About William Zabka
William Michael Zabka (; born October 20, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role of Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), and the TV series Cobra Kai (2018–2025). Zabka's career took off with The Karate Kid, despite having no prior karate training. During the 1980s, he appeared in the films Just One of the Guys (1985), Back to School (1986), and the television series The Equalizer (1986–1989). In the 1990s and 2000s, Zabka focused on independent films and filmmaking. In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing and producing the short film Most. Zabka continued his directing career, including music videos for Rascal Flatts. From 2018 to 2025, Zabka reprised his role as Johnny Lawrence in the YouTube Red and Netflix series Cobra Kai, which he co-executive produced with Karate Kid costar Ralph Macchio. While attending his first semester at Cal State Northridge, Zabka began auditioning for The Karate Kid (1984). Halfway through his first semester, Zabka would drop out of school when he got his breakout acting role as Johnny Lawrence, the main antagonist to the title character and protagonist played by Ralph Macchio. In an interview, Zabka mentioned that he was sometimes hassled in public by random people due to the villainous characters he was best known for.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.