William Zabka

William Michael Zabka (/ˈzæbkə/; born October 20, 1965), also known as Billy Zabka, is an American actor, martial artist, screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for his roles in several iconic 1980s films, such as his role as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid (1984) and The Karate Kid Part II (1986), and the spin-off TV series Cobra Kai (2018–present).[1] In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing and producing the short film Most.

William Zabka
Zabka at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2019
Born	William Michael Zabka (1965-10-20) October 20, 1965 New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor producer screenwriter martial artist
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Stacie Zabka ( m. 2008)
Children	2

Early life

Zabka was born in New York City, the son of Nancy (Heimert) Zabka, business liaison, producer, and production assistant, and Stanley William Zabka, a director, writer and composer.[2] He has a brother and a sister. His father was assistant director of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the first two years of Carson's tenure, and worked as production manager on a number of motion pictures, including the Chuck Norris film Forced Vengeance (1982).[3]

Career

Zabka's breakout acting role came in his first movie, The Karate Kid (1984). He played Johnny Lawrence, the main antagonist to the title character and protagonist played by Ralph Macchio. He had no training in karate at the time but was an accomplished wrestler.[4] His participation in the film inspired him to learn the martial art of Tang Soo Do and he later earned a second degree green belt.[1]

During the 1980s, Zabka appeared in the comedy movies Just One of the Guys (1985) and Back to School (1986). Zabka also co-starred on the CBS television series The Equalizer as the son of the title character (1986–89). He also played Jack, Audrey's jock boyfriend, in National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985). He later tried to step away from playing the class bully character. He mentioned in an interview how he was sometimes hassled in public by random people because of the villainous characters he was best known for.[5][6]

During the 1990s and 2000s, he acted mostly in independent films while studying to be a filmmaker. In 2003, he wrote and produced the short film Most, shot on location in the Czech Republic and Poland. Most (aka The Bridge) had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2003 and won numerous awards at prestigious film festivals, including Best of Festival at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films in 2003. In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Most in the Live Action Short Film category.[5][6][7]

In 2007, Zabka directed and starred in a music video for the band No More Kings entitled "Sweep the Leg". The video stars Zabka as a caricature of himself, living in a trailer in the desert and obsessed with his role in The Karate Kid. The video includes cameos by several of the original Karate Kid cast members, including Martin Kove and Ralph Macchio.[8][9] In 2010, Zabka directed Rascal Flatts in their music video for the song "Why Wait" and also directed the video for their 2017 hit "Yours If You Want It." Also in 2010, Zabka made a cameo appearance in the comedy movie Hot Tub Time Machine. In 2013, Zabka, along with Macchio, guest starred in the season 8 episode of How I Met Your Mother, "The Bro Mitzvah". Zabka also appeared in several episodes of the sitcom's ninth season. Zabka also directed commercials for clients including Little Tikes and Verizon at Heresy in Venice, California.[10]

