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Jean-Claude Van Damme
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007) |
| Jean-Claude Van Damme | ||||||
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 Jean-Claude Van Damme |
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| Birth name | Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg | |||||
| Born | October 18, 1960 Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium |
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| Other name(s) | JCVD "The Muscles from Brussels" "Wham Bam Van Damme" |
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| Official site | http://www.jeanclaude-vandamme.com | |||||
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Jean-Claude Van Damme (born October 18, 1960) is a Belgian martial artist and actor who is best known for his large catalogue of action movies. His Belgian background combined with his physique gave rise to his nickname "The Muscles from Brussels". Van Damme has also been called the "King of the Belgians" due to his international superstardom.
He currently lives in Alhaurín el Grande (Spain).
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Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe (Brussels), Belgium, to Eliana and Eugene Van Varenberg, an accountant and owner of a flower shop.[1][2] He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a shotokan karate school.[3] He eventually earned his black belt in karate,[4] later winning the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship[3] (although he has claimed that he was "twice world champion"[5]). He also started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.[6] 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."[7]
At the age of 18, Van Damme opened up the California Gym in Brussels, which one article claimed brought in $15,000 a month.[7] Van Damme was first seen on screen in the French-made Rue Barbare, released in 1984, followed in the same year with Monaco Forever. This gave Van Damme the impetus to give up his profitable fitness business in favor of acting. He sold his gym business and 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.[7]
Jean-Claude's karate teacher and coach was Claude Goetz in Brussels, Belgium. Under Goetz's guidance, Van Damme developed an impressive array of kicks and strikes. Van Damme has also studied Taekwondo and Muay Thai, along with Shotokan Karate.
In 1978, at the age of 18, Jean-Claude made his full-contact karate debut under his birth name, Jean Claude Van Varenberg. Jean-Claude entered his first tournament in Antwerp, Belgium in the Novice Division, and scored three victories; an 18 second knockout over German prospect Eric "Basel" Strauss, a 39 second stoppage over Michel Juvillier (Juvillier quit), and a 26 second stoppage of Orlando Lang. A few months later at a tournament in Iseghem, Belgium, Van Damme knocked out both Emile Leibman and Cyrille Nollet in the first round.
After fighting on the under-card of the main event between France's Dominique Valera and the U.S.A.'s Dan Macaruso in Brussels, Belgium, in which he knocked out France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds, Van Damme started to catch the attention of the Martial Arts World. According to Mike Anders, founder of Professional Karate Magazine, and multiple European Champion Geet Lemmens, Van Damme was definitely an upcoming prospect.
In 1979, the 19-year-old Jean-Claude (fighting under his birth name of Van Varenberg) won the European Full-Contact Championship in the middleweight division. A series of quick knockouts over Andre Robaeys, Jacques Piniarski, and Rolf Risberg, prepared Jean-Claude for the up-coming world championships in the United States.
Traveling to Orlando, Florida in the United States, Jean-Claude set his sights on winning the World Full-Contact Middleweight Title. In his first tournament match, Van Damme scored a stunning first round stoppage over knockout artist Sherman Bergman (Miami Beach, Florida, United States of America). In his second match, Jean-Claude stopped Gil Diaz (Madrid, Spain) in 33 seconds. However, in the quarter-finals, Jean-Claude was defeated by a Belgian fighter named Patrick Teugels. Teugels went on to become Vice-Champion of the World. In a rematch in Brussels a few months later, Van Damme avenged his only defeat by stopping Teugels in less than two minutes. Following the victory, Jean-Claude retired from active competition with a 14-1 (14 knockouts) record.
Controversy arose after Jean-Claude's film career took off because none of his fights were found. The basic fact seems to be that his entire full-contact career was fought under his birth name of Van Varenberg, thus there are no fights listed for a Jean Claude Van Damme. Or perhaps, as many speculate, Van Damme simply did not compete as widely as he claims.
