William Zabka

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Academy Awards
William "Billy" Zabka
William Zabka in The Karate Kid
Birth name	William Zabka
Born	October 20, 1965 New York, New York, U.S.
Other name(s)	Billy
Years active	1983 - present
Notable roles	Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid (1984) Greg Tolan in Just One of the Guys (1985) Chas in Back to School (1986)

Nominated: Live Action Short Film 2004 Most

William "Billy" Zabka (born on October 20, 1965, in New York City, New York) is an American actor. Zabka is best known for playing "bully" types, such as his role as Johnny Lawrence in 1984's The Karate Kid.

1 Film career
2 Trivia
3 Selected filmography
4 Awards and nominations
5 External links

[edit] Film career

Zabka's breakout role came in his first movie, 1984's The Karate Kid. In the movie, Zabka plays the role of Johnny Lawrence, the main antagonist to the title character played by Ralph Macchio. Zabka reprised this role briefly for the beginning of the 1986 sequel The Karate Kid, Part II.

During the 80's Zabka continued to be cast in the "bully" role in the comedy movies Just One of the Guys (1985) and Back to School (1986).

During the 1990s and 2000s Zabka sporadically acted in small roles, mostly in B-movies.

In 2003 Zabka wrote and produced the short film Most, which was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.

In 2007 he directed and starred in a music video for the band No More Kings entitled "Sweep the Leg." The video stars Zabka as a middle-aged caricature of himself living in a trailer park who's 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.

[edit] Trivia

He actually had no martial arts experience prior to making The Karate Kid. He was, in fact, a skilled wrestler. In the years since, however, he has earned a black belt in Tang Soo Do.

He is an accomplished singer/musician/songwriter, as is his brother Guy. Their father Stan was a production assistant on the Chuck Norris movie Forced Vengeance.

At present, he is a creative director for Big Island Music Incorporated[1], a music-publishing firm for television and movies, which is owned by his family.

He speaks Czech fluently, as his family is of Czechoslovak descent; the Czech translation of "Zabka" is "Little Frog."

He has a nephew and niece, courtesy of his sister Judy and her husband.

[edit] Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role
1984	The Karate Kid	Johnny Lawrence
1985	Just One of the Guys	Greg Tolan
1985	European Vacation	Jack
1986	Back to School	Chas
1986	The Karate Kid, Part II	Johnny Lawrence
2007	Cake: A Wedding Story	Sam