Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (born in Brussels, Belgium on 18 October 1960), professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme and abbreviated as JCVD, is a martial artist, actor, and director best known for his martial arts action films. The most successful of these films include Bloodsport (1988), Kickboxer (1989), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Street Fighter (1994), Timecop (1994), Sudden Death (1995), JCVD (2008) and The Expendables 2 (2012).
A skinny child, Van Damme began studying Shotokan karate at age 11, and also eagerly took to weightlifting and ballet. As a teenager, Van Damme won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association and was named "Mr. Belgium" in a bodybuilding competition.
Jean-Claude Van Damme opened a gym in Brussels and earned some modeling work, but he was enthralled with the idea of becoming a film star. After briefly attempting to break into the thriving martial-arts movie industry in Hong Kong, China, he moved to Los Angeles, California, in the early 1980s to pursue his Hollywood dreams.
On 21 October 2012, Van Damme was honored with a life-size statue of himself in his hometown of Brussels. He told reporters during the unveiling,
"Belgium is paying me back something, but really it's to pay back to the dream. So when people come by here, it is not Jean-Claude Van Damme but it's a guy from the street who believed in something. I want the statue to represent that". [Wikipedia]
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| No Retreat No Surrender (1986) |
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| Black Eagle (1988) |
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| Bloodsport (1988) German poster |
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| Bloodsport (1988) |
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| Cyborg (1989) |
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| Kickboxer (1989) |
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| Kickboxer (1989) Hong Kong poster |
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| Death Warrant (1990) |
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| Lionheart (1990) |
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| Double Impact (1991) |
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| Universal Soldier (1992) |
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| Universal Soldier (1992) French poster |
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| Hard Target (1993) |
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| Nowhere to Run (1993) |
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| Nowhere to Run (1993) |
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| Street Fighter (1994) |
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| Timecop (1994) |
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| Timecop (1994) Japanese poster |
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| Sudden Death (1995) |
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| Maximum Risk (1996) |
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| Maximum Risk (1996) |
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| The Quest (1996) |
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| Double Team (1997) |
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| Double Team (1997) |
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| Knock Off (1998) |
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| Legionnaire (1998) |
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| Desert Heat (1999) |
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| Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) |
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| Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) |
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| The Order (2001) |
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| Replicant (2001) |
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| Derailed (2002) Czech poster |
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| In Hell (2003) |
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| Wake of Death (2004) |
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| Second in Command (2006) |
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| The Hard Corps (2006) |
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| Until Death (2007) |
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| JCVD (2008) |
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| Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) |
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| Assassination Games (2011) |
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| 6 Bullets (2012) |
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| Dragon Eyes (2012) |
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| The Expendables 2 (2012) |
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| Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012) |
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| Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012) Japanese poster |
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| Enemies Closer (2013) |
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| Welcome to the Jungle (2013) |
I am surprised that I have seen 9 of this movies.TimeCop and The Expendables 2 stand out as his better movies to me....never liked the Universal Soldier movies. Sudden Death is one of the worst'....Die Hard in movies.....Die Hard in a hockey rink did not work for me. Nice collection of posters...Cyborg is the one I want to see that I have not seen so far.
ReplyDeleteI saw Cyborg, not one of his best IMO. Hard Target was pretty good, directed by John Woo. I have Timecop on DVD. Double Team is a guilty pleasure. Mickey Rourke attacked by a tiger at the climax. I've seen 15 Van Damme films, none at the cinema.
ReplyDeleteThanks again Bruce.
One of the best action movies actor of our time
ReplyDelete