Jean Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme (born
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in
Sint-Agatha-Berchem,in The
French part of
Belgium, outside of
Brussels, on
October 18,
1960), is a
Belgian martial artist and
actor who is most known for his
action movies. His Belgian background gave rise to the
nickname "The
Muscles from
Brussels."
Van Damme began martial arts at the age of 11, enrolled by his father in a
shotokan karate school
[Belgian Bruiser Muscles Into B-Movie Scene ', John Stanley, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 April 1989]. He eventually earned his
black belt in
karate (see
http://www.jeanclaudevandamme.net/articles.htm), later winning the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship
(although he has claimed that he was 'twice world champion'
[‘Van Damme speaks language of karate', Louis B Parks, Houston Chronicle, 29 April 1988]).
He also started lifting weight to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title
[‘Playboy interview', Lawrence Grobel, Playboy, 1 January 1995]. At the age of 16 he took up ballet, which he was to study 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."
[‘Van Damme gets his kicks from acting now, not karate', Jae-Ha Kim, Chicago Sun-Times, 14 April 1989] At the age of 18, Van Damme opened up the California Gym in Brussels, which one article claimed brought in $15,000 a month
. Van Damme was first seen on screen in the
French made
Rue Barbare, released in
1984, followed in the same year with
Monaco Forever, where he was credited as (
'Gay Karate Man').
This gave Van Damme the impetus to give up his profitable fitness business in favour of acting. He left for America in the early 1980s (having first tried
Hong Kong), initially sleeping in a rented car and doing odd jobs until he broke into film
.
Early Films
He appeared as a Extra in Breakin during the breakdance scene
His first major role came in
1985, when he played Ivan Krushensky in
No Retreat, No Surrender, which also starred
Kurt McKinney.
Van Damme was scheduled to play the part of the camouflaged
extraterrestrial monster in the
Arnold Schwarzenegger action film
Predator, but wearing the heavy alien costume in the
jungle was too difficult, and Van Damme, unhappy with his role, left the production. How he left the picture is disputed: some sources say he quit, others say he was replaced when the character was revised. Van Damme claims he intentionally got fired so he could move on to other movies.
Van Damme's breakthrough role came in
Bloodsport, a film that earned him a nomination as "Worst New Star" in the
1988 Golden Raspberry Awards. The critics were unimpressed, but
Bloodsport proved to be Van Damme's stepping stone to more lucrative roles. The movie became a cult classic and is seen as one of the major contributors to the rise in popularity of
Mixed Martial Arts.
Mainstream Movies
Van Damme worked his way up to
Hollywood mainstream in the 1990s, often working with acclaimed foreign directors. Notable movies include
Double Impact (1991),
Universal Soldier (
1992),
Nowhere to Run (1993),
Hard Target (
1993),
Sudden Death (
1995) and his most critically slammed work,
Timecop (
1994). Many of these roles included
doppelgänger or
Lazarus themes involving Van Damme's characters, an aspect unusual for the action movie genre.
Later Career
By the end of the 1990s, Van Damme's high-profile career had faded but he continues to star in smaller, often direct-to-video movies. His movies have earned over
$650 million worldwide, earning him a place in the action movie world along with others like
Steven Seagal and
Chuck Norris.
In 1998, Van Damme and his former
bodyguard Chuck Zito were involved in a fist-fight at a
New York strip-tease bar called
Scores.[
1][
2] The event became notorious in the news and a scandal for Van Damme.
He has had troubles with
cocaine, spending a month in rehab in 1996, and is also reported to have experienced
bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder
Quoted in the
January 30 2006 edition of the
Australian Woman's Day magazine:
The former action hero says he had bipolar disorder, but didn't know it until he became suicidal. He was diagnosed with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and was placed on sodium valproate, which he calls "that simple salt".
Van Damme has become well known for his numerous
nude appearances in his films, though his nudity has only been shown from the rear. He first appeared nude in
Bloodsport, with numerous such appearances in his subsequent films, including a lengthy one in
Universal Soldier.
Van Damme has expressed pride in his body and especially his posterior, often citing the appeal of his body. Van Damme is on record as saying, "If you have a decent body why not show it? I'm very proud of my butt."[
3] This was the subject of parody in the television show
Friends, where Van Damme, guest-starring as himself, flirts with a main character by announcing that he can "crack a
walnut with [his] butt." Also in this episode, Van Damme was accused of fondling Ross on the buttocks and later mercilessly trying to grope all male cast members as well as many of the men on the production team. These are claims that Jean-Claude has persistently denied.
In the
French-speaking world, Van Damme is well-known for the picturesque
aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, ecology, etc.) in a strange mixture of French and
English.[
4] He is especially well-known for his use of the English word
aware when speaking French.
Van Damme has been married four times, including two marriages with his current wife, bodybuilder and fitness competitor
Gladys Portugues.
* Cynthia Derderian (1985 - 1985) (divorced)
* Gladys Portugues (1986 - 1992) (divorced) 2 children
* Darcy LaPier (3 February 1994 - November 1997) (divorced) 1 child
*
Gladys Portugues (25 June 1999 - present)
* Legionnaire (1998) $300,000
* Universal Soldier: The Return (1997) $6,000,000
* Street Fighter (1994) $6,200,000
* Sudden Death (1995) $5,000,000
* Timecop (1994) $3,000,000
* Hard Target (1993) $3,000,000
* Universal Soldier (1992) $1,000,000
* Death Warrant (1990) $70,000
* Lionheart (1990) $70,000
* Kickboxer (1989/I) $70,000
* Cyborg (1989) $70,000
* Bloodsport (1988) $70,000
* Black Eagle (1988) $70,000
* The Average Joe Fishing (1987) - non-profit
* No Retreat, No Surrender (1985) - salary unknown
*http://www.jeanclaudevandamme.us, Official Jean-Claude Van Damme site
*http://www.jc-vandamme.net, French site of Jean-Claude Van Damme
*http://www.vandamme.ru
*http://www.usuarios.lycos.es/jcvdraulweb/index.html
*http://home.earthlink.net/~kaseycorrea/index.html
*http://massi.tchatcheblog.com/ "Le vrai visage de jcvd" (blog)
*http://fandamme.vandammefan.net
*http://jc-vandamme.bbfr.net (fan chatroom)
*http://newforum.vandammefan.net (fan chatroom)
*
Picture of Jean Claude van Damme (right) with
Lorenzo Lamas (left): from the latter's website
