- Born
- Birth nameJean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg
- Nicknames
- Muscles from Brussels
- J.C.
- Height5′ 9½″ (1.77 m)
- 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.
Over the next
6-years, he competed in both full-contact and semi-contact matches. He
debuted under his birth name of Jean Claude Van Varenberg. In his first
match, Jean-Claude was staggered by a round-house kick thrown by fellow
countryman, Toon Van Oostrum in Brussels, Belgium. Van Damme was badly
stunned, but came back to knockout Van Oostrum moments later. In 1977,
at the WAKO Open International in Antwerp, Belgium, Jean-Claude lost a
decision to fellow team mate Patrick Teugels in a semi-contact match.
At the 1978 Challenge De Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st
Trials),Jean-Claude placed 2nd in the semi-contact division. He
defeated twenty-five opponents during the week long tournament, but
lost in the finals to Angelo Spataro from the Naha Club. Later in 1978,
Jean-Claude lost a 3-round match for the Belgium Lightweight
Championship (semi-contact) to his fellow team-mate to Patrick Teugels.
In 1979, Jean-Claude traveled to the United States of America, to
Tampa, Florida. In his first and only match against a United States
opponent, Van Damme faced 'Sherman 'Big Train'Bergman', a kick-boxer
from Miami Beach, Florida. For the first and only time in his career,
Jean-Claude was knocked to the canvas after absorbing a powerful left
hook from Bergman. However, Jean-Claude climbed off the canvas and with
a perfectly timed ax-kick, knocked Bergman out in 56 seconds of the
first round. Jean-Claude was a member of the Belgium team which
competed on December 26, 1979 at the La Coupe Fancois Persoons Karate
Tournament which was sanctioned by the Federation bruxelloise de
Karate. Van Damme's final match victory enabled his team to win the
European Team Karate Championship. In Full-Contact karate, Jean-Claude
knocked out England's Micheal Heming in 46 seconds of the first round.
In 1980, Van Damme knocked out France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds
of a match fought under kick-boxing rules. Jean-Claude wanted to defeat
his rival Patrick Teugels. At the Forest Nationals in Brussels, on
March 8, 1980, Jean-Claude knocked Teugels down and Teugels suffered a
nose injury and was unable to continue. Jean-Claude was awarded a first
round victory.
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. Then in 1984 he got a
role as a villain named Ivan in the low-budget movie
No Retreat, No Surrender (1985).
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). But 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 recut the film and begged producers to release it.
They finally released the film, first in Malaysia and France and then
into the U.S. Shot on a meager 1.5 million dollar budget, it became a
U.S 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 martial arts assets, highlighted
by his ability to deliver a kick to an opponent's head during a leaping
360-degree turn, and his good looks led to starring roles in higher
budgeted movies like Cyborg (1989),
Lionheart (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) which did averagely in box
office terms, but he tried to give his fans the best, his acting in
those movies got better, more emotional and each movie was basically in
different action tones.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Marcel Bouttier and The Old Fox (oldfox@yahoo.com)
- SpousesGladys Portugues(June 25, 1999 - present)Darcy LaPier(February 3, 1994 - November 1997) (divorced, 1 child)Gladys Portugues(January 3, 1987 - 1992) (divorced, 2 children)Cynthia Derderian(August 24, 1985 - 1986) (divorced)Maria Rodriguez(August 25, 1980 - 1984) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsEugène Van VarenbergEliana Van Varenberg
- Thrilling one and all with his 360-degree ultimate leaping & super flying karate
kicks. - Frequently performs splits in his movies
- Belgian accent
- Very muscular physique
- Lightning fast moves
- When Van Damme first arrived in Hollywood in the 1980s, his jobs consisted of waiting tables, delivering pizza, driving a taxi, and acting as a bouncer at Woody's Wharf, a bar owned by Chuck Norris in Newport Beach.
- One-time sparring partner of Chuck Norris during the early 80s. Norris eventually cast him in Missing in Action (1984).
- Suffered from mood swings and depressions for years, causing him to seek his refuge in martial arts and drugs. Finally, after several attempts at rehab, he visited a neurologist who diagnosed him with rapid cycling bipolar disorder. With appropriate medication, he has managed to stay off drugs ever since, and he has even remarried his former wife Gladys Portugues.
- He understands Spanish very well because he had a Spanish nanny when he was a boy. He can't speak the language properly as he never studied it. On one occasion he had a interview in Chile and all the questions were asked in Spanish, he understood but replied in English.
- Studied classical ballet for five years
- "I am the Fred Astaire of karate".
- In an action film you act in the action. If it's a dramatic film you
act in the drama. - I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.
- God gave me a great body and it's my duty to take care of my physical
temple. - What is a movie star? It is an illusion. It was everything I ever
wanted to be, but it became a kind of shell, non? It was what made me
famous and got me women. But it wasn't real.
- The Hard Corps (2006) - $3,000,000 - $3,500,000
- Sudden Death (1995) - $5,000,000
- Street Fighter (1994) - $8,000,000
- Timecop (1994) - $5,000,000
- Hard Target (1993) - $3,500,000
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