Martin Kove

Martin Kove was born on March 6, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. Strong-featured, narrow-eyed actor who has portrayed a mixed bag of both good guys and bad guys.

Auditioned for the role of Max Gunter in the film Voyage of the Damned (1976). The role was later given to Malcolm McDowell.

During the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, Kove was a well-known television spokesman for King Cobra beer: "Don't let the smooth taste fool you." However, in more recent years, he has sworn off alcohol.

He cropped up on the television series Cagney & Lacey (1981) portraying honest Police Detective Isbecki, and then ended up on the wrong side of a rampaging Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985).

Kove probably scored his greatest visibility to the public in the hugely successful The Karate Kid (1984) in which he played John Kreese, the head instructor of the Cobra Kai karate school.

Injured his hand during the fateful fight scene between his character, John Kreese, and Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part II (1986). The effects team ill-timed one of the car window shattering shots, causing Kove to inadvertently break the prop window with his own fist. He sustained several injuries to his hand but continued filming.

He first turned up on screen in several minor roles, and was noticed as the villainous Nero the Hero in the low-budget road race Death Race 2000 (1975), and then as Clem the sadistic rigger, breaking Jan-Michael Vincent's ribs in White Line Fever (1975).

Profiled in "Character Kings: Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art & Business of Acting" by Scott Voisin (2009).