Life and career

Zabka was born in New York City to Stanley and Nancy Zabka. His father, who was assistant director of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the first two years of Carson's tenure, has worked as production manager on a number of motion pictures, including the Chuck Norris vehicle Forced Vengeance. Zabka grew up with two siblings.

Zabka's breakout role came in his first movie, 1984's The Karate Kid. He played Johnny Lawrence, the main antagonist to the title character played by Ralph Macchio. He had no previous martial arts experience at the time but was an accomplished wrestler. His participation in the film inspired him to learn the martial art of Tang Soo Do and later earning a second green belt.

During the 1980s, Zabka appeared in the comedy movies Just One of the Guys (1985) and Back to School (1986). Zabka also co-starred on the CBS television series The Equalizer as the son of the title character (1986-89). He also played Jack, Audrey's jock boyfriend, in National Lampoon's European Vacation.

During the 1990s and 2000s, he acted mostly in independent films while studying to be a filmmaker. In 2003, he wrote and produced the short film Most, shot on location in the Czech Republic and Poland. Most (aka The Bridge) had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2003 and won numerous awards at prestigious film festivals, including Best of Festival at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films in 2003. In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Most in the Live Action Short Film category.

In 2007, Zabka directed and starred in a music video for the band No More Kings entitled "Sweep the Leg". The video stars Zabka as a caricature of himself, living in a trailer in the desert and 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. In 2010, Zabka directed Rascal Flatts in their music video for the song "Why Wait". That same year, Zabka made a cameo appearance in the film Hot Tub Time Machine. In 2013, Zabka, along with Macchio, guest starred in the season 8 episode of How I Met Your Mother, "The Bro Mitzvah". Zabka also appeared in several episodes of the show's ninth season. Zabka is currently directing commercials for clients including Little Tikes and Verizon at Heresy in Venice, California.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	The Karate Kid	Johnny Lawrence
1985	Just One of the Guys	Greg Tolan
	National Lampoon's European Vacation	Jack
1986	Back to School	Chas Osborne
	The Karate Kid, Part II	Johnny Lawrence
1988	A Tiger's Tale	Randy
1991	For Parents Only	Ted	Alternative title: Mean Parents Suck
1992	Shootfighter: Fight to the Death	Ruben	Alternative title: Shootfighter
1994	Unlawful Passage	Howie
1995	Shootfighter II	Ruben
	The Power Within	Raymond Vonn	Alternative title: Power Man
1997	High Voltage	Bulldog
1999	Interceptors	Dave	Alternative titles: Interceptor Force Predator 3: Intercepters The Last Line of Defence
2000	Mindstorm	Rojack	Alternative titles: Artificial Telepathy Project: Human Weapon
	Falcon Down	Security Guard John
2001	Ablaze	Curt Peters
2002	Gale Force	Rance
	Hyper Sonic	The Executive
	Landspeed	Bob Bailey
	Dark Descent	Marty (Opening credits only)	Alternative title: Descent Into Darkness
	Antibody	Otto Emmerick
2003	Most	-	Alternative title: The Bridge, screenwriter & producer
2004	Roomies	Slick Salesman	Alternative title: Wild Roomies
2007	Smiley Face	Prison guard
	Cake: A Wedding Story	Sam	Alternative title: Cake: A Wedding Comedy
	Starting from Scratch	Bill Bowman
2008	The Man in the Silo	Kevin
2010	Hot Tub Time Machine	Rick Steelman
2015	Where Hope Grows	Milton Malcolm
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	The Greatest American Hero	Clarence Mortner, Jr.	1 episode
1984	Gimme a Break!	Jeffery	1 episode
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Rick Peterson	1 episode
1984-1985	E/R	Druggie Kid/Thief	1 episodes
1985-1989	The Equalizer	Scott McCall	9 episodes
1996	To the Ends of Time	Alexander	Television movie
2000	Epoch	Joe	Television movie
	Python	Greg Larsen	Television movie
2002	Python II	Greg Larsen	Television movie, credited as Billy Zabka
2013-2014	How I Met Your Mother	Clown/Himself	Guest Star (Season 8), Recurring Role (Season 9)
2014	Psych	Coach Baggs	Guest (Season 8)

Award nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1985	Young Artist Award	Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama	The Karate Kid	Nominated
2004	Academy Awards	Best Short Film, Live Action	Most

[ Source: Wikipedia ]