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

5.668

Cyborg
1989-04-07

6.843

Kickboxer
1989-04-20

5.854

Replicant
2001-05-11

5.856

Legionnaire
1998-12-03

Universal Soldier: The Return

5.881

Universal Soldier: The Return
1999-08-05

6.511

Hard Target
1993-04-27

6.564

Nowhere to Run
1993-01-15

6.181

Inferno
1999-09-25

5.826

Maximum Risk
1996-09-13

5.965

Until Death
2007-01-19

7.067

Bloodsport
1988-02-26

4.679

Street Fighter
1994-12-23

The Shepherd: Border Patrol

6.137

The Shepherd: Border Patrol
2008-03-04

6.039

Timecop
1994-09-15

6.042

Sudden Death
1995-10-27

6.218

The Quest
1996-04-19

6.226

Double Impact
1991-07-31

Universal Soldier

6.351

Universal Soldier
1992-07-10

6.634

Lionheart
1990-06-07

5.299

Double Team
1997-04-04

No Retreat, No Surrender

6.329

No Retreat, No Surrender
1986-05-02

6.081

The Hard Corps
2005-07-29

6.596

JCVD
2008-06-04

Universal Soldier: Regeneration

5.661

Universal Soldier: Regeneration
2010-02-23

6.1

Wake of Death
2004-12-28

3.73

Haters
2021-12-02

5.112

The Order
2001-05-05

5.358

Knock Off
1998-09-04

Dolph: Unbreakable

8

Dolph: Unbreakable
2025-10-21

6.272

Death Warrant
1990-09-14

5.212

Derailed
2002-05-19

4.998

Black Eagle
1988-05-01

Kung Fu Panda 2

7.085

Kung Fu Panda 2
2011-05-25

Second in Command

5.5

Second in Command
2006-05-02

6.67

In Hell
2003-11-24

Assassination Games

6.335

Assassination Games
2011-07-28

7.4

Full Love
2010-05-13

Corporal vs. Napoleon

3.488

Corporal vs. Napoleon
2012-01-25

The Expendables 2

6.355

The Expendables 2
2012-08-15

3.786

Monaco Forever
1984-01-01

What's My Name?

0

What's My Name?

5.286

Dragon Eyes
2012-05-10

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

5.573

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
2012-10-04

6.276

6 Bullets
2012-09-11

4.257

U.F.O.
2012-12-15

Welcome to the Jungle

5.036

Welcome to the Jungle
2013-04-27

5.438

Enemies Closer
2013-12-04

5.008

Swelter
2014-04-20

6.796

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

5.1

Kickboxer: Vengeance
2016-07-14

5.758

Pound of Flesh
2015-05-07

0

Silent Kill

Darkness of Man

5.3

Darkness of Man
2025-12-18

6.063

The Gardener
2025-01-30

Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4

5

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

Kung Fu Panda 3

6.94

Kung Fu Panda 3
2016-01-23

6.742

Breakin'
1984-05-04

5.708

Narco
2004-12-01

Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies

0

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

Beur sur la ville

4.241

Beur sur la ville
2011-10-11

5.8

Heist School
2006-10-20

Kickboxer: Retaliation

5.421

Kickboxer: Retaliation
2018-01-26

Woman Between Wolf and Dog

5.591

Woman Between Wolf and Dog
1979-06-04

Street of the Damned

5.216

Street of the Damned
1984-01-04

5.721

Kill 'em All
2017-06-06

5.56

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

5.076

Jian Bing Man
2015-07-17

6.239

The Bouncer
2018-08-22

6.8

We Die Young
2019-05-09

Last Action Hero

6.486

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

7.26

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

6.99

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

The Last Mercenary

6.352

The Last Mercenary
2021-07-30

Monsieur Jean-Claude

0

Monsieur Jean-Claude
2021-07-15

Missing in Action

5.902

Missing in Action
1984-11-16

All the Love You Cannes!

6.471

All the Love You Cannes!
2002-05-16

5

Spaten
2024-06-05

0

Slinger
2011-03-11

Sensation: Cruise

4

Sensation: Cruise
2025-06-28

Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story

0

Chinese Hercules: The Bolo Yeung Story

6

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

4.241

Beur sur la ville
2011-10-11

Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of

0

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

The Best of the Martial Arts Films

8.75

The Best of the Martial Arts Films
1990-01-01

7.034

Las Vegas
2003-09-22

E! True Hollywood Story

8.1

E! True Hollywood Story
1996-08-21

Celebrities Uncensored

4.857

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

4.5

Beckmann
1999-01-25

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

5.363

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992-05-25

Jean-Claude Van Johnson

6.611

Jean-Claude Van Johnson
2016-08-19

8.409

Friends
1994-09-22

Ramez Movie Star

5.667

Ramez Movie Star
2022-04-02

The Late Late Show

5.5

The Late Late Show
1962-07-06

WCW Monday Nitro

8.3

WCW Monday Nitro
1995-09-04

7.163

Conan
2010-11-08

6.694

The UnXplained
2019-07-19

Vivement dimanche

3.556

Vivement dimanche
1998-09-20

5.1

Quotidien
2016-09-12

5.7

Sacrée soirée
1987-09-02

8

The Apartment
2001-09-08

6

The Word
1990-08-10