Martin Kove () (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as

John Kreese John Kreese is a fictional character and the main antagonist in ''The Karate Kid'' media franchise. Portrayed by Martin Kove, he appears as an antagonist in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''The Karate Ki ...

, the main antagonist of ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and W ...

'' (1984). He reprised the role in ''

The Karate Kid Part II ''The Karate Kid Part II'' is a 1986 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the second installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise and the sequel to the 1984 film ''The Karate Kid'', ...

'' (1986), ''

The Karate Kid Part III ''The Karate Kid Part III'' is a 1989 American martial arts drama film, the third entry in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise and a sequel to ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986). It stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Robyn Lively, and Thomas Ian Griffith ...

'' (1989), and the television series ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed b ...

'' (2018–present). Kove also appeared as Nero the Hero in ''

Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...

'' (1975), and afterward as Clem in '' White Line Fever'' (1975). He was a regular on the TV series ''

Cagney and Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

'' (1982–1988), portraying Police Detective Victor Isbecki. He appeared in '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985) and Quentin Tarantino's ''

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...

'' (2019).

Early life

Kove was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1946 in the borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

family.

Career

From 1982-88, Kove appeared in the main cast of ''

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

'' as New York City Detective Victor Isbecki, a supporting role he reprised in subsequent television movies for the series. During the same time, Kove appeared in the 1984 hit film ''

'' as Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese, whose fighting instruction of showing “no mercy” and to “sweep the leg” during the film’s karate tournament entered the American zeitgeist. After playing a traitorous helicopter pilot in the 1985 film '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'', he returned as Kreese for the 1986 sequel ''

'' and the 1989 sequel ''

''. He studied Okinawa-te Karate under prominent black belt

Gordon Doversola Shihan Gordon Doversola (1 December 1934 – 19 April 2011) was an American martial arts expert who specialized in the Okinawa-te school of Karate. He taught various film and television celebrities. Early years Gordon Doversola was from Hawaii. He was ...

He appeared in the 2007 music video for the song "

Sweep the Leg ''Sweep the Leg'' is the second studio album by American hip hop music group Hangar 18 (band), Hangar 18. It was released on Definitive Jux on October 23, 2007. "Dance with Me" features a vocal contribution from Slug (rapper), Slug of Atmosphere ( ...

" by

No More Kings No More Kings are the Los Angeles-based musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Pete Mitchell and producer/songwriter Neil Robins. No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture, most notably Johnny Lawre ...

as a caricature of himself and John Kreese from ''The Karate Kid''. In 2018, Kove again returned to the character of Kreese for the

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

web series, ''

'', a continuation of ''The Karate Kid'' franchise set 34 years after the 1984 film. The series debuted on May 2, 2018, and was met with critical success. The show was renewed for a second season, which was published on April 24, 2019. In June 2020, Netflix purchased the series, producing a third, fourth and fifth season. In 2019, Kove parodied his ''Karate Kid'' character in a

QuickBooks QuickBooks is an accounting software package developed and marketed by Intuit. First introduced in 1983, QuickBooks products are geared mainly toward Small and medium-sized enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses and offer On-premises sof ...

commercial, in which a kinder, gentler Kreese runs a "Koala Kai" dojo of preteen students who are encouraged to "support the leg" and to show "more mercy". In September 2021, Kove was announced as one of the celebrities competing on

season 30 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. He and his professional dance partner, Britt Stewart, were the first couple to be eliminated.

Personal life

Kove is the father of twins, born in 1990. One of whom, Jesse Kove, portrayed the young man who bullies the younger version of his father’s character, John Kreese, in flashbacks for seasons 3 and 4 of ''Cobra Kai''. Jesse Kove is also slated to star in the forthcoming films ''A Taste of Love'' and ''Wyatt Earp.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

* ''Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising'' (2022) as John Kreese (voice role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kove, Martin 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male karateka American male television actors American Scientologists Age controversies Jewish American male actors Living people Male actors from New York City People from Brooklyn Year of birth missing (living people)