Tony O’Dell (born January 30, 1960) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is best known for his role as Cobra Kai member Jimmy in the 1984 film ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and W ...

,'' and the second season of its spinoff ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed b ...

'' (the 2018

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

web series based on the adult lives of the ''Karate Kid'' characters), and as

preppy Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a perso ...

Alan Pinkard on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Head of the Class ''Head of the Class'' is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) at the fictional Millard Fillmor ...

'' (1986–91).

Early life and career

O'Dell was born Anthony Dell'Aquila in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, and graduated from St. Francis High School. His first television appearance was a 1978 episode of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television series ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', titled "Trick or Treat." He later appeared in the short lived 1985

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

series ''

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...

'', as Trace Sterling. One of his longest roles was of high school student Alan Pinkard on the ABC sitcom ''

'' (1986–91). He later appeared in ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, ...

'', ''

The George Lopez Show ''George Lopez'', commonly referred to as ''The George Lopez Show'', is an American sitcom created by George Lopez, Bruce Helford and Robert Borden, which originally aired for six seasons, consisting of 120 episodes, on ABC from March 27, 200 ...

'', and ''

K.C. Undercover ''K.C. Undercover'' is an American Television comedy, comedy television series created by Corinne Marshall that aired on Disney Channel from January 18, 2015 to February 2, 2018. The series stars Zendaya, Veronica Dunne, Kamil McFadden, Trinitee ...

''. In 1984, he portrayed Cobra Kai member Jimmy, in the first two ''

Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the '' Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and ...

films,'' and appeared in the 2007 music video for the song ''

Sweep the Leg ''Sweep the Leg'' is the second studio album by American hip hop music group Hangar 18 (band), Hangar 18. It was released on Definitive Jux on October 23, 2007. "Dance with Me" features a vocal contribution from Slug (rapper), Slug of Atmosphere ( ...

'' by

No More Kings No More Kings are the Los Angeles-based musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Pete Mitchell and producer/songwriter Neil Robins. No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture, most notably Johnny Lawre ...

as a caricature of himself and Jimmy from ''The Karate Kid.'' O'Dell reprised the role of Jimmy during the 2019 Season 2

web series ''

''.

Selected filmography

Movies

Television

References

External links

* 1960 births American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from California {{US-actor-stub