William Zabka

William Michael Zabka (/ˈzæbkə/; born October 20,[1] 1965)[2] is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and the TV series Cobra Kai (2018–present).[3] In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing and producing the short film Most.

Zabka was born in New York City, the son of Nancy, a business liaison, producer, and production assistant, and Stan Zabka, a director, writer and composer.[4] He has a brother and a sister. His father was born in Des Moines, Iowa of Czech descent;[5] he 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).[6]

In 1983, Zabka graduated from El Camino Real Charter High School in Los Angeles before briefly attending California State University, Northridge and majoring in film