1960-10-18 ( 64 years old ) in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium
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).
Movies
The Gardener
2025-01-30
Kill 'em All 2
2024-09-24
Spaten
2024-06-05
Darkness of Man
2024-05-07
Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
2023-11-26
Jean-Claude van Damme: Karate King
2023-03-17
Minions: The Rise of Gru
2022-06-29
Haters
2021-12-03
The Last Mercenary
2021-07-30
Monsieur Jean-Claude
2021-07-15
In Search of the Last Action Heroes
2019-09-01
The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2
2019-05-28
We Die Young
2019-05-09
The Bouncer
2018-08-22
Black Water
2018-05-18
Kickboxer: Retaliation
2018-01-26
Kill 'em All
2017-06-06
Kickboxer: Vengeance
2016-07-14
Kung Fu Panda 3
2016-01-23
Jian Bing Man
2015-07-17
Pound of Flesh
2015-05-07
Swelter
2014-04-20
Enemies Closer
2013-12-04
Welcome to the Jungle
2013-04-27
U.F.O.
2012-12-15
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
2012-10-04
6 Bullets
2012-09-11
The Expendables 2
2012-08-08
Dragon Eyes
2012-05-10
Corporal vs. Napoleon
2012-01-25
Beur sur la ville
2011-10-11
Assassination Games
2011-07-28
Kung Fu Panda 2
2011-05-25
Slinger
2011-03-11
Full Love
2010-05-13
Universal Soldier: Regeneration
2009-10-01
JCVD
2008-06-04
The Shepherd: Border Patrol
2008-03-04
Until Death
2007-01-19
Heist School
2006-10-20
Second in Command
2006-05-02
The Hard Corps
2005-07-29
Wake of Death
2004-12-28
Narco
2004-12-01
Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
2004-10-19
In Hell
2003-11-24
Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
2003-05-07
Derailed
2002-05-19
All the Love You Cannes!
2002-05-16
Replicant
2001-05-11
The Order
2001-05-05
Inferno
1999-09-25
Universal Soldier: The Return
1999-08-05
Legionnaire
1998-12-03
Knock Off
1998-09-04
Double Team
1997-04-04
Maximum Risk
1996-09-13
The Quest
1996-04-19
Sudden Death
1995-10-27
Top Fighter
1995-06-15
Street Fighter
1994-12-23
Timecop
1994-09-15
Last Action Hero
1993-06-18
Hard Target
1993-04-27
Nowhere to Run
1993-01-15
Universal Soldier
1992-07-10
Double Impact
1991-07-31
Death Warrant
1990-09-14
Lionheart
1990-06-07
The Best of the Martial Arts Films
1990-01-01
Kickboxer
1989-04-20
Cyborg
1989-04-07
Black Eagle
1988-05-01
Bloodsport
1988-02-26
No Retreat, No Surrender
1986-05-02
Missing in Action
1984-11-16
Breakin'
1984-05-04
Street of the Damned
1984-01-04
Monaco Forever
1984-01-01
Woman Between Wolf and Dog
1979-06-04
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