Jean-Claude Van Damme
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| Jean-Claude Van Damme | |
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| Born | 18 October 1960 Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium |
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| Spouse(s) | Maria Rodriguez: 25 August 1980 - 1984 (divorced) Cynthia Derderian: 24 August 1985 - 1986 (divorced) Darcy LaPier: 3 February 1994 - November 1997 (divorced, 1 child) Gladys Portugues: 3 January 1987 - 1992 (divorced); 25 June 1999 - present (2 children) |
Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Vaerenbergh 18 October 1960) 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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Film career
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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]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
Jean-Claude ended his fight career at the Forest Nationals in Brussels. Jean-Claude 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, Jean-Claude retired from martial arts competition. His fight record was 18-2-0 (18 knockouts).
[edit] Fight Record
- 1977: Won: Knocked out Toon Van Oostrum in 1 round.
- 1977: Won: Knocked out Maurice Devos in 1 round.
- 1977: Lost:Decision to Patrick Teugels 3 rounds.[33]
- 1978: Won: Knocked out Eric Bruno Strauss in 1 round.[34]
- 1978: Won: Knocked out Michel Juvillier in 1 round.
- 1978: Lost:Decision to Patrick Teugels in 3 rounds.[35]
- 1978: Won: Knocked out Orlando Lang in 1 round.
- 1978: Won: Knocked out Emile Leibman in 1 round.
- 1978: Won: Knocked out Cyrille in 1 round.
- 1979: Won: Knocked out Andre Robaeys in 1 round.
- 1979: Won: Knocked out Jacques Piniarski in 1 round.
- 1979: Won: Knocked out Rolf Risberg in 1 round.
- 1979: Won: Knocked out Sherman Bergman in 1 round.[36][37]
- 1979: Won: Knocked out Gilberto (Gil) Diaz in 1 round. [38]
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Mustapha-Ahmad Benamou in 1 round.
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Bekim-Moussa Muhammad in 1 round.
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Micheal J. Heming in 2 rounds.[5]
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds.[39]
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Andres Kovac in 2 rounds[40].
- 1980: Won: Knocked out Patrick Teugels in 1 round.[41]
[edit] References
- ^ Not over the Undertaker. (The Fans Speak Out). | Wrestling Digest (, 2003)
- ^ 'Sudden Death' star Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't so tough - just ask him. | Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (, 1995)
- ^ Jean-Claude Van Damme Biography (1960-)
- ^ Jean-Claude van Damme Biography - Yahoo! Movies
- ^ a b c Belgian Bruiser Muscles Into B-Movie Scene ', John Stanley, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 April 1989
- ^ Karate black belt)
- ^ 'Van Damme speaks language of karate', Louis B Parks, Houston Chronicle, 29 April 1988
- ^ 'Playboy interview', Lawrence Grobel, Playboy, January 1, 1995
- ^ 'Van Damme gets his kicks from acting now, not karate', Jae-Ha Kim, Chicago Sun-Times, 14 April 1989
- ^ Abstract Thinker
- ^ 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."
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jean-Claude Van Damme Official Website
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
- ^ http://phimanh.vnexpress.net/News/Dien-vien/2007/12/3B9AE65C/
- ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
- ^ http://www.jcvandamme.net/cnk/Anglais/CNKen/cnken.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1870022/bio
- ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Bergman
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_(Gil)_Diaz
- ^ http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=320
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/bio
- ^ http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme
- ^ http://ronin5.com/fighters/bio/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme
- ^ http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme
- ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
- ^ http://www.movie-collection.com/celebs/jean-claude-van-damme.html
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1870022/bio
- ^ http://www.123allcelebs.com/biography_of_jean-claude_van_damme-683_eng.html
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_(Gil)_Diaz
- ^ http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=320
- ^ http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYf40a_dfc
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jean-Claude Van Damme |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jean-Claude Van Damme |
