Martin Kove (born March 6, 1946 ) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his role as John Kreese, the main antagonist of The Karate Kid (1984). Kove reprised the role in The Karate Kid Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), and the television series Cobra Kai (2018–present). He also appeared as Nero the Hero in Death Race 2000 (1975), and afterward as Clem in White Line Fever (1975). Kove was a regular on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (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 (2019).

Early life

Martin Kove was born into a Jewish family on March 6, 1946, in Brooklyn. He attended Valley Stream Central High School before attending ITT Technical Institute - Maumee Campus.

Career

Kove worked as a substitute math teacher at the Ward Melville High School before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. From 1982–88, Kove appeared in the main cast of Cagney & Lacey 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 The Karate Kid 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 The Karate Kid Part II and the 1989 sequel The Karate Kid Part III. In his seemingly only directorial effort, Kove directed a season 3 episode of Silk Stalkings in 1994. Kove studied Okinawa-te Karate under prominent black belt Gordon Doversola Shihan. Kove appeared in the 2007 music video for the song "Sweep the Leg" by No More Kings 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 web series, Cobra Kai, a continuation of The Karate Kid franchise set 34 years after the original 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, fifth and sixth season. In 2019, Kove parodied his Karate Kid character in a QuickBooks 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." Kove was one of the celebrities competing on season 30 of Dancing with the Stars in 2021. 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 the twins, Jesse, 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.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games