Saturday, February 02, 2008

Ralph Macchio

Ralph George Macchio is a former child star best known for his role as "Danny LaRusso" in The Karate Kid.

Macchio was born on November 4, 1961 in Huntington, New York. He began his acting career during the mid 1970s, as star of television commercials for products such as Bubble Yum and Dr. Pepper. Macchio's first big acting role was playing "Jeremy" on the television series Eight Is Enough. In 1983, he appeared in the major motion picture, The Outsiders, as Johnny Cade, a greaser living in Nebraska in the 1950s. Macchio's role was a major one in the hit movie and he received generally positive reviews for his performance.


Macchio's next acting role was the defining one of his career, as Danny LaRusso in The Karate Kid in 1984. Although Macchio was 23 when The Karate Kid came out, he was scrawny and looked like he was about 12 years old at the time. In The Karate Kid, Macchio's character Danny LaRusso was a wimpy kid who moved with his mother to Reseda, California after his father passed away. After LaRusso began dating Ali Mills, the ex-girlfriend (played by Elisabeth Shue) of a local karate champion, Johnny Lawrence (played by perpetual 1980s movie bully, William Zabka), LaRusso is routinely picked on and beaten up by Lawrence and his karate buddies.



Macchio eventually discovers that Mr. Miyagi, the handyman at his apartment building (played by Pat Morita), is a karate expert. Mr. Miyagi took Danny under his wing and taught him karate. By the end of the movie, Miyagi's coaching led LaRusso to win a local karate championship, defeating Johnny Lawrence and his cronies in a tournament. The heart of the story revolved around the close relationship between Miyagi and LaRusso - they were close in a father/son type of way.


After The Karate Kid, Macchio became somewhat of a teen idol of the mid-1980s, despite the fact that he was in his mid-20s at the time. Macchio appeared on the cover of many teen "bubble gum" magazines such as Tiger Beat, 16, and Teen Beat.
Although Macchio received rave reviews for The Karate Kid, he experienced difficulties obtaining meaningful roles afterward. Although he reprised the Danny LaRusso role for The Karate Kid, Parts II and III, his only other decent role in the past 20 years was as "Billy Gambini" in My Cousin Vinny in 1992. However, since 1992, Macchio has been relegated to acting in minor roles in crappy movies and TV shows such as Chicken Soup For The Soul and Popcorn Shrimp.

Although Macchio achieved tremendous success early in his career, his career quickly swirled down the toilet. The likely reason is that Macchio's child-like boyish looks made it far too difficult for people to view him in adult roles. He still looks like a kid, albeit a balding kid, as shown in the photos above. Despite his early success, Macchio couldn't purchase a decent role to save his life now. Accordingly, there can be no doubt that Ralph Macchio is one washed up celebrity!

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Close relationship in a father / son way..MY ASS!! Him and Mr. Miyagi had a close relationship in a man / boy way....Mr. Miyagi taught him the art of the Japanese devil dog!!

Anonymous said...

Ok so Ralphie boy went from looking like 12 to 29. So shape up or ship out Danielson. Baby bubba to the bang bang boogie to beat. Hubba baby bubba.

Anonymous said...

How could you possibly exclude his true defining role? His crowing acheivement in Artie Lange's Beer League. His performance would make the most hardened bastard weep like a little girl.

Anonymous said...

You should do an entry on that fat kid, Zack Renna. He was in Son In Law, The Sandlot and The Big Green. He was ugly as hell.

Anonymous said...

Patrick Renna I mean.

Anonymous said...

Wax on wax off.

Anonymous said...

I think I paid him for gas at the Circle K this morning. He whispered something about 20 bucks for a blumpkin out back.

Anonymous said...

I'll be happy if i'm 47 years old and looks good as him (yeah, a li'l thinning up there, hell, mine started in my early 30's). This guy had a lot of defining roles that sets him up there together with "t.cruise, dillon bros, p.swayze, sheen bros, jason patrick, etc. Btw, still think phoebe cates is HOT!!!

Victrola said...

He looks like a damn hindoo now.

Anonymous said...

At least he's still working. I think he's on ugly betty isn't he

Anonymous said...

check out beer league. great movie

hairyLGS said...

Excuse me. Ralph Macchio is working for Marvel Comics as Editor-in-Chief. He's not even washed-up.

Movie Fan said...

^^^A different Ralph Macchio works for Marvel Comics. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Macchio_%28comics%29

Anonymous said...

Some time ago an ex-military buddy of mine got a job in California in the ER of a rather big hospital. We keep in touch and he dropped this wild ER story on me. This is just so over the top and outrageous that it has merit. Ralph Macchio showed up late one night with a butt-plug forced into his rectal area. My buddy said that they had to revive him because he had been under the influence of roofies and alcohol. After they were able to get the butt-plug out of his rectal cavity the examining doctor had the floor nurse write a report on what happened. The report Ralph gave the nurse was that he was hanging out with Stephen Geoffreys and Barry Williams. As it unraveled Barry and Ralph were writing a script/storyline entitled "The Karate Kid saves the Brady Bunch from the Hong Kong human trafficking connection." Well, Ralph said that Stephen Geoffreys was fixing drinks for he and Barry. Ralph claimed after a while he began to feel very stoned so since they were hanging out at Barry's place he went to Barry's bedroom to sleep it off. Ralph said he began drifting in and out and all he could make out was that Stephen Geoffreys was in the room with him dressed in a Batman costume. Well, the nurse said so how did you end up in the ER with the butt-plug? Ralph claimed that Stephen Geoffreys had stripped Ralph of his clothes and began using the butt-plug on him. Next, Barry Williams burst in the room dressed up in a Wonder Woman costume with fake padding for boobs along with some naked homeless guys. Well, one of the homless guys noticed Ralph and jumped into action with Stephen Geoffreys and rammed the butt-plug home. Barry screamed "Oh no, where did it go?" The homeless guy and Stephen Geoffreys looked back at Barry and said, "No, superhero train tonight better call for help." So Barry made the call and flipped out the EMTs when they got there because here was the Karate Kid with a butt-plug shoved up his anal cavity and Barry "Wonder Woman" Williams explaining that it was an accident.

