Jean-Claude Van Damme (birth name - Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Warenberg; nickname - Muscles from Brussels; genus. 1960) is an American actor of Belgian descent, film director, screenwriter, film producer, bodybuilder and martial artist.
He is the 1979 European champion in karate and kickboxing in the middle weight among professionals, and also has a black belt.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Van Damme, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Biography of Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme was born on October 18, 1960 in one of the communes of Berkem-Saint-Agat, located near Brussels. He grew up in a simple family that has nothing to do with cinematography and martial arts.
Childhood and youth
Van Damme's father was an accountant and flower shop owner. The mother was engaged in raising her son and kept the house.
When Jean-Claude was 10 years old, his father took him to karate. At that time, the boy's biography was not in good health. He was often ill, stooped, and also had poor eyesight.
Van Damme became interested in karate and attended training sessions with pleasure. An interesting fact is that later he will also master kickboxing, taekwondo, kung fu and muay thai. In addition, he studied ballet for 5 years.
Later, the young man opened a gym, training under the guidance of Claude Goetz. It is worth noting that he studied not only strength techniques, paying great attention to tactics and the psychological component.
Martial arts
After persistent and prolonged training, Jean-Claude Van Damme was able to sit on the split, improve posture and get in excellent shape.
At the age of 16, Van Damme received an invitation to the Belgian national karate team, in which he won gold at the European Championship and received a black belt.
After that Jean-Claude continued to participate in various competitions, demonstrating high skill. Later he became the European champion among professionals.
In total, the fighter had 22 fights, 20 of which he won and 2 lost by the decision of the judges.
During that period of his biography, Van Damme dreamed of becoming famous as an actor. After some deliberation, he decided to sell the gym, abandoning a promising business.
After that, the guy sneaks into the film festival, using a fake subscription, and gets useful contacts from people from the world of the film industry.
Jean-Claude then travels to the United States, hoping to break into the world of big cinema.
Films
Upon arrival in America, Van Damme could not realize himself as an actor for a long time. For 4 years, he phoned various film studios to no avail.
In an interview, Jean-Claude admitted that at that time he was looking for expensive cars in the parking lots in front of the film studios, attaching his photos with contacts to the windshields.
At the time, Van Damme worked as a driver, participated in clandestine fight clubs, and even worked as a bouncer at Chuck Norris's club.
The first serious role of the Belgian was entrusted in the film "Do not retreat and do not give up" (1986).
It was at that moment in the biography that the man decided to take the pseudonym "Van Damme". Jean-Claude was forced to change his original surname "Van Warenberg" due to its difficult pronunciation.
Two years later, Jean-Claude, after lengthy persuasion, persuaded producer Menachem Golan to approve his candidacy for the lead role in the film "Bloodsport".
As a result, the film gained immense popularity throughout the world. With a budget of $ 1.1 million, the box office of "Bloodsport" exceeded $ 30 million!
The audience remembered the actor for his spectacular roundhouse kicks, acrobatic stunts and excellent stretching. In addition, he had an attractive appearance, with blue eyes.
Soon, various well-known directors began to offer Van Damme the main roles. He played in such films as "Kickboxer", "Death Warrant" and "Double Hit".
All of these films were well received by audiences and film critics, and were also financially successful.
In 1992, the fantastic action movie "Universal Soldier" was released on the big screen. The famous Dolph Lundgren was a partner on the set of Jean-Claude.
Then Van Damme appeared in the action movie "Hard Target", playing the role of Chance Boudreau. With a budget of $ 15 million, the film grossed more than $ 74 million. As a result, Jean-Claude became one of the highest paid and popular actors, along with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In the 90s, the man was nominated three times for the MTV Movie Awards in the category “Most Desirable Man”.
Soon, Van Damme's popularity began to decline. This was due to the loss of interest in the action films from the audience.
In 2008, the premiere of the drama J. KVD ”, which had great success all over the world. In it, Jean-Claude Van Damme played himself. His performance impressed both ordinary viewers and film critics.
After that, the actor starred in the sensational action movie "The Expendables-2", where the star cast of Hollywood artists was presented. In addition to him, such stars as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others participated in the film.
In subsequent years, Van Damme appeared in the action films Six Bullets, Heat, Close Enemies and Pound of Flesh.
During the creative biography 2016-2017. Jean-Claude took part in the filming of the television series Jean-Claude Van Johnson. It featured retired fighter and actor Jean-Claude Van Damme becoming an undercover private agent.
In 2018, the premiere of the film "Kickboxer Returns" took place. An interesting fact is that the legendary boxer Mike Tyson starred in this project.
In the same year, the paintings "Black Waters" and "Lucas" were published.
Personal life
Over the years of his biography, Jean-Claude Van Damme was married 5 times, and twice with the same woman.
The first wife of 18-year-old Van Damme was a wealthy girl Maria Rodriguez, who was 7 years older than her chosen one. The couple broke up after the guy moved to the United States.
In America, Jean-Claude met Cynthia Derderian. His beloved was the daughter of the director of a construction company, in which the future actor worked as a driver.
Soon the young people decided to get married. However, after several years of marriage, the couple divorced. This was largely due to the popularity that came to Van Damme.
Later, the artist began courting the bodybuilding champion Gladys Portuguese. As a result, the couple got married. In this marriage, they had a boy Christopher and a girl Bianca.
The couple broke up a few years later, as Jean-Claude began cheating on his wife with actress and model Darcy Lapierre. An interesting fact is that during the divorce proceedings, Gladys did not demand any monetary compensation from her husband, which is very rare for Hollywood families.
Lapierre became the fourth wife of Van Damme. In this union, the boy Nicholas was born. The divorce of the actors took place due to the repeated betrayal of Jean-Claude, as well as his alcohol and drug addiction.
The fifth and last chosen one again was Gladys Portugues, who reacted with understanding to Van Damme and supported him in a difficult situation. After that, the man publicly stated that he considered Gladys the only beloved woman.
In 2009 Jean-Claude Van Damme became interested in the Ukrainian dancer Alena Kaverina. For 6 years, he was in a relationship with Alena, while remaining the husband of Gladys.
In 2016, Van Damme broke up with Kaverina, returning to the family.
Jean-Claude Van Damme today
Jean-Claude continues to act in films. In 2019, he took part in the filming of the action movie "Frenchy". It is worth noting that Van Damme also directed the project.
In the same year, the premiere of the film "We die young" with the participation of the Belgian took place.
The artist is on friendly terms with Vladimir Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov and Fedor Emelianenko.
Van Damme has an official Instagram account. As of 2020, more than 4.6 people have subscribed to his page.
Van Damme Photos