Van Damme appeared as an extra in Breakin' during one of the breakdance scenes. In 1985, he played Ivan Krushensky in No Retreat, No Surrender, which starred Kurt McKinney in the starring role. The director of the film, Patrick Passis, was a close friend.
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 by intentionally injuring a stuntman according to Jesse Ventura's autobiography.
Van Damme's breakthrough role came in Bloodsport, a film that earned him a nomination as "Worst New Star" in a tabloid's media 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.
Van Damme became well known for his ability to do full splits while performing stunts, and his better than average flexibility, even for a martial arts practitioner. Many of his movies feature scenes showcasing him performing such splits.
Van Damme worked his way up to Hollywood mainstream in the 1990s, often working with acclaimed foreign directors. Notable films include Kickboxer (1989), Double Impact (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Nowhere to Run (1993), Hard Target (1993), Sudden Death (1995) and his most critically acclaimed 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. These films have earned over $1 billion worldwide, earning him a place in the action film world along with others like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
He also wrote, directed and starred in The Quest (1996).
In Late 2007 van Damme was featured as part of the "What's Your Game?" national television commercial series for World of Warcraft along with Mr T., Verne Troyer, Willy Toledo, and William Shatner. He represented the Mage class.
Van Damme had troubles with cocaine, during 1995, entering a month-long rehab program in 1996 but leaving it only after a week.[8] He is also reported to have experienced bipolar disorder.[8] A turning point in his health issues came in late 1997, after having signed divorce papers charging him with spousal abuse, drug addiction and bizarre sexual practices.
| “ | 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 had nude appearances in many of 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. My close friend Stashe greatly approves of it. He's a big fan." This was the subject of parody in the television show Friends, where Van Damme, guest-starring as himself, tells Rachel and Monica that "I can crush a walnut with my butt."
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. [9] He is especially well known for his use of the English word aware when speaking French. While delivering an interview for a French channel, he used the English word "aware" in order to introduce the notion of self-awareness as a key of success.
Van Damme has been married five times, including two marriages with his current wife, bodybuilder and fitness competitor Gladys Portugues.
- Gladys Portugues (25 June 1999 - present)
- Darcy LaPier (3 February 1994 - November 1997) (divorced) 1 child
- Gladys Portugues (3 January 1987 - 1992) (divorced) 2 children
- Cynthia Derderian (24 August 1985 - 1986) (divorced)
- Maria Rodriguez (25 August 1980 - 1984) (divorced)
| Year | Opponent | Result | Method | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Eric Bruno Strauss | won | knockout 1 round | Antwerp, Belgium |
| 1978 | Michel Juvillier | won | knockout 1 round | Antwerp, Belgium |
| 1978 | Orlando Lang | won | knockout 1 round | Antwerp, Belgium |
| 1978 | Bekim Muhammad | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1978 | Emile Leibman | won | knockout 1 round | Iseghem, Belgium |
| 1978 | Cyrille Nollet | won | knockout 1 round | Iseghem, Belgium |
| 1978 | Mustapha Ahmad | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1979 | Georges Verlugels | won | knockout 2 rounds | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1979 | Andre Robaeys | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1979 | Jacques Piniarski | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1979 | Rolf Risberg | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1979 | Sherman Bergman | won | knockout 1 round | Orlando, Florida |
| 1979 | Gilberto Diaz-Miranda | won | knockout 1 round | Orlando, Florida |
| 1979 | Patrick Teugels | lost | knockout 1 round | Orlando, Florida |
| 1979 | Patrick Teugels | won | knockout 1 round | Brussels, Belgium |
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/93/Jean-Claude-Van-Damme.html
- ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019806/bio
- ^ a b 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, 1 January 1995
- ^ a b c 'Van Damme gets his kicks from acting now, not karate', Jae-Ha Kim, Chicago Sun-Times, 14 April 1989
- ^ a b http://bipolar.about.com/cs/celebs/a/jeanclaude.htm
- ^ Abstract Thinker
