Ralph George Macchio Jr. (November 4, 1961) is an American actor, producer, and director.
He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid film series and Cobra Kai, as well as his roles as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders and Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny. He is married to Phyllis Macchio and they have two children.
Actor
- Up the Academy as Chooch
- Eight is Enough as Jeremy Andretti (19 episodes)
- The Outsiders as Johnny Cade
- The Karate Kid as Daniel LaRusso
- The Karate Kid (1984)
- The Karate Kid Part II
- The Karate Kid Part III
- Cobra Kai (50 episodes)
- Karate Kid (2024)
- Teachers (1984) as Eddie Pilikian
- Crossroads as Eugene Martone
- Distant Thunder as Jack Lambert
- Too Much Sun as Frank, Jr.
- My Cousin Vinny as Bill Gambini
- Naked in New York as Chris
- Journey Home: The Animals of Farthing Wood as Fox
- The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue as 17 year old Tim
- The Outer Limits (1995) as Dr. Neal Eberhart (1 episode)
- Can't Be Heaven as Hubbie
- Twice in a Lifetime as Officer Dan Payello/Phillip Barbosa (1 episode)
- A Good Night to Die as Donnie
- Entourage as Ralph Macchio (1 episode)
- Beer League as Maz
- Head Case as Ralph Macchio (1 episode)
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead as Bobby Bianchi
- Ugly Betty as Archie Rodriquez (11 episodes)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Louis Marciano (1 episode)
- The Whole Truth (1 episode)
- Hitchcock as Joseph Stefano
- Happily Divorced as Frankie (2 episodes)
- Robot Chicken as Daniel LaRusso/Gibby/Janitor (1 episode)
- He's Way More Famous Than You as Ralph Macchio
- How I Met Your Mother as Ralph Macchio (1 episode)
- Psych as Logan Phelps/Nick Conforth (2 episodes)
- Psych The Movie as Nick Conforth
- A Little Game as Tom
- Lost Cat Corona as Dominic
- A Dog and Pony Show as Aaron
- Kevin Can Wait as Alviti (2 episodes)
- The Deuce as Officer Haddix (17 episodes)
Producer
- American Gypsies
- Cobra Kai (2018-present)
Tropes associated with him:
- As Himself: In How I Met Your Mother, Macchio played as himself.
- Older Than They Look: Macchio was 22 when The Karate Kid (1984) was shot, but easily passes for a high school student. Reportedly, his cast mates thought he was joking when he told them how old he really was. He was 56 when he reprised the role in Cobra Kai, though he could easily pass for being in his early 40s. This was also particularly apparent in The Karate Kid Part III and Seasons 4 and 5 of Cobra Kai, as Macchio is four months older than Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver), when Silver is meant to be at least twenty years older than Daniel (having served in Vietnam with Kreese). There's also the time he played a recent high school graduate on his way to college in My Cousin Vinny at 31. It is also apparent in The Outsiders. Macchio was 21 playing a 16 year old Johnny Cade, who is canonically stated to be mistaken for 14 all the time and definitely looks it.
- He has claimed in several interviews that this was a detriment to his later career, as his baby face made it hard for him to get age-appropriate roles, and once he could no longer pass for a teenager it was harder to find roles that fit his actual age range.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice didn't crack until he was 32. With his youthful sounding voice during The Karate Kid, he easily passed for a 16 year old.
