Where in the world is William "Billy" Zabka?

     Beowulf and Grendel. Superman and Lex Luthor. Obama and Bin Laden. Every hero needs a villain. In the mid 1980's the greatest villain around was a blonde, bad ass, feathered haired motherfucker, named Billy Zabka.

     The Karate Kid, Just One of the Guys, Back to School. These my friends are what I like to call, 80's classics. Movies that we've all seen countless times thanks to Comedy Central and TBS. If you haven't figured it out by now friends, William "Billy" Zabka was the token prick in all of these. Actually he was the token prick in lots of stuff; and he was brilliant at it. Even now when I watch The Karate Kid and that aryan poster boy comes strutting into frame every cell in my body grits it's teeth and says to itself, "This fuckin guy."
   So, where is that guy and what's he doing? I think sometimes about actors from my youth who were working steady and then suddenly seemed to vanish. I wonder about those folks a lot. Zabka was good at what he did. Great at what he did even. What about now though? I decided to look into this friends and let me tell you something...Billy Zabka is doing just fine.
    Since 1984, when The Karate Kid hit the big screen, Zabka has palyed in 32 movies and three television series. Some you know, most you don't. I find it a bummer that most people I know who aren't actors, equate being an actor with being a prominent film or television star. The fact of the matter is that just being able to make a living as an actor, to get by and make ends meet, is incredibly difficult. To be at celebrity status is less common than winning the lottery. My point is that steady work is a place that the majority of aspiring actors out there will sadly never see. While Mr.Zabka's IMDB page is full of titles like, Python and High Voltage, at least it's full of titles. Something I'll tell you first hand, is no easy feat.
   What I really find interesting about Zabka though are his accomplishments aside from acting. In 2003 he wrote and produced the short film, MOST. It was warmly welcomed at The Sundance Film Festival and won numerous awards at other festivals that same year. In 2004 Zabka was nominated for an Academy Award for the film. That's right. Mr. No Mercy is an Oscar nominee.

    Zabka's also a partner in the music publishing firm, Big Island Music. He runs the firm with his parents, brother, and sister. He poked fun at himself in the 2007 by appearing in the No More Kings music video, "Sweep the Leg". In 2010 he directed a video for the song, "Why Wait" by Rascal Flatts. It was nominated for video of the year and best group video by CMT.
    Look for William next year in the eight part miniseries, To Appomattox. He'll star alongside Rob Lowe and William Peterson in this story about the Civil War and it's incredible generals.
     So, that's where Billy Zabka is. Now the next time you're baked with friends and you stop flipping through the channels because you've come across that black headband, blonde hair, and the line, "I'll decide when he's had enough, man," and your buddy looks at you with bloodshot eyes and asks, "What's that dude up to?" You can say, "That's William "Billy" Zabka. He's a writer, director, actor, Oscar nominee, and All American Bad Ass."

 Now get out there and sweep the weekend's leg everybody!

Happy Friday Gang.