Jean-Claude Van Damme

Acting · 6.7 popularity

Age

Movies

Born: October 18, 1960
From: Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium
Website: Visit site

Biography

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène van Varenberg, an accountant. “The Muscles from Brussels” started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was physically weak. At the age of 12, van Damme began his martial arts training at Centre National De Karate (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Master Claude Goetz in Ixelles, Belgium. Van Damme trained for 4 years and earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team. He won the European professional karate association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and also beat the 2nd best karate fighter in the world. His goal was to be number one but got sidetracked when he left his hometown of Brussels. In 1976 at the age of sixteen, Jean-Claude started his Martial Arts fight career. Jean-Claude retired from martial arts in 1982, following a knockout over Nedjad Gharbi in Brussels, Belgium. Jean-Claude posted a 18-1 (18 knockouts) kickboxing record, and a semi-contact record of 41-4. He came to Hong Kong at the age of 19 for the first time and felt insured to do action movies in Hong Kong. In 1981, van Damme moved to Los Angeles. He took English classes while working as carpet layer, pizza delivery man, limo driver, and thanks to Chuck Norris he got a job as a bouncer at a club. Norris gave van Damme a small role in the movie Missing in Action (1984), but it wasn't good enough to get anybody's attention. In 1984, he got his first significant role as a villain named Ivan in the low-budget movie, No Retreat, No Surrender (1986). Then one day, while walking on the streets, Jean-Claude spotted a producer for Cannon Pictures and showed some of his martial arts abilities which led to a role in Bloodsport (1988). The movie, filmed in Hong Kong, was so bad when it was completed, it was shelved for almost two years. It might have never been released if van Damme did not help them to re-cut the film and begged producers to release it. They finally released the film, first in Malaysia and France and then into the US shot on a meager 1.5 million dollar budget, it became a US box-office hit in the spring of 1988. It made about 30 million worldwide and audiences supported this film for its new sensational action star, Jean-Claude van Damme. His good looks led to starring roles in higher budgeted movies like Cyborg (1989), AWOL: Absent Without Leave (1990), Double Impact (1991) and Universal Soldier (1992). In 1994, he scored with his big breakthrough $100 million worldwide hit Timecop (1994). But in the meantime, his personal life was coming apart. A divorce, followed by a new marriage, followed by another divorce. It began to show up in his career when his projects began to tank at the box office: The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996) and Double Team (1997). The three films made less than $50 million combined. In 1999, he remarried his ex-wife, Gladys Portugues, and restarted his lost career to attain new goals. With help from his family, he faced his problems and made movies like Replicant (2001), Derailed (2002), and In Hell (2003).

Works

91 films

Minions: The Rise of Gru

20227.3

Kung Fu Panda 2

20117.1

Kung Fu Panda 3

20166.9

The Expendables 2

20126.4

Hard Target

19936.5

Bloodsport

19887.1

Last Action Hero

19936.5

Double Impact

19916.2

Lionheart

19906.6

Street Fighter

19944.7

Universal Soldier

19926.3

In Hell

20036.6

Inferno

19996.2

Universal Soldier: The Return

19995.9

Kickboxer

19896.8

Sudden Death

19956.0

Nowhere to Run

19936.5

Kill 'em All

20175.7

Double Team

19975.3

Timecop

19946.0

Maximum Risk

19965.8

Cyborg

19895.7

The Quest

19966.2

The Gardener

20256.0

Kill 'em All 2

20246.8

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

20125.6

The Order

20015.1

Death Warrant

19906.2

Missing in Action

19845.9

Black Water

20185.6

Welcome to the Jungle

20135.0

The Shepherd: Border Patrol

20086.1

Universal Soldier: Regeneration

20105.7

Knock Off

19985.4

The Last Mercenary

20216.3

Replicant

20015.8

No Retreat, No Surrender

19866.3

Breakin'

19846.7

6 Bullets

20126.3

The Bouncer

20186.2

Legionnaire

19985.9

Assassination Games

20116.3

We Die Young

20196.8

Kickboxer: Retaliation

20185.4

Kickboxer: Vengeance

20165.1

Black Eagle

19885.0

Derailed

20025.2

Darkness of Man

20255.5

Pound of Flesh

20155.8

Until Death

20075.9

The Hard Corps

20056.1

Dragon Eyes

20125.3

Wake of Death

20046.1

JCVD

20086.6

All the Love You Cannes!

20026.5

Enemies Closer

20135.4

Swelter

20145.0

Second in Command

20065.5

U.F.O.

20124.3

Narco

20045.7

Prison Fight

2026

The Unbeatable Bruce Lee

20018.4

Jian Bing Man

20155.1

Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of "Universal Soldier"

2026

In Search of the Last Action Heroes

20197.0

Woman Between Wolf and Dog

19795.6

Haters

20213.7

Dolph: Unbreakable

2025

Beur sur la ville

20114.2

Silent Kill

2026

Full Love

20107.4

Corporal vs. Napoleon

20123.5

Street of the Damned

19845.2

Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies

2023

Slinger

2011

Heist School

20065.8

Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story

2026

Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme

20037.9

Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans

20045.2

Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4

2013

The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films

20146.4

Monaco Forever

19843.8

Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier'

20048.5

Raid Pacific

2026

Spaten

2024

The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2

20196.0

Sensation: Cruise

2025

Jean-Claude Van Damage

2014

What's My Name?

2026

Monsieur Jean-Claude

2021

Bon Voyage

2017