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Jean Claude Van Damme

 
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Jean Claude Van Damme
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Calling himself the "Fred Astaire of karate," Jean Claude Van Damme thrills his film audiences with his ability to deliver a kick to an opponent's head during a leaping, 360-degree turn. It is said that his fight scenes are so intense that he won't film them in the U.S. for fear of being sued.

Having dropped out of school at the age of 16 to concentrate on his karate, he won the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship when he was in his late teens. He received his black belt in Shotokan karate from Claude Goets in 1978 and briefly studied kickboxing in Paris with French karate king Dominique Valera. He won numerous tournament championships on the European karate circuit. Van Damme went on to study classical ballet for five years, and eventually put the combination of his athletic abilities to work in the martial arts action films for which he is famous.

Van Damme works as an actor, director, writer, model, and producer, making such films as: Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run, Timecop, Maximum Risk, Legionnaire, The Order, and Derailed.

Born Jean Claude Camille Fran?ois Van Varenberg on October 18, 1960, in Flanders, Belgium, and raised in Brussels, Van Damme came to the US in 1981, with no English and no friends. He worked as a chauffeur, a carpet layer, a pizza deliverer, a trainer, and a bouncer, before he finally started to find roles in very low-budget films. He finally got his break when he made Bloodsport, a film shot in Hong Kong on a meager $1.5 million budget, which was so bad that he finally helped to recut it himself, and begged producers to release it. When they did, it became the US box office hit of that summer, and Van Damme was a star.

Van Damme has been married five times to four women, and has three children. He has his own production company, Long Road Productions (also known as 777 Films Corp).

Last updated: January 20, 2009.

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Actor: Jean-Claude Van Damme
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Oct 18, 1960 in Brussels, Belgium
  • Occupation: Actor, Writer, Director
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Action
  • Career Highlights: Universal Soldier, Lionheart, Hard Target
  • First Major Screen Credit: Bloodsport (1986)

Biography

Belgian-born film star Jean-Claude Van Damme can be called an actor, although it would be more accurate to describe him as a bodybuilder and kickboxer. It evidently wasn't in the genes; Van Damme's father was an accountant and flower salesman. Taking up the study of Shotokan karate at the age of ten, Van Damme went on to win the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association, where he thrilled one and all with his 360-degree leap-kick. Cashing in on his fame, the 18-year-old Van Damme launched the California Gym in Brussels. When he moved to L.A., he had 7,000 dollars to his name and spoke only French and Flemish. At first, he took many odd jobs, the least prepossessing of which was as a carpet layer. Van Damme's first film was a bit part in Chuck Norris' Missing in Action (1984). Groomed for stardom by Cannon Films' Menahem Golan, Van Damme became a big box-office commodity via such epics as No Retreat, No Surrender (1986); Bloodsport (1988); Cyborg (1989); Kickboxer (1989), which he co-wrote; Lionheart (1990); and Universal Soldier (1992). Fully cognizant of his own histrionic limitations, Van Damme didn't branch out into comedy or "sensitive" roles as has Arnold Schwarzenegger; when starring in the popular futuristic-action film Timecop (1994), Van Damme wisely left the acting to villain Ron Silver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
 
Quotes By: Jean-Claude Van Damme
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Quotes:

"I am the Fred Astaire of karate."

 
Wikipedia: Jean-Claude Van Damme
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
 This article needs reorganization to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. There is good information here, but it is poorly organized; editors are encouraged to be bold and make changes to the overall structure to improve this article.
"Van Damme" redirects here. For other uses, see Van Damme (disambiguation).
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Born 18 October 1960 (1960-10-18) (age 48)
Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium
Spouse(s) Maria Rodriguez: 1980–1984
Cynthia Derderian: 1985–1986
Darcy LaPier: 1994–1997 (1 child)
Gladys Portugues: 1987–1992, and 1999— (2 children)

Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Vaerenbergh 18 October 1960(1960-10-18)) is a Belgian martial artist and actor who is best known for martial arts and action movies, the most successful being Bloodsport, Timecop and Universal Soldier. His Belgian background and his physique furnished him the nickname The Muscles from Brussels.

Contents

Personal life

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Vaerenbergh[1] (also spelled Varenburg)[2] in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe (Brussels), Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Vaerenbergh, who was an accountant and owned a flower shop.[3][4] He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a shotokan karate school. His styles consist of kickboxing, shotokan karate, muay thai, and taekwondo.[5] He eventually earned his black belt in karate,[6] later winning the European Karate Association's middleweight championship in a stunning upset vs. the former champion Michael J. Heming[5] (although he has claimed that he was "twice world champion".)[7] He also started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.[8] At the age of 16 he took up ballet, which he studied for five years. He says of ballet that it "is an art, but it's also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport."[9] In the French-speaking world, Van Damme is well known for the picaresque aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, the environment, etc.) in a sort of Zen franglais. [10] Most iconic and often quoted was his repeated use of the English word aware during an interview for a French channel, to convey the notion of self-awareness as a key to success.

