Ralph Macchio is an American actor best known for his role as Daniel LaRusso in three Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai, a sequel television series. He is also known for his roles as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders, Jeremy Andretti in Eight Is Enough, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, Eugene Martone in Crossroads, Archie Rodriguez in Ugly Betty, and his recurring role as Officer Haddix in The Deuce.
Macchio was discovered when he was sixteen years old, and subsequently cast as the recurring character Jeremy Andretti in the television show “Eight Is Enough” (1980-1981). He made his feature film debut in the comedy “Up the Academy” (1980), followed by the film “The Outsiders” (1983). It was his role in the latter film that helped him land the role of Daniel LaRusso in the film “Karate Kid” (1984). This role is widely considered his breakthrough role, and it helped catapult him into Hollywood stardom. It was so successful that it enjoyed not one, but two sequel films: “The Karate Kid Part II” (1986) and “The Karate Kid Part III” (1989).
Other films he appeared in include “Crossroads” (1986), in which he portrayed music student Eugene Martone; the drama “Distant Thunder” (1988), playing the son of John Lithgow’s character; the comedy “Too Much Sun” (1990), directed by Robert Downey Sr. and starring Robert Downey Jr.; the comedy “My Cousin Vinny” (1992), opposite Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei; the ensemble cast romantic comedy “Naked in New York” (1993); the comedy-drama “Can’t Be Heaven” (1999); the thriller “A Good Night to Die” (2003) along with the likes of Michael Rapaport, Gary Stretch, and Ally Sheedy; and the films “Hitchcock” (2012), “A Little Game” (2014), and “Psych: The Movie” (2017), among others.
In addition to his on-screen acting roles, Macchio has also appeared in several successful stage productions. In 1986, he starred in a production of the play “Cuba and His Teddy Bear” along with Robert DeNiro. In 1996, he starred in the lead role as J. Pierrepont Finch in the U.S. revival tour of the Tony Award-winning musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. In 2010, he read the role of the adult Carl Morelli in the Bleecker Street Theater Company’s staged reading of the play “A Room of My Own”, written by Charles Messina; he later starred in an Off-Broadway production of the play from February to March 2016, along with Mario Cantone.
