William Zabka: The Greatest Bully of the Eighties

One of the best features of the always-excellent AV Club is their Random Roles series, where they simply sit down with an actor and got through various roles from throughout their career. I mean, its not always a homerun, but, depending (obviously) on the actor, and how willing they are to tell stories, it can be not only entertaining but also insightful. Today, the profiled one Mr. William Zabka who, of course, played Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid, but also returned to play a jerk bully in a couple other eighties productions. Thats right in the wheelhouse of my formative years, its a pretty interesting read.

The William Zabka Jerk Gallery


Greg Tolan, Just One Of The Guys


Chas, Back To School


Johnny Lawrence, The Karate Kid


Jack, National Lampoon's European Vacation (He's in the background making out with Audrey. Add "jerky boyfriend" to his resume!)