What is Martin Kove's Net Worth?
Martin Kove is an American actor who has a net worth of $2 million. Martin Kove is best known for his role as the antagonist John Kreese in the "Karate Kid" media franchise. He has also appeared in such films as "Death Race 2000," "Rambo: First Blood Part II," "Wyatt Earp," and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." On television, Kove was a regular on the CBS police procedural series "Cagney & Lacey" in the 1980s.
Early Life
Martin Kove was born on March 6, 1947 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. He is Jewish.
(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
Start of Film Career
Kove had his first role on the big screen in Paul Morrissey's 1971 satirical film "Women in Revolt." The following year, he appeared in James Ivory's "Savages" and Wes Craven's "The Last House on the Left." Kove reunited with Ivory for the 1975 film "The Wild Party." That same year, he portrayed gangster Peter Gusenberg in the biographical crime film "Capone," and appeared in the action films "Death Race 2000" and "White Line Fever." In 1976, Kove appeared in the comedy "The Four Deuces." His last two credits of the decade were the 1977 fantasy Western "The White Buffalo" and the 1979 action film "Seven."
Film Career in the 1980s
In 1982, Kove appeared in the British horror film "Blood Tide." He debuted his most famous role two years later in the martial arts drama "The Karate Kid," playing Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese, the main antagonist of Ralph Macchio's character Daniel LaRusso. Kove reprised his role in the sequels "The Karate Kid Part II" (1986) and "The Karate Kid Part III" (1989). Meanwhile, in 1985, he played helicopter pilot Michael Reed Ericson in "Rambo: First Blood Part II." Kove's other credit in the 1980s was "Steele Justice," in which he starred as vengeful Vietnam War veteran John Steele. The film came out in the spring of 1987.
Further Film Career
In the early 1990s, Kove appeared in such films as "White Light," "Project Shadowchaser," and "Shootfighter: Fight to the Death." He followed those with roles in "Wyatt Earp" and "Future Shock." In 1996, Kove played Admiral Danny Teegs in the science-fiction film "Timelock." A couple years after that, he played a criminal in "Joseph's Gift," a modern-day retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph. After the start of the new millennium, Kove appeared in the horror films "Crocodile 2: Death Swamp" and "Curse of the Forty-Niner." In 2005, he was in the science-fiction action film "Glass Trap," and in 2006 was in the action film "Max Havoc: Ring of Fire." Kove's final films of the decade were "The Dead Sleep Easy," released in 2007, and "Middle Men," released in 2009.
Kove's first films in the 2010s were "Savage" and "The Life Zone," both in 2011. He returned to the big screen in 2014 with the contemporary Western "Falcon Song," the LGBT musical "Eternity: The Movie," and the action drama "Tapped Out." Kove also appeared in the action parody film "The Extendables," which was released on iTunes. His subsequent credits included "The Dog Who Saved Summer," "Traded," "Jokers Wild," "Bring Me a Dream," and "Paint it Red." In 2019, Kove appeared in two films: Quentin Tarantino's period dramedy "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and Joe Begos's action horror film "VFW." Among his other notable credits is the 2020 film "Elvis from Outer Space."
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Television Career
Kove began his career on television appearing in episodes of various shows in the 1970s, including "Rhoda," "Gunsmoke," "Switch," "Kojak," and "The Rockford Files." He had his first main role in a series in 1977, playing George Baker on the short-lived CBS action-adventure series "Code R." Also that year, Kove started a main role on another short-lived CBS show, the sitcom "We've Got Each Other." Closing out the decade, he appeared in episodes of "Barnaby Jones," "Quincy, M.E.," "Starsky and Hutch," and "CHiPs." Kove began the 1980s with a recurring role on the long-running soap opera "The Edge of Night." In 1982, he started playing the main role of police detective Victor Isbecki on the CBS police procedural series "Cagney & Lacey," a role he continued until the show's conclusion in 1988. Meanwhile, Kove appeared in episodes of "The Optimist," "Murder, She Wrote," and "The Twilight Zone." After the end of "Cagney & Lacey," Kove starred as an alien military officer on the short-lived CBS science-fiction series "Hard Time on Planet Earth."
During the first half of the 1990s, Kove appeared in episodes of "Renegade" and "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," and reprised his role as Victor Isbecki in the television film "Cagney & Lacey: The Return." Later in the decade, he appeared in the television films "Assault on Devil's Island" and "Assault on Death Mountain," and had a three-episode role on "Diagnosis: Murder." Kove's first television credit of the 21st century was the 2001 television war film "Under Heavy Fire." He appeared in a number of other television films after that, including "Hard Ground," "Barbarian," and "War Wolves." In the 2010s, Kove made guest appearances on "Criminal Minds" and "The Goldbergs." He also reprised his role as John Kreese on the show "Cobra Kai," a sequel to the "Karate Kid" films. Later, in 2021, Kove competed on the 30th season of the dance competition series "Dancing with the Stars." He and his dance partner Britt Stewart were the first to be eliminated from the show.
Personal Life & Real Estate
Kove is the father of fraternal twins Jesse and Rachel, who were born in late 1990. Jesse is an actor like his father, and appeared on "Cobra Kai."
In February 2021 Martin paid $1.23 million for a 3,000 square foot home set on 11 acres in Franklin, Tennessee.
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