Jean-Claude Van Damme, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Jean-Claude Van Damme
Acting

Jean-Claude Van Damme
Homepage
http://jcvdofficial.com
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1960-10-18,Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium
Gender
Male
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).

Filmography

5.7

Cyborg
1989-04-07

6.841

Kickboxer
1989-04-20

5.8

Replicant
2001-05-11

5.854

Legionnaire
1998-12-03

Universal Soldier: The Return

5.881

Universal Soldier: The Return
1999-08-05

6.505

Hard Target
1993-04-27

6.547

Nowhere to Run
1993-01-15

6.171

Inferno
1999-09-25

5.817

Maximum Risk
1996-09-13

5.94

Until Death
2007-01-19

7.062

Bloodsport
1988-02-26

4.7

Street Fighter
1994-12-23

The Shepherd: Border Patrol

6.11

The Shepherd: Border Patrol
2008-03-04

6.024

Timecop
1994-09-15

6.029

Sudden Death
1995-10-27

6.193

The Quest
1996-04-19

6.218

Double Impact
1991-07-31

Universal Soldier

6.349

Universal Soldier
1992-07-10

6.622

Lionheart
1990-06-07

5.283

Double Team
1997-04-04

No Retreat, No Surrender

6.315

No Retreat, No Surrender
1986-05-02

6.081

The Hard Corps
2005-07-29

6.615

JCVD
2008-06-04

Universal Soldier: Regeneration

5.7

Universal Soldier: Regeneration
2010-02-23

6.072

Wake of Death
2004-12-28

3.7

Haters
2021-12-02

5.105

The Order
2001-05-05

5.36

Knock Off
1998-09-04

Dolph: Unbreakable

0

Dolph: Unbreakable
2025-10-21

6.243

Death Warrant
1990-09-14

5.217

Derailed
2002-05-19

4.995

Black Eagle
1988-05-01

Kung Fu Panda 2

7.076

Kung Fu Panda 2
2011-05-25

Second in Command

5.53

Second in Command
2006-05-02

6.628

In Hell
2003-11-24

Assassination Games

6.315

Assassination Games
2011-07-28

7.4

Full Love
2010-05-13

Corporal vs. Napoleon

3.5

Corporal vs. Napoleon
2012-01-25

The Expendables 2

6.4

The Expendables 2
2012-08-15

3.786

Monaco Forever
1984-01-01

What's My Name?

0

What's My Name?

5.3

Dragon Eyes
2012-05-10

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

5.563

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
2012-10-04

6.28

6 Bullets
2012-09-11

4.282

U.F.O.
2012-12-15

Welcome to the Jungle

5.021

Welcome to the Jungle
2013-04-27

5.431

Enemies Closer
2013-12-04

5.008

Swelter
2014-04-20

6.8

Kill 'em All 2
2024-09-24

Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme

7.857

Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
2003-05-07

Kickboxer: Vengeance

5.094

Kickboxer: Vengeance
2016-07-14

5.7

Pound of Flesh
2015-05-07

0

Silent Kill

Darkness of Man

5.469

Darkness of Man
2025-12-18

6.052

The Gardener
2025-01-30

Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4

0

Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4
2013-01-22

Kung Fu Panda 3

6.93

Kung Fu Panda 3
2016-01-23

6.747

Breakin'
1984-05-04

5.678

Narco
2004-12-01

Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies

0

Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
2023-11-26

Beur sur la ville

4.2

Beur sur la ville
2011-10-11

5.813

Heist School
2006-10-20

Kickboxer: Retaliation

5.4

Kickboxer: Retaliation
2018-01-26

Woman Between Wolf and Dog

5.6

Woman Between Wolf and Dog
1979-06-04

Street of the Damned

5.216

Street of the Damned
1984-01-04

5.713

Kill 'em All
2017-06-06

5.558

Black Water
2018-05-18

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

6.36

The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films
2014-10-22

5.077

Jian Bing Man
2015-07-17

6.238

The Bouncer
2018-08-22

6.77

We Die Young
2019-05-09

Last Action Hero

6.484

Last Action Hero
1993-06-18

The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2

6

The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2
2019-05-28

Minions: The Rise of Gru

7.3

Minions: The Rise of Gru
2022-06-29

Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans

5.2

Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
2004-10-19

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

8.5

Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier'
2004-10-19

In Search of the Last Action Heroes

7

In Search of the Last Action Heroes
2019-09-01

The Last Mercenary

6.357

The Last Mercenary
2021-07-30

Monsieur Jean-Claude

0

Monsieur Jean-Claude
2021-07-15

Missing in Action

5.889

Missing in Action
1984-11-16

All the Love You Cannes!

6.471

All the Love You Cannes!
2002-05-16

0

Spaten
2024-06-05

0

Slinger
2011-03-11

Sensation: Cruise

0

Sensation: Cruise
2025-06-28

Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story

0

Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story

0

Bon Voyage
2017-11-02

Jean-Claude Van Damage

0

Jean-Claude Van Damage
2014-02-18

The Unbeatable Bruce Lee

8.4

The Unbeatable Bruce Lee
2001-12-18

0

Raid Pacific

0

Prison Fight

Beur sur la ville

4.2

Beur sur la ville
2011-10-11

Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of

0

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

7.038

Las Vegas
2003-09-22

E! True Hollywood Story

8.15

E! True Hollywood Story
1996-08-21

Celebrities Uncensored

4.833

Celebrities Uncensored
2003-06-04

6

Viva el lunes
1995-10-16

Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors

6.4

Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors
2011-03-22

4.333

Beckmann
1999-01-25

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

5.358

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992-05-25

Jean-Claude Van Johnson

6.557

Jean-Claude Van Johnson
2016-08-19

8.414

Friends
1994-09-22

Ramez Movie Star

5.8

Ramez Movie Star
2022-04-02

The Late Late Show

5.6

The Late Late Show
1962-07-06

WCW Monday Nitro

8.276

WCW Monday Nitro
1995-09-04

7.16

Conan
2010-11-08

6.636

The UnXplained
2019-07-19

Vivement dimanche

3.625

Vivement dimanche
1998-09-20

5.25

Quotidien
2016-09-12

5.7

Sacrée soirée
1987-09-02

8.25

The Apartment
2001-09-08

6

The Word
1990-08-10