Ralph Macchio Biography

Ralph George Macchio, Jr. (; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Eugene Martone in Crossroads, Billy Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his recurring role as Jeremy Andretti in the fifth season of the television comedy-drama Eight Is Enough. He also appeared on the television comedy Ugly Betty in the recurring role of Archie, a local Queens politician. He competed on the twelfth season of Dancing with the Stars.

Early life

Macchio was born on November 4, 1961, in Huntington, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (née DeSantis) and Ralph Macchio, Sr., who owned a ranch. His father is of half Italian and half Greek descent, and his mother is of Italian ancestry.

Career

Macchio first appeared on American television commercials for products such as Bubble Yum and Dr Pepper. His on-screen debut was in the 1980 film Up the Academy, and his first major role was playing Jeremy Andretti in the television series Eight Is Enough. In 1983, he appeared as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders alongside many young actors who had yet to become major stars, such as C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and Matt Dillon.

In 1984 Macchio became known internationally following the release of the first Karate Kid movie. Playing high school senior Daniel LaRusso, Macchio was actually in his early twenties when the film was made. He continued this success with the film's sequels, Karate Kid Part II and III. In the mid-1980s, Macchio's face began appearing on the covers of many teen "bubble gum" magazines such as Tiger Beat, 16, and Teen Beat.

Macchio appeared in the 1986 film Crossroads, portraying music student Eugene Martone. In 1992 he starred opposite Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in the hit comedy My Cousin Vinny, playing William Gambini, who was wrongly accused of murder while passing through a small Alabama town. It was the first significant adult role of his career.

In 1993 Macchio portrayed Chris, the sexually confused best friend of Eric Stoltz's character, in the indie film Naked in New York, along with such notable actors as Mary-Louise Parker, Jill Clayburgh, Kathleen Turner, and Tony Curtis.

In 1996 Macchio performed the lead role of J. Pierrepont Finch in the U.S. tour revival of the 1962 Tony Award winning musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and received positive reviews. Referring to his performance as a chorister in a high school production of the same musical, Macchio said, "I was known as the 'Dancing Kid,' not that I was all that great. But I had been dancing since the age of three, taking lessons at the June Claire School of Dance in Babylon, Long Island."

Since the mid-1990s, Macchio's film appearances have been occasional cameo or supporting roles, notably and recently A Good Night to Die and Beer League. In 2005 Macchio played himself in the HBO series, Entourage.

On May 1, 2007, Macchio played himself in an episode of the Starz series, Head Case. In 2008, he appeared in a VitaminWater commercial that featured NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. Macchio was depicted as Edwards' "spiritual advisor" and dressed in his Karate Kid clothes. Since October 2008, he has appeared in several episodes of the ABC Network television series Ugly Betty as Archie Rodriguez, a local politician, with a semi-regular role as Hilda's love interest on the show.

As of November 2008, Macchio was ranked No. 80 among VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.

In June 2010, Macchio appeared in Funny or Die's online short, "Wax On, F*ck Off", in which his loved ones stage an intervention to turn the former child star from a well-adjusted family man into an addict besieged with tabloid scandal, all in order to help his career. During the video Macchio reacts to seeing a poster for the 2010 Karate Kid remake. A recurring joke in the sketch is that Macchio is confused for an adolescent. The short was lauded by TV Guide's Bruce Fretts, who referred to the video as "sidesplitting" and "comic gold".

On September 20, 2010, Macchio played the adult Carl Morelli in a staged reading of the Charles Messina play A Room of My Own presented by the Bleeker Street Theater Company.

In February 2011 it was announced he would compete on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. He was eliminated during the semi-finals, placing fourth in the overall competition.

Macchio appears and acts in the music video of Danko Jones's "I Think Bad Thoughts", also featuring Elijah Wood and Jena Malone.

In April 2012, Macchio was cast in the film Hitchcock, based on the non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, co-starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Jessica Biel and Toni Collette, and directed by Sacha Gervasi. Macchio will portray Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano.

Personal life

Macchio met his wife, Phyllis Fierro, a nurse practitioner, through his grandmother when he was 15. They married in 1987 and have two children, Julia and Daniel.

In popular culture

DJ Q-Ball of the Bloodhound Gang released a song on his MySpace called "The Ralph Macchio Memoirs". Poetry slam artist Big Poppa E references Ralph Macchio in his performance The Wussy Boy Manifesto. Nerdcore artist MC Frontalot mentions him in his song, "Braggadocio". Macchio was featured in a brief cameo at the end of the No More Kings video for "Sweep the Leg".

The Bat for Lashes' song "Daniel" is inspired by Macchio's character in the Karate Kid movies. The front cover of the single shows singer Natasha Khan with Daniel LaRusso's face painted on her back.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Up the Academy	Chooch Bambalazi
	Eight is Enough	Jeremy Andretti
1982	Dangerous Company	Denny Brody
	High Powder	Eddie
1983	The Outsiders	Johnny Cade
1984	The Karate Kid	Daniel LaRusso
	Teachers	Eddie Pilikian
	The Three Wishes of Billy Grier	Billy Grier
1986	Crossroads	Eugene Martone
	The Karate Kid, Part II	Daniel LaRusso
1988	Distant Thunder	Jack Lambert
1989	The Karate Kid, Part III	Daniel LaRusso
1991	Too Much Sun	Frank Jr.
	The Last POW: The Bobby Garwood Story	Robert Garwood
1992	My Cousin Vinny	William Gambini
1993	Naked in New York	Chris
1998	The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue	Tim	Video (voice)
	Dizzyland
1999	The Outer Limits	Dr. Eberhardt	Episode: "The Other Side"
	Can't Be Heaven	Hubbie Darling	Also known as Forever Together
	The Office Party	Sean
2001	Popcorn Shrimp	Cop No. 2	Film short
2003	A Good Night to Die	Donnie
2005	Entourage	Himself
2006	Beer League	Maz
2007	Head Case	Himself	Episode: "Ralph Macchio and Liz Phair"
2008"2009	Ugly Betty	Archie Rodriguez, Jr.	11 episodes
2009	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead	Bobby Bianchi
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Louis Marciano	Episode: "Inhumane Society"
	Psych	Nick Conforth	Episode: "We'd Like to Thank the Academy"
	Wax On, F*ck Off	Himself	Online short
2011	Dancing with the Stars	Himself	Finished 4th place (semi-finalist)
2012	Happily Divorced	Frankie	2 episodes
	Hitchcock	Joe Stefano
	Holiday Spin	Ruben
2013	A Little Game	Tom