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Jean-Claude Van Damme

Jean Claude Van Damme, real name Jean-Claude Camille François Van Vaerenbergh, was born on 18th October 1960 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium. The son of Eliana Van Vaerenbergh and Eugène Van Vaerenbergh. Jean Claude’s father, Eugène Van Vaerenbergh, was an accountant and also owned a flower shop.

Van Damme began to study Karate at the age of 10. It was Shotokan Karate that Van Damme studied and earned his black by the age of 16 which was when he took up ballet. Van Damme also took up weight lifting to improve his physique. Van Damme is also a former European Karate Champion.

Van Damme had been married five times, and has 3 children, Kristopher, Bianca and Nicholas.

Jean Claude Van Damme’s movie career started in 1984 as an extra in the movie Breakin, which was directed Joel Silberg. Again in 1984 Van Damme played the character of a gay Karate expert in the movie Monaco Forever, which was directed by William A Levy.

The first major role Van Damme secured was as Ivan Krushensky in the 1985 martial arts movie No Retreat, No Surrender. From there on, Van Damme started in arguably his most recognised role as Frank Dux in the 1987 hit Bloodsport. In 1988 he starred in Cyborg and Black Eagle. From 1989 to 1991 Van Damme starred in Kickboxer, Death Warrant, AWOL and Double Impact where Van Damme takes on two roles in one movie as identical twin brothers separated at birth.

A massive hit for Van Damme was his role as Luc Deveraux in the 1992 hit Universal Soldier. Many die hard Van Damme fans will argue that it was Van Damme who brought legendary director John Woo to Hollywood, as he starred in the 1993 action hit Hard Target. Many argue that Jean Claude Van Damme should have been given a chance in John Woo’s successive movies, but they have not worked together since.

Also in 1993 Van Damme starred in Nowhere To Run which was directed by Robert Harmon and co-starred legendary actor Joss Ackland, and had a cameo performance in the 1993 movie Last Action Hero.

Van Damme’s highest grossing movie to date is the 1994 smash hit Timecop, which grossed over $100,000,000 worldwide. Over the next 5 years he’s starred in Sudden Death, Maximum Risk, The Quest, Double Team, Universal Soldier the Return, Legionnaire and Desert Heat. In 1995 Van Damme starred in Friends in a cameo role.

Van Damme has starred in a number of direct to video roles since 2001 which included The Order, Replicant, Derailed, Wake Of Death and The Hard Corps. In 2006, Van Damme teamed up with British director Simon Fellows for the first time in the movie Second In Command, and in the same year starred as a thief in the Turkish movie Sinav. Simon Fellows teamed up with Van Damme again in 2007 with the movie Unitl Death, which Van Damme plays a drug addict working in the Narcotics Police Department. Then in 2008 Van Damme played an Border Control Officer in The Shepherd

Van Damme’s most recent film was JCVD, a movie which was widely acclaimed by critics as a return to form for Van Damme. In JCVD, he plays himself embroiled in a Post Office robbery in his native Brussels.

Van Damme has two movies due for release this year, one being a return to the Universal Soldier series and a movie directed by Van Damme himself, called Eagle Path. Another film due for release in 2010, called Pit Bull.

Throughout his career, Van Damme has been in many movies in which he has played two characters alongside each other. These movies include Double Impact, Timecop, Maximum Risk, and Replicant.

It was reported that Van Damme was offered a role in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone movie The Expendables, but Van Damme turned down the role claiming he did not want his career to ’go down that route’.

In August 2009 Van Damme is due to start filming his new new movie, Weapon, which will co-star Vinnie Jones. This will be about two hitmen who go after a drug cartel.

Filmography

1984 - Breakin'
1984 - Monaco Forever
1985 - No Retreat, No Surrender
1988 - Bloodsport
1988 - Black Eagle
1989 - Kickboxer
1989 - Cyborg
1990 - Death Warrant
1990 - AWOL
1991 - Double Impact
1992 - Universal Soldier
1993 - Nowhere To Run
1993 - Last Action Hero
1993 - Hard Target
1994 - Timecop
1994 - Street Fighter
1995 - Sudden Death
1996 - The Quest
1996 - Maximum Risk
1997 - Double Team
1998 - Knock Off
1998 - Legionnaire
1999 - Desert Heat
1999 - Universal Soldier - The Return
2001 - The Order
2001 - Replicant
2002 - Derailed
2003 - In Hell
2004 - Wake Of Death
2004 - Narco
2006 - The Hard Corps
2006 - Second In Command
2006 - Sinav
2007 - Until Death
2008 - The Shepherd
2008 - JCVD
2009 - The Eagle Path
2009 - Universal Soldiers : The Next Generation
2010 - Karate
2010 - Weapon

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