About
| Birth Notes: | 6 March 1946, Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Height: | 6' 1" |
| Family: | * Vivienne Kove (1981 - 2005) (divorced); 2 children |
| Biography: | New York born, strong featured, narrow eyed actor who has portrayed a mixed bag of both good and bad guys! First turned up on screen in several minor roles, and got himself 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). He cropped up in the hit TV series "Cagney & Lacey" (1981) as honest Police Detective Isbecki, and then got on the wrong side of rampaging Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood Part II (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, and he reprised the role in the two sequels, The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid, Part III (1989). Kove has since kept consistently busy, primarily in the action / thriller film genre, and has notched up over 80 film appearances to date, as well as numerous TV guest roles. |
Filmography
| Ballistica (2010) as Riley |
| Bare Knuckles (2010) as Sonny Cool |
| Glass Trap (2005) as Corrigan |
| Seven Mummies (2006) as Kile |
| The Groove Tube (1974) as Butz Beer |
| The Karate Kid (1984) as John Kreese |
| The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) as John Kreese |
| The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) as John Kreese |
| The Last House on the Left (1972) as Deputy |
| Action Hero (2010) |
| American Gun (2002) as Theodore Huntley |
| Baby Face Nelson (1995) as John Dillinger |
| Bad Guys (2000) as The Commander |
| Beyond the Ring (2008) as Uncle Patrick |
| Big Chuck, Little Chuck (2004) as The Clown/Martin Kove |
| Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter (2007) |
| Blood Tide (1982) as Neil Grice |
| Capone (1975) as Pete Gusenberg |
| Carmen's Kiss (2010) as Drayton |
| Chinaman's Chance (2008) as Sheriff Jones |
| Cleburne (2011) as General Braxton Bragg |
| Cops and Robbers (1973) as Ambulance Attendant |
| Crocodile 2: Death Swamp (2002) as Roland |
| Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002) as Caleb |
| Dante's Inferno Documented (2010) as Speaker: 8th Circle - The Sowers of Discord |
| Dante's Inferno: Abandon All Hope (2009) as Speaker: 8th Circle - The Sowers of Discord |
| Dante's Inferno: Documentary (2010) as Charon |
| Dark Games (2010) as Detective Dave Reinhart |
| Death Keeps Coming (2010) as Death |
| Death Match (1994) as Paul Landis |
| Death Race 2000 (1975) as Nero the Hero |
| Devil's Knight (2003) as Zeff |
| Endangered (1994) as DeVoe |
| Extreme Honor (2001) as Packard |
| Fallen Angels (2006) as Daniels |
| Final Equinox (1995) as Torman |
| Final Payback (2001) as Captain Peter James |
| Future Shock (1994) as Dr. Langdon |
| Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords (2010) as Galaron |
| Grizzly Mountain (1997) as Marshal Jackson |
| Hyacinth (1998) as J. B. Walker |
| I'm in Love with a Church Girl (2011) as Terry Edgemond |
| Immortally Yours (2009) as Steven Miles |
| Joseph's Gift (1998) as Thompsonn |
| Judge and Jury (1996) as Michael Silvano |
| Just for the Record (2009) as Sensei |
| Kerosene Cowboys (2010) as Navy Intel Commander |
| Laboratory (1980) |
| Lightning in a Bottle (1993) as Duane Furber |
| Little Murders (1971) |
| Man of a Thousand Faces (2008) as J. Carrol Naish |
| Max Havoc: Ring of Fire (2006) as Lt. Reynolds |
| Memphis Rising: Elvis Returns (2009) as Highway Patrol |
| Messages (2007) as DCI Collins |
| Middle Men (2009) as U.S. Senator |
| Miracle at Sage Creek (2005) as Jess |
| Mr. Billion (1977) as Texas Gambler |
| Nowhere Land (1998) as Hank |
| Paradise (2004) as Taxi Driver |
| President's Target (1989) as Sam Nicholson |
| Prism (2009) as Lieutenant Jacobs |
| Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) as Ericson |
| Reality Fright Night (2010) as Othello Lazarus |
| Return to Devil's Peak: The Ascent II (2010) as Lewis |
| Rice Girl (2003) as Captain Ron Williams |
| Road Movie (1974) as Weigh Station Cop |
| Savage (2009) as Jack Lund |
| Savage Land (1994) as Jabal |
| Savage Season (2001) as Frank |
| Savages (1972) as Archie, a Bully |
| Serpent Rising (2010) as Tony Brill |
| Seven (1979) as Skip |
| Shattered Lies (2002) as Tom Reynolds |
| Shootfighter: Fight to the Death (1992) as Mr. Lee |
| Soft Target (2006) as Jake Lawlor |
| Steele Justice (1987) as John Steele |
| Stolen Life (2009) as Judge |
| The Ascent (2010) as Lewis |
| The Four Deuces (1976) as Smokey Ross, the 'Deuce of Diamonds' |
| The Grove (2010) as Shuffle - Mike |
| The Highwayman (2010) as Roan Blackthorn |
| The Marksmen (1997) as Samuel J. Weber |
| The Outfit (1993) as Agent Baker |
| The Thief & the Stripper (1998) as Crow |
| The Waterfront (1998) as James Ricks |
| The White Buffalo (1977) as Jack McCall |
| The Wild Party (1975) as Editor |
| Timelock (1996) as Admiral Danny Teegs |
| Top of the World (1998) as Carl |
| Trance (2002) as Robert Leoni |
| White Light (1991) as Sean Craig |
| White Line Fever (1975) as Clem |
| Without Mercy (1995) as Wolf Larsen |
| Women in Revolt (1971) as Marty |
| Wyatt Earp (1994) as Ed Ross |
| Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994) as Ed Ross |
Trivia
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* Honorary marshal of Tarzana, California * He was a substitute match teacher at Ward Melville High School in New York. * During the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, Kove was a well-known TV-spokesman for King Cobra beer: "Don't let the smooth taste fool you." In more recent years, however, he has sworn off alcohol. * Has twins: son Jesse Morgan Kove; and daughter Rachel Olivia Kove. Jesse and Rachel were born November 2, 1990. * Has black belts in all of the following martial arts: Kendo; Okinawa-te; and Tiger Kenpo. * 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. |
Quotes
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* [on one of his most famous characterizations, in The Karate Kid (1984)] Over the years, kids have come up to me in places like supermarkets, and hit me and said things like, "You hurt Ralph ['Ralph Macchio' (qv)]!" It makes me feel like the Darth Vader of the contemporary cinematic world. As "Sensei Jon Kreese," I'm truly hated and I love it. I had no idea how much anxiety people would be releasing by hating this character. * From the moment I got to Hollywood I've always felt like I never really got to do what I wanted to do. In general, artists feel that you're never really allowed to accomplish what you would like to accomplish because there's just so much of this system that gets in the way, the business gets in the way of the art. |
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