In a 2009 interview in the British newspaper The Sun, promoting his film JCVD, he indicated he experienced a period of homelessness in Los Angeles "sleeping on the street and starving in L.A."[11]

Van Damme has been married five times, including two marriages with his current wife, bodybuilder and fitness competitor Gladys Portugues. Van Damme has 3 children: Kristopher born 1987, Bianca born 1990, and Nicholas born 1995.

Film career

This section requires expansion.

Double Impact featured Van Damme in the dual role of Alex and Chad Wagner, two brothers fighting to avenge the deaths of their parents. This movie reunited him with his former Bloodsport star, Bolo Yeung. He then starred opposite Dolph Lundgren in the action movie Universal Soldier. While it grossed $36,299,898 in the US, it was an even bigger success overseas making over $65 million, well over its modest $20 million budget, making it Van Damme's highest grossing film at the time.

Van Damme followed Nowhere To Run and Hard Target with Timecop in 1994. The film was a huge success, grossing over $100 million worldwide. In the film, Van Damme played a time traveling cop, who tries to prevent the death of his wife. It remains his highest grossing movie to date.[12]

After his role in the poorly received Street Fighter, his projects started to fail at the box office. The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996) and Double Team (1997) were also box-office flops. [13]

His last theatrical released movie was Universal Soldier: The Return. All his movies after this, up until 2008's JCVD, had been direct to video releases.

Van Damme had also worked for director John McTiernan for the 1987 movie Predator as the titular alien, before being removed and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.

Van Damme will reprise his role as Luc Devereaux in the upcoming movie Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation.

JCVD was offered a lead role in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming film The Expendables. Stallone called Van Damme personally to offer him the role, but Van Damme turned it down citing that he "doesn't want his career going down that route."[14]

Filmography

Van Damme in 2007
Year Title Role Director
1984 Breakin' Guy dancing in the background Silberg, JoelJoel Silberg
1984 Monaco Forever Gay Karate Man Levy, William A.William A. Levy
1985 No Retreat, No Surrender Ivan Krushensky Yuen, CoreyCorey Yuen
1988 Bloodsport Frank Dux Arnold, NewtNewt Arnold
1988 Black Eagle Andrei Carson, EricEric Carson
1989 Cyborg Gibson Rickenbacker Pyun, AlbertAlbert Pyun
1989 Kickboxer Kurt Sloane DiSalle, MarkMark DiSalle, David Worth
1990 Death Warrant Louis Burke Serafian, DeranDeran Serafian
1990 Lionheart Lyon Gaultier Lettich, SheldonSheldon Lettich
1991 Double Impact Alex Wagner/Chad Wagner Lettich, SheldonSheldon Lettich
1992 Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux/GR44 Emmerich, RolandRoland Emmerich
1993 Hard Target Chance Boudreaux Woo, JohnJohn Woo
1993 Last Action Hero Cameo Appearance McTiernan, JohnJohn McTiernan
1993 Nowhere to Run Sam Gillen Harmon, RobertRobert Harmon
1994 Street Fighter Colonel William F. Guile de Souza, Steven E.Steven E. de Souza
1994 Timecop Max Walker Hyams, PeterPeter Hyams
1995 Sudden Death Darren McCord Hyams, PeterPeter Hyams
1995 Friends Himself Crane, DavidDavid Crane
1996 Maximum Risk Alain Moreau/Mikhail Suverov Lam, RingoRingo Lam
1996 The Quest Christopher Dubois Jean-Claude Van Damme
1997 Double Team Jack Quinn Hark, TsuiTsui Hark
1998 Goodnight Mister Tom Vicar Gold, JackJack Gold
1998 Legionnaire Alain Lefevre MacDonald, PeterPeter MacDonald
1998 Knock Off Marcus Ray Hark, TsuiTsui Hark
1999 Universal Soldier: The Return Luc Devereaux Rodgers, MicMic Rodgers
1999 Desert Heat Eddie Lomax Avildsen, John G.John G. Avildsen
2001 The Order Rudy Cafmeyer/Charles Le Vaillant Lettich, SheldonSheldon Lettich
2001 Replicant Edward "The Torch" Garrotte/Replicant Lam, RingoRingo Lam
2002 Derailed Jacques Kristoff Misiorowski, BobBob Misiorowski
2003 In Hell Kyle LeBlanc Lam, RingoRingo Lam
2004 Wake of Death Ben Archer Martinez, PhillipePhillipe Martinez
2004 Narco Jean's Ghost by Lenny Aurouet, TristanTristan Aurouet, Gilles Lellouche
2006 The Hard Corps Phillip Sauvage Lettich, SheldonSheldon Lettich
2006 Second in Command Sam Keenan Fellows, SimonSimon Fellows
2006 Sınav Charles Sorak, Omer FarukOmer Faruk Sorak
2007 Until Death Anthony Stowe Fellows, SimonSimon Fellows
2008 The Shepherd: Border Patrol Jack Robideaux Florentine, IsaacIsaac Florentine
2008 JCVD Jean-Claude Van Damme (a fictional character based on himself) El Mechri, MabroukMabrouk El Mechri
2009 The Eagle Path[15] Frenchy Jean-Claude Van Damme
2009 Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation Luc Deveraux John Hyams
2010 Karate The Piston Clarkson, RossRoss Clarkson
2010 Weapon Derek Chase Mulcahy, RussellRussell Mulcahy

