One of the leading heartthrobs of early 1980s Hollywood, Ralph Macchio was a contemporary Sal Mineo, faring best playing New York street kids wavering between going bad or succeeding in life. He first gained stardom as the doomed Johnny Cade in the must-see teen classic, "The Outsiders" (1983) before reaching superstardom as the bullied but ultimately triumphant Daniel LaRussa in "The Karate Kid" (1984) and its two sequels. But like Michael J. Fox, he was hampered by a boyish look that belied his age, causing a career stall by the 1990s. Despite successes like "My Cousin Vinny" (1992), the