Zabka in 2015

On August 4, 2017, it was announced that Zabka would reprise his role as Johnny Lawrence in a 10-episode Karate Kid revival series for YouTube Premium titled Cobra Kai that debuted in 2018. He also co-executive produces the series with Ralph Macchio. The series is set 34 years after the events of the first film, and revolves around a down and out Johnny who, seeking to rebuild his life, reopens the Cobra Kai dojo. It reignites his rivalry with a now-successful Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), who has been struggling to maintain balance in his life without the guidance of his now-deceased mentor, Mr. Miyagi.[11][12]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	The Karate Kid	Johnny Lawrence
1985	Just One of the Guys	Greg Tolan
	National Lampoon's European Vacation	Jack
1986	Back to School	Chas Osborne
	The Karate Kid Part II	Johnny Lawrence
1988	A Tiger's Tale	Randy
1989	The Karate Kid Part III	Johnny Lawrence	Archive Footage
1991	For Parents Only	Ted	Alternative title: Mean Parents Suck
1992	Shootfighter: Fight to the Death	Ruben	Alternative title: Shootfighter
1994	Unlawful Passage	Howie
1995	Shootfighter II	Ruben
	The Power Within	Raymond Vonn	Alternative title: Power Man
1997	High Voltage	Bulldog
1999	Interceptors	Dave	Alternative titles: Interceptor Force Predator 3: Intercepters The Last Line of Defence
2000	Falcon Down	Security Guard John
2001	Ablaze	Curt Peters
	Mindstorm	Rojack	Alternative titles: Artificial Telepathy Project: Human Weapon
2002	Gale Force	Rance
	Hyper Sonic	The Executive
	Landspeed	Bob Bailey
	Dark Descent	Marty (Opening credits only)	Alternative title: Descent Into Darkness
	Antibody	Otto Emmerick
2003	Most	-	Alternative title: The Bridge, screenwriter & producer
2004	Roomies	Slick Salesman	Alternative title: Wild Roomies
2007	Smiley Face	Prison guard
	Cake: A Wedding Story	Sam	Alternative title: Cake: A Wedding Comedy
	Starting from Scratch	Bill Bowman
2010	Hot Tub Time Machine	Rick Steelman
	Mean Parents Suck	Detective Ted Clement
2014	Where Hope Grows	Milton Malcolm
2015	The Dog Who Saved Summer	Officer Johnny
2016	The Man in the Silo	Kevin
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	The Greatest American Hero	Clarence Mortner Jr.	1 episode
1984	Gimme a Break!	Jeffery	1 episode
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Rick Peterson	1 episode
1984–1985	E/R	Druggie Kid/Thief	1 episode
1985–1989	The Equalizer	Scott McCall	9 episodes
1996	To the Ends of Time	Alexander	Television movie
2000	Epoch	Joe	Television movie
	Python	Greg Larsen	Television movie
2002	Python II	Greg Larsen	Television movie, credited as Billy Zabka
2013	Robot Chicken	Johnny Lawrence, Colonel Steven Shay, Werewolf (voice)	Guest, Season 6, Episode 15, "Caffeine-Induced Aneurysm"
2013–2014	How I Met Your Mother	Clown/Himself	Guest Star (Season 8), Recurring Role (Season 9)
2014	Psych	Coach Bagg	Guest (Season 8)
2015	Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street	Sensei Jeff	Guest, Season 2, Episode 9, "Stanley and the Tattoo of Tall Tales"
2018–present	Cobra Kai	Johnny Lawrence	Also executive producer

Award nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1985	Young Artist Award	Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama	The Karate Kid	Nominated
2004	Academy Awards	Best Short Film, Live Action	Most (shared with Bobby Garabedian)

References

1. "Sweep the Leg! Interview with the real Johnny, William Zabka". Kung Fu Magazine. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
2. "William Zabka Biography (1965-)". Filmreference.com. October 20, 1965. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
3. "A Little About Us..." Zabka.com. March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
4. O'Neal, Sean (June 8, 2010). "William Zabka". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
5. Fretts, Bruce (March 31, 2014). "Billy Zabka on How I Met Your Mother, the Zabkatage, and Sweeping the Leg". Vulture.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
6. Sellers, John (June 23, 2011). "And the Number One Dick Is...Zabka!". GQ. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
7. Goldberg, Lesley (August 4, 2017). "'Karate Kid' TV Sequel, Starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, a Go at YouTube Red (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
8. Frye, Cory (March 10, 2018). "Of Being and Johnny Lawrence (Sweep the Leg)". Albany Democrat-Herald. Corvallis Gazette-Times. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
9. Strauss, Chris (October 9, 2014). "'Karate Kid' villain Billy Zabka is still best friends with the Cobra Kais". USA Today. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
10. Weldon, Sarah (August 4, 2017). "The Karate Kid: Where Are They Now?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
11. Goldberg, Lesley (August 4, 2017). "'Karate Kid' TV Sequel, Starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, a Go at YouTube Red". MSN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
12. Topel, Fred (April 27, 2019). "'Cobra Kai' Season 2: About That 'Karate Kid' Reunion in Episode 6…". /Film. Retrieved October 21, 2019.

External links

• William Zabka on IMDb
• William Zabka at the TCM Movie Database
• William Zabka at AllMovie
• Profile, zabka.com