Rob Garrison
{{short description|American actor (1960–2019)}}
{{Other people|Robert Garrison|Robert Garrison (disambiguation){{!}}Robert Garrison}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rob Garrison
| image = Rob Garrison as Tommy.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Garrison as Tommy in Cobra Kai
| birth_date = {{birth date|1960
|1|23}}
| birth_place = Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|9|27|1960|1|23}}
| death_place = Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| education =
| alma_mater = Ohio University
| years_active = 1977–2019
| known_for = {{ubl|The Karate Kid|Cobra Kai}}
}}
Robert Scott Garrison (January 23, 1960 – September 27, 2019) was an American actor known for his role as Tommy in the 1984 film The Karate Kid and the second season of its spinoff Cobra Kai.
Garrison started his acting career in the 1970s and continued steadily over the 1980s and 1990s. He acted in Brubaker (1980), The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), and Iron Eagle (1986). He also had roles in the television shows Coach, St. Elsewhere, MacGyver, and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.
Early life
Garrison was born on January 23, 1960, and raised in Wheeling, West Virginia.{{cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/robert-garrison-obituary?pid=194017456 |title=Robert Scott Garrison: Kepner Funeral Homes Burke Chapel Obituary |access-date=September 28, 2019 |date=September 27, 2019 |publisher=Legacy.com}}
Career
He first became involved in acting at Wheeling Park High School and also had a small role in Starship Invasions (1977){{cite news |last=France |first=Lisa |title=Rob Garrison, 'Karate Kid' actor, dead at 59 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/27/entertainment/robert-garrison-obit/index.html |access-date=September 28, 2019 |work=CNN}} before graduating in 1978.{{cite web |url=https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2014/12/stage-is-home-to-garrison/ |title=Stage Is Home to Garrison |access-date=October 1, 2019 |last=Ayres |first=Eric |date=December 5, 2014 |newspaper=The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register}} He then studied theater at Ohio University on a full scholarship, and received a small role as a convict in Robert Redford's prison film Brubaker (1980). After graduating from Ohio University in 1982, he was cast as Tommy in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, although both he and William Zabka tried out for the role of Johnny. Garrison reprised this role during season 2 of the Netflix web series Cobra Kai in 2019.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/therobgarrison/status/1121411792956264455 |title=Rob Garrison@therobgarrison |access-date=2019-11-03 |last=Garrison |first=Rob |date=2019-04-25 |publisher=Twitter}}{{cite journal |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/cobra-kai-reunion-episode/ |title='Cobra Kai' Season 2: About That 'Karate Kid' Reunion in Episode 6… |access-date=2019-10-21 |last=Topel |first=Fred |date=April 27, 2019 |journal=/Film}} His Karate Kid character Tommy is remembered for delivering the line "Get him a body bag, yeah!" during the closing moments of the climactic fight between Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and Zabka's Johnny Lawrence in the original Karate Kid film. He later stated that the line, heard while his character is offscreen, was not a part of the original script: "My famous line, I never said that while filming. I looped that in two months later. I was in the recording booth with John [Avildsen] and he said he needed two seconds of something. I said, 'Get him a body bag!' on the first try. John said 'That's going to be a classic. You'll never be forgotten because of that line.'"{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/05/01/karate-kid-movie-oral-history-cobra-kai |title=The Crane Kick Is Bogus: A Karate Kid Oral History |access-date=September 27, 2019 |last=Prewitt |first=Alex |date=May 1, 2018 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}
Garrison continued his acting career over the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in films such as The Karate Kid Part II (cameo) (1986) and Iron Eagle (1986).{{cite news |title=What the Karate Kid Cast Looks Like Today |url=https://marvelmoviesnews.com/what-the-karate-kid-cast-looks-like-today |access-date=October 1, 2019 |website=Marvel Movies}} He also had roles in the television shows Coach, St. Elsewhere, MacGyver and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.{{cite journal |url=https://deadline.com/2019/09/robert-garrison-dies-dead-karate-kid-actor-was-59-1202746785/ |title=Robert Garrison Dies: 'The Karate Kid' Actor Was 59 |access-date=September 27, 2019 |last=Evans
|first=Greg |date=September 27, 2019 |journal=Deadline Hollywood}}{{cite journal |url=https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2019/09/karate-kid-robert-garrison-dies-health-battle/ |title=R.I.P. 'Karate Kid' Star Robert Garrison Dies After Long Health Battle |access-date=September 27, 2019 |date=September 27, 2019 |journal=Radar Online}}
He acted in the 2007 No More Kings music video Sweep the Leg, which parodied The Karate Kid, The Pledge (2011), and the short film The Static released in 2016. Garrison interacted with his fans via social media and reprised the role of Tommy in the second season of Cobra Kai, which was his last performance. A memorial tribute to Garrison preceded the credits in Cobra Kai season 3, episode 1, "Aftermath".
Personal life
In a later part of Garrison's life, acting was no longer his full-time work and he was employed as a restaurant manager.{{Cite web|url=https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2019/09/karate-kid-robert-garrison-dies-health-battle/|title=R.I.P. 'Karate Kid' Star Robert Garrison Dies After Long Health Battle|website=RadarOnline|date=September 27, 2019 }}
Death
Garrison continued acting on stage in local theatre productions in Wheeling until his health began to fail him. He died on September 27, 2019, at the age of 59. He had been admitted to a West Virginia hospital for treatment of kidney and liver issues, where he had been hospitalized for a month until his organs shut down.
Filmography
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0308459}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8tqYkPpEI&list=PL88xhQ-tUlW7tDGJlQ4tnmfBY337S1K5F&index=6 Sensei Ron Thomas | Kicking It With the Koves (May 26, 2022)] - Martin Kove, Jesse Kove, Rachel Kove (includes a discussion of Garrison's involvement with Cobra Kai and Karate Kid)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Rob}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:Ohio University alumni