Dual roles

Van Damme has been cast in "dual roles" in a single film many times during his career. Most cases involve two distinct characters, but others (TimeCop) involve the same character from different periods of time-travel. These scenes often necessitate special editing or blue-screen cinematography to have two versions of the actor interacting in the same scene. Those "dual-role" movies to date are

  • Double Impact - Van Damme plays twin brothers separated at birth and raised in different countries.
  • Timecop - Van Damme plays two versions of the same character overlapping in space-time continuum.
  • Maximum Risk - Van Damme plays twin brothers separated at birth, one of which was murdered.
  • The Order - Van Damme plays two different characters in different eras.
  • Replicant - Van Damme plays a serial killer and his futuristic clone and mafioso rockstar Repli Gotti.

Further reading

  • YouTube Video: JC Van Damme vs Patrick Teugels (1980)-The True Story
  • WAKO: MARTIAL ARTS (Traditions, History, People, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. Gallery Books, W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc. 112 Madison, New York City 10016. 1988. Pages: 60, 265.
  • PKA World Heavyweight Title: MARTIAL ARTS, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. 1988. Pages: 285-286.
  • EKU: MARTIAL ARTS, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. 1988. Pages: 210, 393.
  • Inside Kung-Fu Presents: Martial Artists One on One, March 1990: Jean-Claude Van Damme, pages 16-25, by John Steven Soet.
  • KarateKung-Fu Illustrated: April, 1991, Gunning for Van Damme, by Tim Vandehey.
  • Xuat Tinh Som (Tre Today News), 31 December 2007: Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Fight Career

At the age of 12, Jean-Claude 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 he earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team.[16]

Jean-Claude made his debut in 1976, at the age of 16.[17] Competing under his birth name of Jean Claude Van Varenberg, Jean-Claude was staggered by a round-house kick thrown by Toon Van Oostrum in Brussels, Belgium[18]. Van Damme was badly stunned, but came back to knockout Van Oostrum moments later.

In 1977, at the WAKO Open International in Belgium, Jean-Claude lost a decision to fellow team mate Patrick Teugels.[19] The experience left an impact on Claude Goetz and he felt that Jean-Claude needed more training before competing again.

After six months of intense training and sparring, Master Goetz decided to unleash his prized pupil on the European Full-Contact scene. Jean-Claude won his first tournament by scoring 3 knockout victories in one evening. However, in a 1978 match for the Belgium Lightweight Title, he again lost a decision to Patrick Teugels.[20] Once again, the loss left an impact on Claude Goetz and a few months later at Iseghem, Belgium, Van Damme came back and knocked out Emile Leibman in the first round. In 1979, Jean-Claude and the Belgium Team became European Team Champions.[21]

Next, Jean-Claude faced Sherman Bergman, a kick-boxer from Florida (USA) with a long string of knockout victories.[22] For the first and only time in his career, Jean-Claude was knocked to the canvas after absorbing a powerful left hook.[23] However, Jean-Claude climbed off the canvas and with a perfectly timed ax-kick, knocked Bergman out cold in 59 seconds of the first round.[24] Van Damme ended 1979 with a stoppage of Gilberto (Gil) Diaz in one round.[25]

In 1980, Jean-Claude Van Damme defeated former Great Britian Karate Champion Micheal Heming. Next, Van Damme scored a knockout over France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds.[26] After these victories, Jean-Claude caught the attention of the European martial arts community. Professional Karate Magazine publisher and editor Mike Anders, and multiple European Champion Geet Lemmens tabbed Jean-Claude Van Damme as an upcoming prospect. However, Jean-Claude's ambitions now focused in the direction of movie acting.

