Jean-Claude Van Damme
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).
Born: 18 October 1960
Played In
Darkness of Man
Russell Hatch
Dolph: Unbreakable
Self
Sensation: Cruise
Kyle LeBlanc (archival footage from 'In Hell')
The Gardener
Léo
Kill 'em All 2
Philip
Spaten
Van Damme
Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
Self
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Jean Clawed (voice)
Ramez Movie Star
Haters
Jean-Claude Van Damme
The Last Mercenary
Richard Brumére
Monsieur Jean-Claude
(uncredited)
Ultrarêve
Self
In Search of the Last Action Heroes
Self
The UnXplained
Self
The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2
We Die Young
Daniel
The Bouncer
Lukas
Black Water
Wheeler
Kickboxer: Retaliation
Master Durand
Bon Voyage
Self (archive footage)
Kill 'em All
Philip
Quotidien
Self - Guest
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
Johnson
Kickboxer: Vengeance
Master Durand
Kung Fu Panda 3
Master Croc (voice)
Jian Bing Man
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Pound of Flesh
Deacon
The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films
Self
Swelter
Stillman
Jean-Claude Van Damage
Enemies Closer
Xander
Welcome to the Jungle
Storm
Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4
Self
U.F.O.
George
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Luc Deveraux
6 Bullets
Samson Gaul
The Expendables 2
Jean Vilain
Dragon Eyes
Tiano
Corporal vs. Napoleon
Himself
Beur sur la ville
Colonel Merot
Beur sur la ville
Le colonel
Assassination Games
Vincent Brazil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Master Croc (voice)
Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors
Slinger
Gibson Rickenbacker
Conan
Self
Full Love
Frenchy
Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Luc Deveraux
JCVD
J.C.V.D.
The Shepherd: Border Patrol
Jack Robideaux
Until Death
Anthony Stowe
Heist School
Charles
Second in Command
Cmdr. Samuel 'Sam' Keenan
The Hard Corps
Phillippe Sauvage
Wake of Death
Ben Archer
Narco
Jean-Claude Van Damme fantasmé par Lenny
Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
Himself
Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier'
Himself
In Hell
Kyle LeBlanc
Las Vegas
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Celebrities Uncensored
Self
Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
Derailed
Jacques Kristoff
All the Love You Cannes!
Self
The Unbeatable Bruce Lee
The Apartment
Self - Guest
Replicant
Replicant / Garrotte
The Order
Rudy Cafmeyer
Inferno
Eddie Lomax
Universal Soldier: The Return
Luc Deveraux
Beckmann
Self
Legionnaire
Alain Lefevre
Vivement dimanche
Self
Knock Off
Marcus Ray
Double Team
Jack Quinn
Maximum Risk
Alain Moreau / Mikhail Suverov
E! True Hollywood Story
The Quest
Christopher Dubois
Sudden Death
Darren Francis Thomas McCord
Viva el lunes
Self
WCW Monday Nitro
Street Fighter
Colonel Guile
Friends
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Timecop
Max Walker
Last Action Hero
Jean-Claude Van Damme (uncredited)
Hard Target
Chance Boudreaux
Nowhere to Run
Sam Gillen
Universal Soldier
Luc Deveraux / GR44
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Double Impact
Alex / Chad Wagner
Death Warrant
Louis Burke
Lionheart
Lyon Gaultier
Kickboxer
Kurt Sloane
Cyborg
Gibson Rickenbacker
Black Eagle
Andrei
Bloodsport
Frank
Sacrée soirée
Self
No Retreat, No Surrender
Ivan Kraschinsky "The Russian"
Missing in Action
Soldier (uncredited)
Breakin'
Spectator in First Dance Sequence (uncredited)
Street of the Damned
Extra in Police Arrival Sequence (uncredited)
Monaco Forever
Gay Karate Man
Woman Between Wolf and Dog
Movie Goer / Man in Garden (uncredited)
The Late Late Show
Self
What's My Name?
Silent Kill
Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story
Self
Raid Pacific
Captain William Pierce
Prison Fight
Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of "Universal Soldier"
Self