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Time to catch up with some of our favorite stars! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be exploring the careers of the major cast members from the first “Karate Kid” movie.
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00:00What's going on? Oh, just checking out the neighborhood.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be exploring the careers of the major cast
00:10members of the first Karate Kid movie. And when the time is right,
00:17you'll strike back.
00:20Tony O'Dell, Jimmy. Tony O'Dell enjoyed a fairly fruitful career on TV prior to
00:34appearing as Cobra Kai member Jimmy in The Karate Kid. The actor enjoyed a
00:39recurring role as Alan on the 80s sitcom Head of the Class, and also chalked up
00:44appearances on shows like Airwolf and Kids Incorporated. O'Dell also showed up
00:49in a number of cult horror movies, most notably Evils of the Night and Killbots,
00:54better known under its more memorable title, Shopping Mall. He continues making
01:00the odd television walk-on to this day, including the reprisal of his role on
01:05Cobra Kai. Sorry I'm late. Jimmy, Jimmy and the kids send their love.
01:14Ron Thomas, Bobby Brown.
01:16I want him out of commission.
01:18But Sensei, I can beat this guy.
01:20Bobby Brown was last year's runner-up.
01:22I don't want him beaten.
01:24But I'll be disqualified.
01:26The actors who portrayed Johnny Lawrence's Cobra Kai classmates reprised their roles in The Karate Kid Part II and Cobra Kai.
01:34But not all of them made a lot of appearances in movies and TV after their
01:39brief flirtation with fame. Ron Thomas received his big break with The Karate
01:44Kid, but only appeared in a couple of movies afterwards. Thomas, like Tony O'Dell,
01:49worked on a horror movie, 1987's Night Screams, as well as a sex comedy titled
01:56The Big Bets. The actor also eventually became a real sensei. So what is it you
02:01need to get done? What changes do you need to make? Who do you need to
02:04apologize to or forgive? What is it that's eating at your soul? You still have
02:08time. Other notable appearances include the aforementioned Cobra Kai, as well as
02:13an episode of Tosh.0.
02:15The guy who broke The Karate Kid's knee, Bobby Brown.
02:19Boo!
02:21Like Kreese got a new number one student, only took him 25 years.
02:25Randy Heller, Lucille LaRusso.
02:28Honey, forget it.
02:30Hey, you were great.
02:32I couldn't be prouder.
02:35Randy Heller already had a number of film and television credits prior to nabbing
02:40the role of Daniel's mom, Lucille LaRusso, on The Karate Kid. She had broken
02:45down barriers in the 1970 sitcom Soap, appearing as one of the medium's first
02:50lesbian characters. Heller also worked in the theater, performing in dramas and
02:55musicals to much critical acclaim.
02:58It'll get better. She'll come around.
03:01She continued to act after her 80s success, as well as doing tons of walk-on
03:07TV work, as well as securing a recurring role on Mad Men as Don Draper's secretary,
03:13Ida Blankenship.
03:14It's a business of sadists and masochists, and you know which one you are.
03:19Larry B. Scott, Jerry.
03:21Fight!
03:24Fight to the end!
03:26Larry B. Scott may have only had a small role in The Karate Kid as Jerry, but it's
03:31highly likely that audiences watching in the 1980s knew the actor from another famous
03:36franchise, Revenge of the Nerds. Scott played a supremely memorable Lamar Luttrell in those
03:42films, but the actor was also very busy performing in many other productions throughout that
03:47decade and right to the modern day.
03:50I love you all. I love you all. Thank you. Thank you.
03:54Larry B. Scott may not have been a major character in The Karate Kid, but he was a huge
03:59presence for a generation of film fans. In addition to acting, he has worked as a director
04:04and producer as well.
04:06Rob Garrison, Tommy.
04:08Get him a body bag! Yeah!
04:12Rob Garrison's emotional send-off on Cobra Kai sadly mirrored the real-life loss of the
04:17actor in 2019. However, the touching sequence proved to audiences just how powerful minor
04:24characters can be when their stories are treated with respect.
04:29We're in the same homeroom. We used to talk all the time. I was building up the courage
04:34to ask her out when someone else struck first.
04:39Garrison was a steady and dependable TV man throughout his acting career, appearing on
04:44shows like MacGyver and St. Elsewhere. But the actor also showed up in some cult classics
04:49as well. Garrison was featured in the disco slasher Prom Night, as well as one of Johnny
04:55Lawrence's favorite films, Iron Eagle. He did some local theater after retiring from
05:00acting, but it was his return in Cobra Kai that served as a near-perfect coda for Rob
05:05Garrison's career.
05:07Time for what? Meet someone new? Change your life? Do what you want to do.
05:19William Zabka, Johnny Lawrence.