Van Damme ended his fight career at the Forest Nationals in Brussels. He knocked Patrick Teugels down and scored a first round technical knockout victory. Teugels suffered a nose injury and was unable in continue.

Following the victory, Van Damme retired from martial arts competition. His final fight record was 18-1, with all wins being knockouts and the loss being a decisions after two rounds.[27][28][29]

Fight Record [27]
Date Event Opponent Result
1976 European Karate Union Van Oostrum, ToonToon Van Oostrum Win, 1 round KO
1977 Netherlands Kick Boxing Devos, MauriceMaurice Devos Win, 1 round TKO
1978 European Karate Union Strauss, Eric BrunoEric Bruno Strauss Win, 1 round KO[30]
1978 European Karate Union Juvillier, MichelMichel Juvillier Win, 1 round KO
1978 European Karate Union Lang, OrlandoOrlando Lang Win, 1 round TKO
1978 World All Style Leibman, EmileEmile Leibman Win, 1 round KO
1978 World All Style Nollet, CyrilleCyrille Nollet Win, 1 round TKO
1979 World All Style Robaeys, AndreAndre Robaeys Win, 1 round KO
1979 World All Style Piniarski, JacquesJacques Piniarski Win, 1 round KO
1979 World All Style Risberg, RolfRolf Risberg Win, 1 round KO
1979 November World Full Contact Bergman, ShermanSherman Bergman Win, 1 round KO[28][29]
1979 November World Full Contact Diaz, Gilberto (Gil)Gilberto (Gil) Diaz Win, 1 round TKO
1979 November World Full Contact Teugels, PatrickPatrick Teugels Loss, 2 round decision
1980 March European Professional Benamou, Mustapha-AhmadMustapha-Ahmad Benamou Win, 1 round KO
1980 March European Professional Muhammad, Bekim-MoussaBekim-Moussa Muhammad Win, 1 round TKO
1980 March European Professional Heming, Micheal J.Micheal J. Heming Win, 2 round TKO [5]
1980 March Professional Karate Assoc. Verlugels, GeorgesGeorges Verlugels Win, 2 round KO [31]
1980 European Professional Kovac, AndresAndres Kovac Win, 2 round KO
1980 Forest Nationals (Brussels) Teugels, PatrickPatrick Teugels Win, 1 round TKO

References

  1. ^ Not over the Undertaker. (The Fans Speak Out). | Wrestling Digest (, 2003)
  2. ^ 'Sudden Death' star Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't so tough - just ask him. | Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (, 1995)
  3. ^ Jean-Claude Van Damme Biography (1960-)
  4. ^ Jean-Claude van Damme Biography - Yahoo! Movies
  5. ^ a b c Belgian Bruiser Muscles Into B-Movie Scene ', John Stanley, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 April 1989
  6. ^ Karate black belt)
  7. ^ 'Van Damme speaks language of karate', Louis B Parks, Houston Chronicle, 29 April 1988
  8. ^ 'Playboy interview', Lawrence Grobel, Playboy, January 1, 1995
  9. ^ 'Van Damme gets his kicks from acting now, not karate', Jae-Ha Kim, Chicago Sun-Times, 14 April 1989
  10. ^ Abstract Thinker
  11. ^ Rollings, Grant (February 6, 2009). "Jean-Claude Van Damme interview". Sun (London, England). Van Damme: "My eldest son doesn't know how to deal with society because I over-protect him because of my last life of being on the street and sleeping on the street and starving in L.A. I didn't want him to have that."
  12. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
  13. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
  14. ^ Brunton, Richard (2008-11-29). "Van Damme turned down Stallone's The Expendables". Filmstalker.co.uk. http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2008/11/van_damme_turned_down_stallone.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-08. 
  15. ^ Jean-Claude Van Damme Official Website
  16. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
  17. ^ http://phimanh.vnexpress.net/News/Dien-vien/2007/12/3B9AE65C/
  18. ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
  19. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
  20. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
  21. ^ http://www.jcvandamme.net/cnk/Anglais/CNKen/cnken.html
  22. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1870022/bio
  23. ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
  24. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Bergman
  25. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_(Gil)_Diaz
  26. ^ http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=320
  27. ^ a b "Video available on YouTube". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc. 
  28. ^ a b "Jean-Claude Van Damme: IMDb Bio". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio. 
  29. ^ a b "Jean-Claude Van Damme at AllCelebs". http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html. 
  30. ^ http://www.movie-collection.com/celebs/jean-claude-van-damme.html
  31. ^ http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=320

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