
Jean-Claude Van Damme
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).
Acting (82 movies)

Cyborg
1989

Kickboxer
1989

Replicant
2001

Legionnaire
1998

Universal Soldier: The Return
1999

Hard Target
1993

Nowhere to Run
1993

Inferno
1999

Maximum Risk
1996

Until Death
2007

Bloodsport
1988

Street Fighter
1994

The Shepherd: Border Patrol
2008

Timecop
1994

Sudden Death
1995

The Quest
1996

Double Impact
1991

Universal Soldier
1992

Lionheart
1990

Double Team
1997

No Retreat, No Surrender
1986

The Hard Corps
2005

JCVD
2008

Universal Soldier: Regeneration
2010

Wake of Death
2004

Haters
2021

The Order
2001

Knock Off
1998

Dolph: Unbreakable
2025

Death Warrant
1990

Derailed
2002

Black Eagle
1988

Kung Fu Panda 2
2011

Second in Command
2006

In Hell
2003

Assassination Games
2011

Full Love
2010

Corporal vs. Napoleon
2012

The Expendables 2
2012

Monaco Forever
1984

Dragon Eyes
2012

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
2012

6 Bullets
2012

U.F.O.
2012

Welcome to the Jungle
2013

Enemies Closer
2013

Swelter
2014

Kill 'em All 2
2024

Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
2003

Kickboxer: Vengeance
2016

Pound of Flesh
2015

Darkness of Man
2024

The Gardener
2025

Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4
2013

Kung Fu Panda 3
2016

Breakin'
1984

Narco
2004

Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
2023

Beur sur la ville
2011

Heist School
2006

Kickboxer: Retaliation
2018

Woman Between Wolf and Dog
1979

Street of the Damned
1984

Kill 'em All
2017

Black Water
2018

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

Jian Bing Man
2015

The Bouncer
2018

We Die Young
2019

Last Action Hero
1993

Minions: The Rise of Gru
2022

Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
2004

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

In Search of the Last Action Heroes
2019

The Last Mercenary
2021

Monsieur Jean-Claude
2021

Missing in Action
1984

All the Love You Cannes!
2002

Spaten
2024

Slinger
2011

Sensation: Cruise
2025

Ultrarêve
2020
Directing (2 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Lionheart | 1990 | Screenplay |
| Double Impact | 1991 | Producer |
| Double Impact | 1991 | Screenplay |
| Legionnaire | 1998 | Producer |
| Universal Soldier: The Return | 1999 | Producer |
| Inferno | 1999 | Producer |
| The Order | 2001 | Writer |
| JCVD | 2008 | Executive Producer |
| Full Love | 2010 | Writer |
| Full Love | 2010 | Producer |
| Assassination Games | 2011 | Executive Producer |
| 6 Bullets | 2012 | Executive Producer |
| Pound of Flesh | 2015 | Executive Producer |
| Black Water | 2018 | Executive Producer |
| We Die Young | 2019 | Executive Producer |
| Darkness of Man | 2024 | Executive Producer |