Whatever Happened to Leroy Green from The Last Dragon?
Does anyone remember the classic 1985 Karate movie The Last Dragon? It was a movie based in Harlem that showcased two competing masters of martial arts. The star, Leroy Brown, played by Taimak is to save the lovely Laura Charles (played by Vanity) from an evil media mogul.
But in order to do so he must face Shonuff (played by Julius Carry). I can’t tell if this movie was more of a spoof or a 100% racially profiled movie. You see Asian guys trying to act like black hip hop rap guys from the 80’s. Then they make fun of a black guy for trying to be Asian!
And since when are the rulers of Harlem Karate masters? Wouldn’t a gun settle all of this? In any event it’s still a classic (plus William H. Macy is in this movie). So whatever happened to Leroy Brown anyway?
Well, Taimak appeared as a Bartender in Beverly Hills 90210 in 1999-2000. He’s now 44 years old and seems to be alright. Still acting and still doing martial arts. I wonder if he still has the Golden Glow. He may have had to give the Golden blow a few times though.
“Sweep the leg. Do you have a problem with that?” “No Sensai.” How we all remember good old Billy Zabka. I think I can safely say no one encompassed the word “villain” moreso than William Zabka did in the 80’s.
First he was Johnny in The Karate Kid. Then he was Greg Tolan in Just One of the guys (a completely underrated 80’s movie by the way). Finally he was the loser diver Chas in Back to School.
So what’s this 80’s badass up to now?
According to Wikipedia his latest role was as a director. “In 2007, Zabka directed and starred in a music video for the band No More Kings entitled “Sweep the Leg”. The video stars Zabka as a caricature of himself, living in a trailer park and obsessed with his role in The Karate Kid.
The video includes cameos by several of the original Karate Kid cast members, including Martin Kove and Ralph Macchio. The video received over 80,000 views within its first week of release and became the number one video on YouTube on March 16th, 2007. The video can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s