Then and Now

For the reading enjoyment of all who have nothing better to do with their time, I am going to start a weekly little ditty called “Then and Now”. It’s mainly a means to gain a sense of purpose as I scour the Internet for useless factoids and answer the nagging question, “What ever happened to…?” We’ll see how it goes.
My first installment is a no-brainer. Ralph Macchio won all of our hearts as he was waxing on and waxing off. Who can forget Karate Kid I, II, and III? Well…I and II anyway. Then what? Was that it for our baby-faced, Italian-American, scrawny little black belt? May it never be! Mr. Macchio has enjoyed/endured a busy career in the film industry since the 80’s. Of course, we haven’t heard of many of the fine films his agent suckered him into over the years, but I have assembled a list of highlights:
You might remember him as William “Billy” Gambini in “My Cousin Vinny (1992). If that doesn’t ring a bell, just plug in “The Secret of NIHM2: Timmy to the Rescue” (1998). He was the voice of 17-year-old Timmy, which is a little odd considering he was 37 at the time. Apparently one human year equals 0.46 animated rat years. Ralph grew in notoriety in the movie “Popcorn Shrimp” (2001) as Cop #2, and later pressed his image as a family man in “Beer League” (2006). So, what about now? Currently, a film called “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” (the first time around was great, but now that they are zombies…zowee!!) is in post-production. IMDB says the tagline is: “Don’t let your ex-girlfriend suck the life out of you!” I say those are words to live by. It seems that Ralph Macchio has a long and successful career ahead of him, but whether he’s a type-cast Gambini, Cop #2 or some other guy I’ve never heard of, he’s still Daniel Larusso to me.