Ralph Macchio is being showered with love as he receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, People reports.
The actor, Ralph Macchio, 63, was honored on Wednesday, Nov. 20 by friends and family as he received a star next to his late Karate Kid castmate Pat Morita in Hollywood.
William Zabka and Tamlyn Tomita, who also starred alongside Macchio in Karate Kid and later Cobra Kai, spoke at the ceremony, with Zabka calling Macchio “a gift” in his life.
“His passion and authenticity is contagious and challenging and everything you’d want and hope from a creative partner,” Zabka, 59, said. “As eloquent as he is an artist, it doesn’t stop on screen. He’s just as genuine and sincere and good as a father, as a husband and an all-around family man.”
“I love him like a brother,” he added.
Tomita, 58, also praised Macchio’s presence on and off camera, calling out his “integrity,” “tenacity” and “good old-fashioned class.”
“You have no idea how much I look up to you, how much I’ve loved you and learned from you, and that I will always be the woman that will fight for your honor,” she said tearfully. “You are so deserving of the star and may it shine forever.”
Ralph Macchio then took the mic to thank his mom and dad, his two children, Daniel and Julia, and his wife of 37 years Phyllis Fierro. He got emotional as he went on to recognize his friends and fans who support him.
“I’ve just learned to be so grateful and appreciative at this age in my life, absorbing and learning and sharing the wisdom that I’ve gained from others, paying that legacy forward whether that be with the young cast of Cobra Kai or friends of my kids,” he said.
“I get such joy out of sharing that wisdom and taking a piece of the legacy and passing that on, and I do not take it for granted that we get to spread a little bit of joy in what is sometimes not always a joyful world.”
Born in Huntington, New York, Macchio appeared in Eight Is Enough and the 1983 coming-of-age drama The Outsiders before he landed the role of Daniel LaRusso in 1984’s The Karate Kid.
The Karate Kid’s runaway success spawned four more films over the years, with a sixth movie — Karate Kid: Legends — starring Macchio and Jackie Chan set for 2025. The franchise also inspired the sequel series Cobra Kai, which debuted on YouTube in 2018 before migrating to Netflix.
Over the years, Macchio, 63, has also appeared in TV and film projects including My Cousin Vinny, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother, The Deuce and Dancing with the Stars.
The actor met future wife Fierro when he was just 15 at a cousin’s birthday party in his grandmother’s basement. The two tied the knot in August 1987 and share Julia, 31, and Daniel, 29.
“Part of the beauty of the success of Cobra Kai is how much my kids are enjoying it. To bring something that was such a big part of my life 35 years ago, and see it be such a present part of their lives today, it’s really wonderful,” he told PEOPLE in January 2021, adding, “I’m still a nerd dad!”
Although his children are all grown up now, Macchio also acknowledged that he’s constantly learning something new about parenting.
“You’re skinning your knees like it’s the second day of first grade,” he explained. “‘Failing is probably the wrong word, but you are learning all the time through the journey.”
“Everything I do now, more often than 10, 15 years ago, I’m thinking of it for the sake of my children as they’re getting older,” he continued. “They’re adults, but they’re always your kids.”