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).
The Gardener
as LéoEvery year the Prime Minister has a list of all kinds of troublemakers eliminated in the name of...
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Kill 'em All 2
as PhilipPhillip and Suzanne are retired from the spy game, living peacefully off the grid. That's until...
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Minions: The Rise of Gru
as Jean Clawed (voice)A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil...
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Kung Fu Panda 3
as Master Croc (voice)While Po and his father are visiting a secret panda village, an evil spirit threatens all of...
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Kung Fu Panda 2
as Master Croc (voice)Po and his friends fight to stop a peacock villain from conquering China with a deadly new...
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Darkness of Man
as Russell HatchRussell Hatch, an Interpol operative who takes on the role of father figure to Jayden, the son...
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Lionheart
as Leon GaultierLyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds...
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Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their...
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Hard Target
as Chance BoudreauxWhen a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon...
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Kickboxer
as Kurt SloaneIf your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt, American...
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Bloodsport
as Frank DuxAn American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the...
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Kickboxer: Retaliation
as Master DurandOne year after the events of "Kickboxer: Vengeance", Kurt Sloan has vowed never to return to...
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Inferno
as Eddie LomaxEddie Lomax is a drifter who has been in a suicidal funk since the death of his close friend...
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The Shepherd: Border Patrol
as Jack RobideauxA Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.
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Double Impact
as Alex / Chad WagnerJean Claude Van Damme plays a dual role as Alex and Chad, twins separated at the death of their...
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Universal Soldier
as Luc Deveraux / GR44An American soldier who had been killed during the Vietnam War is revived 25 years later by the...
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Death Warrant
as Louis BurkeCanadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate the murders of prisoners and...
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After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible...
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The Quest
as Christopher DuboisGhang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around...
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Kill 'em All
as PhilipAfter a massive shootout, a mysterious stranger arrives at a local hospital on the brink of...
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Cyborg
as Gibson RickenbackerA martial artist hunts a killer in a plague-infested urban dump of the future.
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Universal Soldier: Regeneration
as Luc DeverauxWhen terrorists threaten nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl, the world's only hope is to...
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Sudden Death
as Darren Francis Thomas McCordWhen a man's daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game – with the captors...
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Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to...
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No Retreat, No Surrender
as Ivan Kraschinsky "The Russian"When the mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, young Jason Stillwell and his...
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The Last Mercenary
as Richard BruméreA legendary secret service agent comes out of hiding and returns to France to help the son he's...
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Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
as Luc DeverauxAfter his wife and daughter are murdered in a home invasion, a widower named John now finds...
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Universal Soldier: The Return
as Luc DevereuxLuc Deveraux, the heroic former Universal Soldier, is about to be thrown into action once again....
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Col. Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison...
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6 Bullets
as Samson GaulAn ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter...
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Black Eagle
as AndreiOne of the US Air Force's most modern tactical aircrafts, an F-100 with a new laser guidance...
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Assassination Games
as Vincent BrazilBrazil is a contract killer, willing to take any job if the price is right. Flint left the...
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In Hell
as Kyle LeBlancA man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's...
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Black Water
as WheelerA deep cover operative awakens to find himself imprisoned on a submarine. With the help of a...
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We Die Young
as DanielLucas, a 14-year-old boy inducted into the gang life in Washington D.C., is determined that his...
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Legionnaire
as Alain LefevreAlain Lefevre is a boxer paid by a Marseille mobster to take a dive. When he wins the fight he...
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Breakin'
as Spectator in First Dance Sequence (uncredited)A struggling young dancer joins forces with two breakdancers and together they become a street...
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Maximum Risk
as Alain Moreau / Mikhail SuverovAlain Moreau's investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the...
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Welcome to the Jungle
as StormA company retreat on a tropical island goes terribly awry.
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Swelter
as StillmanTen years after their casino heist, four escaped convicts trace their former partner to a desert...
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Replicant
as Replicant / GarrotteScientists create a genetic clone of a serial killer in order to help catch the killer, teaming...
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Missing in Action
as Soldier (uncredited)American servicemen are still being held captive in Vietnam and it's up to one man to bring them...
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The Bouncer
as LukasA tough nightclub bouncer struggling to raise his 8-year-old daughter is forced to go undercover...
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Knock Off
as Marcus RayA fashion designer and his CIA agent business partner must join forces to stop a group of...
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An officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a...
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Double Team
as Jack QuinnA CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island...
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The Order
as Rudy CafmeyerWhen Rudy, an artifacts smuggler, goes to Jerusalem to rescue his kidnapped archeologist father,...
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Kickboxer: Vengeance
as Master DurandEric and Kurt Sloane are the descendants of a well-known Venice, California-based family of...
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Jean-Claude van Damme: Karate King
as Self - Portait Subject & Interviewee (archive)An American low-budget action film celebrated an unexpected worldwide success in 1988:...