Unknown said...

your forgetting he also had roles opposite arty in those arty films, which were pretty good. I'm not an expert on Ralph, but missing that point is pretty big.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Macchio turned his attention to something else rather than acting.

If nothing else, his famous don't-give-up stance and kick in Karate Kid is now part of American popular culture. That's pretty cool; who else can make that claim?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the new season of
Dancing with the Stars starts
tonight......wonder will he
suceed in this?????

nonie15164 said...

well, let's just say that show business isn't really for him to grow old in...but the Karate Kid will always be a part of my growing up years...

Anonymous said...

ralph macchio means a lot to me, the mother of an only son with cystic fibrosis, for which there is no cure. when he was five two boys put him in the trash can on the playground. he came home so mad. we gave him karate lessons and was always able to take care of himself until he passed away in 2004, waiting for a lung transplant. i watch those three karate kid movies and remember my son a lot. ralph macchio in the movie The Outsiders"' should have had an oscar for that performance. i wish him well in anything he does. am glad to hear he is happly married and has a son.. you shine to me ralph macchio..... joepaulsmom...pat

Anonymous said...

He hasn't gotten many other new gigs because he flat out refuses to play any stereotypical olive skin voweled surname roles. The guy has pride and is not a sell out. More power to him.

Talea said...

He was a very good dancer on Dancing With The Stars but I see he is really washed up since we haven't heard anything about him since the show.

Anonymous said...

why are there always gay sex references to all the males on this site?for that matter whats with all the sexual references in general? you guys make yourselves seem like dweeby virgins who couldnt get laid if you paid a hooker. you guys ever think that a lot of these former celebs decided its time to move on? do other things other then act? the smart ones get out before they get the big head and go downward. more praise to the ones you dont hear about and are able to forget about them. that means theyre getting what they want most of the time.

Anonymous said...

Sexy.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone remember Crossroads? Not the B. Spears crap fest...he did it way before she did.

Unknown said...

It's Daniel LaRusso not Danny LaRusso. Karate Kid I and II are my favorite movies of all time.

Anonymous said...

He's very handsome & just a delight to be around.

Steve Lockhart said...

It's Hindu. If you're going to be racist at least try to be smart about it.

Anonymous said...

At least get your facts right. The Outsiders was based in Tulse, Oklahoma in 1965.

Anonymous said...

I ran into him at a circle k in arizona a few years back and he paid me 5 dollars not to flush the toilet so he could make a poop beard, other than that he seemed down to earth.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if he could achieve a comeback. He's a decent actor and not bad looking. I just hope he doesn't read the postings from the sex predators who post here far too often.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to smoke crack with this guy. I've got some good stuff too. Crack helps kill the pain. Hey Ralph, come to my town and smoke crack with me!

Anonymous said...

Dude this guy is still pretty good looking for a 54 year old man and also he rocked all his movies in my opinion 😏

Diana said...

The beautiful Elisabeth Shue together with Ralph Macchio formed a great couple, they gave the value of the film. Elisabeth Shue would have had to play together with Ralph Macchio in the entire series The Karate Kid (1984).

Anonymous said...

And now us back on Cobra Kai. Shouldn't Zabka also be here, or was he never that known in the first place?

Anonymous said...

On The Deuce nowadays. Not so washed up.

Mike said...

Yeah whoever wrote this never expected him to come back so strong. Cobra Kai is the bessssssst show.

lastparadisefilm said...

What a bunch of haters. Karate Kid was a great movie about standing up to bullying and believing in yourself. That role alone deserves respect.What have you fckheads ever done to inspire anyone?

Anonymous said...

He really is washed up, never did anything meaningful after 1989

Anonymous said...

Only a closeted butt plug aficionado asks "what's up with all the men here being deemed gay?" or whatever.. Maybe they're moving on... Blah blah blah, we all know it's you posting this shit Macchio.

Anonymous said...

Tulsa. Spelling. Mr fact checker

Anonymous said...

Real men put bullets, or steel, in bullies. How's that for "standing up?"

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should let Danyo San "comeback"across your tonsils. Post it to porn hub,call it "karate sex predator kid"or whatever bam! He's a star again. Practice what you preach!

Anonymous said...

He's waaaaaay past crack bro. Try adrenochrome

Unknown said...

this is so weird to read now, like he is in cobra kai. I fucking love that show.

Unknown said...

Well now cobra kai is one of the most popular shows in the world. I agree he disappeared for a while but now hes back and better than ever