Karate Kid and swiftly became a staple of classic '80s cinema. Roles in the Back to the Future sequels, Cocktail and Adventures in Babysitting followed, with a Best Actress Oscar nomination coming for Leaving Las Vegas in the mid-'90s. In recent years, we've seen Shue in Battle of the Sexes.
William Zabka
As Danny's blond-haired nemesis (and Fernando Torres lookalike) Johnny Lawrence, William Zabka mastered the art of '80s teen movie jock villainy. He reprised his role in The Karate Kid sequel and also featured in European Vacation.
Zabka has maintained a presence in front of the camera (How I Met Your Mother), but intriguingly it's his behind-the-scenes work that's won him the most acclaim. In 2004, he earned an Oscar nomination for short film Most. Nowadays he's back acting, like Macchio, in Cobra Kai.
Martin Kove
The Karate Kid's hard-ass sensei John Kreese was played by Martin Kove, a veteran of TV show Cagney & Lacey and guest spots in numerous other classic US TV shows (Gunsmoke, Kojak, Rockford Files, The Incredible Hulk). He returned for two more Karate Kid movies and also featured in Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Kove has continued to work prolifically, with close to 200 credits to his name. He currently has 16(!) upcoming roles in various stages of production on IMDb.
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Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
Deputy Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.)
