Ralph Macchio

Ralph first met his wife Phyllis Fierro through his grandmother. He was fifteen then. They later got married in 1987. Phyllis gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Julia in 1992.

In 1996, the couple had a baby boy named Daniel.

Ralph George Macchio Jr. was born on November 4, 1961 in New York to Ralph Macchio Sr. and Rosalie Macchio, who owned a ranch. His father is half Greek and half Italian while his mother has an Italian descent. His family is from Naples.

He graduated from Half Hollow Hills West High School in 1979.

Ralph started his career by appearing in commercials for ‘Dr. Pepper’ and ‘Bubble Yum’.

He debuted on screen in ‘Up in the Academy’, a 1980 film, and his first major role that helped him gain recognition was Jeremy Andretti in television series ‘Eight is Enough’.

In 1983, he appeared as Johnny Cade in ‘The Outsiders’, an adaptation of S. E. Hinton’s novel of the same name.

In 1984, Ralph gained international fame when he was cast as Daniel LaRusso in ‘The Karate Kid’. He reprised his role in the sequels ‘The Karate Kid II’ and ‘The Karate Kid III’.

His career struck a lean phase for the next several years, but he regained attention in 1992, when he starred in the hit comedy ‘My Cousin Vinny’, playing the role of William Gambini, the first significant adult role of his entire career.

During the 1980s, Ralph started featuring on the covers of teen magazines including ‘16’ and ‘Tiger Beat’.

He was listed as one of the twelve Promising New Actors of 1984 in John Willis’ Screen World, Volume 36.

In 2008, he appeared with NASCAR driver Carl Edwards in a Vitamin Water commercial.