05:23William Zabka never really stopped working after appearing as Johnny Lawrence in The
05:28Karate Kid. The actor spent his time learning martial arts in the wake of his big success
05:33and appeared in more martial arts-focused films in the 80s and 90s, such as the Shoot
05:38Fighter series.
05:45Zabka also appeared in comedies like National Lampoon's European Vacation and expanded
05:50his craft into the world of directing and producing. Cobra Kai may have increased William
05:55Zabka's profile in the modern day, but the man has been a fixture on movies and TV shows,
06:01large and small, and this doesn't look to be changing anytime soon.
06:11Martin Kove, John Kreese.
06:21Martin Kove actually co-starred with William Zabka in one of the aforementioned Shoot Fighter
06:27films, but if you think that's the long and short of Kove's filmography, then think again.
06:32The man has chalked up over 200 credits on IMDb at the time of this writing, with Kove's
06:38work dating all the way back to the 1970s.
06:42You're out of gas, you idiot.
06:46Out of gas?
06:48He's appeared on nearly every television show you can think of, and has shown up in everything
06:52from exploitation horror like The Last House on the Left, blockbusters like Rambo First
06:57Blood Part II, and cult classics like Death Race 2000. Kove has also done soap opera work,
07:03A-flick work, B-movie work — the man just likes to work, and it shows.
07:08I thought you were dead.
07:11You ain't the only one, kid.
07:15I've been away a long, long time.
07:17Elizabeth Shue, Ally Mills
07:20So how do you like the valley so far?
07:22Well, it hasn't been dull.
07:24Was Newark dull?
07:26How did you know I was from Newark?
07:28I asked.
07:29Elizabeth Shue is perhaps one of the most successful alumni from The Karate Kid, having
07:34not only enjoyed a fruitful career in the 80s, but having parlayed that success into
07:39major award nominations and critical acclaim. Specifically, it was her dramatic turn in
07:44Leaving Las Vegas alongside Nicolas Cage that earned Shue attention from the Oscars and
07:49Golden Globes. But she didn't stop there. She balanced genre fare like The Boys and
07:55CSI Crime Scene Investigation with comedic work on Netflix's On the Verge.
08:00So I guess Snow's a whiteout.
08:02Oh, and did we mention she was in Back to the Future Part II and Adventures in Babysitting
08:07as well? Elizabeth Shue has enjoyed one hell of a career.
08:10You look amazing.
08:12Oh, thank you. So do you. God, when was the last time we saw each other?
08:17I think it was senior year.
08:18Senior year.
08:19Pat Morita, Mr. Miyagi
08:22Wipe your mind clean. Everything but tree. Nothing exists. Whole world. Only tree.
08:33Pat Morita may not have enjoyed the sort of crossover success in the films that some
08:37of his other Karate Kid co-stars did, but the actor more than made up for this by being
08:42an absolute TV mainstay. Morita was already well-known to audiences prior to introducing
08:48Mr. Miyagi to the world, thanks to well-regarded work on Happy Days and M.A.S.H.
08:53Corporal?
08:54Sir?
08:55Have a nurse wake me. A little at a time.
08:59Morita would reprise caricatures of his Miyagi character in various commercials, and he
09:04also did voice acting work for films like Mulan. But the man unfortunately battled alcoholism
09:10throughout his life. It was the disease which would ultimately contribute to his death in
09:152005 from kidney failure.
09:17You're the best friend I ever had.
09:21Are you pretty okay too?
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09:42Ralph Macchio, Daniel LaRusso
09:45What am I gonna do, moan and groan?
09:47Anybody else would.
09:48Yeah, who'd listen anyway?
09:50Me.
09:52Oh, really?
09:53Ralph Macchio may have broken through into the mainstream with The Karate Kid, but the
09:57writing was already on the wall back in the early 80s, thanks to another memorable Macchio
10:02performance in The Outsiders. The actor had another hit with My Cousin Vinny in 1992,
10:08and even played himself on the HBO series Entourage, being unafraid to comment on his
10:13Karate Kid legacy.
10:14You know when it comes to the mansion, it's every man for himself.
10:17Yeah, but you said you're done with all that.
10:19I lied. I'm going tonight.
10:22I oughta kick your ass.
10:24You oughta try.
10:26More recently, Macchio appeared on another HBO series, The Deuce. But it's been Cobra
10:32Kai that perhaps evokes the warmest and fuzziest feelings inside Ralph Macchio's fans. After
10:38all, sometimes it's nice to come home again.
10:41It's funny. When I was a kid, you seemed to always have all the answers, and I guess I
10:47thought when I got older I'd have it all figured out too.
10:50Are you a fan of the franchise? Have you followed any of these actors' careers? Let us know
10:54in the comments.
10:56I understand.
10:59Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to
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11:17you
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