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Second in Command
as Cmdr. Samuel 'Sam' KeenanArmed insurgents attempt a coup d'etat in a troubled Eastern European country, and the president...
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Between his tax problems and his legal battle with his wife for the custody of his daughter,...
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Narco
as Jean-Claude Van Damme fantasmé par LennyGustave Klopp suffers from narcolepsy, he can fall asleep everwhere at anytime whithout warning....
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Pound of Flesh
as DeaconIn China to donate his kidney to his dying niece, former black-ops agent Deacon awakes the day...
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Enemies Closer
as XanderAfter a major shipment of drugs goes missing on the US-Canadian border, forest ranger and former...
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Wake of Death
as Ben ArcherBen Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for...
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Until Death
as Anthony StoweAnthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious...
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Dragon Eyes
as TianoIn St. Jude, drug dealers and corrupt cops have destroyed an urban neighborhood. But newcomer,...
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The Hard Corps
as Phillippe SauvageAn Army veteran assembles a team of bodyguards to protect a former boxer. Complications arise...
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U.F.O.
as GeorgeA group of friends awake one morning to find all electricity and power shut off and an immense...
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Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
as Gibson Rickenbacker (archive footage) (uncredited)A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film...
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Derailed
as Jacques KristoffNATO operative Jacques Kristoff (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is summoned into action—on his birthday,...
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Jian Bing Man
as Jean-Claude Van DammeBeijing, the present day. Popular TV personality Da Peng is invited by gangster businessman Wang...
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Haters
as Jean-Claude Van DammeInternet humor star Thomas the Lama gets out of hand in a video. He becomes the target of all...
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In Search of the Last Action Heroes
as uncreditedThe most comprehensive retrospective of the '80s action film genre ever made.
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Beur sur la ville
as Colonel Merot25-year-old Khalid Belkacem has failed at everything: college education, summer camp...
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Heist School
as CharlesFive high school students plans to steal University Entrance Exam booklets.
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Corporal vs. Napoleon
as HimselfNapoleon has decided to declare war to the world. When he approaches Moscow, the Russian...
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The Best of the Martial Arts Films
as Self (archive footage)The most explosive barehanded combat sequences ever filmed. An electrifying video of martial...
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The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films
as SelfCousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus relive the creation, rise and fall of their independent...
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Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
as uncreditedIf you want to find out how it is being Jean-Claude Van Damme.
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Top Fighter
as (archive footage)Welcome to the world of the martial arts. A voyage for the times of the martial arts cinema,...
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Street of the Damned
as Extra in Police Arrival Sequence (uncredited)In a desolate Paris suburb, no one dares challenge crime boss Hagen, who rules his turf with an...
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All the Love You Cannes!
as SelfKnown for what must be the cheapest and cheesiest of the indie film world, Troma films takes on...
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Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
as SelfAlbert Pyun: King of Cult Movies tells the story of a true renegade and his love for filmmaking,...
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Full Love
as FrenchyMilitary veteran and former mercenary, FRENCHY works as a taxi driver, and hiding in Bangkok,...
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Woman Between Wolf and Dog
as Movie Goer / Man in Garden (uncredited)Lieve is a Belgian woman who marries just as World War II is beginning. When the Germans invade,...
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Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
as HimselfBiography style segment that gives us some interesting background information on Van Damme and...
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Monaco Forever
as Gay Karate ManAn American jewel thief in Monaco encounters various characters while trying to set up a robbery.
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Monsieur Jean-Claude
as (uncredited)Jean-Claude Van Damme is back, and this time it's personal. Seventy-two photograms constructed...
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Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4
as SelfFeature length candid look into the making of the film "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning."
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Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier'
as HimselfRetrospective documentary on the making of the film Universal Soldier (1992).
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Conan
as SelfA late night television talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien.
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Friends
as Jean-Claude Van DammeSix young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world,...
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Ramez Movie Star
as uncreditedRamez and co-host Jean-Claude Van Damme trick the stars into thinking they’ll shoot an...
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Quotidien
as Self - GuestQuotidien is a French television program presented by Yann Barthès and broadcast from September...
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Las Vegas
as SelfEd Deline is a strict ex-CIA officer who went from being Head of Security to becoming President...
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The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
as uncreditedJay Leno hosts some of the biggest celebrities in the world.
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WCW Monday Nitro
as uncreditedWCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship...
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Jean-Claude Van Johnson
as JohnsonJean-Claude Van Damme is a global martial arts & film sensation, also operating under the...
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The Late Late Show
as SelfChat show that looks at current affairs in Ireland
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The UnXplained
as SelfExplore the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries. Each episode features...
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Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors
as uncreditedJean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors is a 2011 British reality show featuring action star...
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E! True Hollywood Story
as uncreditedE! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood...
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Celebrities Uncensored
as SelfCelebrities Uncensored is a TV program on the E! network that edited together amusing paparazzi...
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