Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (French: [ʒɑ̃ klod kamij fʁɑ̃swa vɑ̃ vaʁɑ̃bɛʁɡ]; Dutch: [vɑn ˈvarə(n)ˈbɛrx]; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (French: [vɑ̃ dam]; Dutch: [vɑn ˈdɑmə]), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd-dan black belt in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
"Van Damme" and "JCVD" redirect here. For other uses, see Van Damme (disambiguation) and JCVD (disambiguation).Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg
18 October 1960
Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels-Capital, Belgium
- "JCVD"
- "The Muscles from Brussels"
Brussels, Belgium
Team Goetz
Claude Goetz
Dominique Valera
2nd Dan Black Belt in Karate
1976–1982 (martial arts)
1979–present (acting)
19
18
18
1
48
44
4
- Martial artist
- actor
- writer
- producer
- conservationist
3
He became a popular action film star and followed up with commercially successful films such as Cyborg (1989), Kickboxer (1989), Lionheart (1990), Death Warrant (1990), Double Impact (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Nowhere to Run (1993), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Street Fighter (1994), Sudden Death (1995), The Quest (1996), which marked his directorial debut, and Maximum Risk (1996). After a decline in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he returned to prominence with the critically acclaimed crime drama JCVD (2008). His big return to the action genre was in The Expendables 2 (2012), in which he starred as the villain, opposite Sylvester Stallone. From thereon, he continued starring in action films and doing extensive voice work.
Regarded as an icon of action and martial arts cinema, his films have grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making him one of the most successful action stars of all time.[1] Outside acting, Van Damme has publicly supported various conservationist causes and animal rights organisations.
Early life and education
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, on 18 October 1960, in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an accountant and florist.[2][3][4][5] His father is from Brussels and bilingual, and his mother is Flemish (Dutch-speaking).[6] Van Damme was brought up Roman Catholic. His paternal grandmother was Jewish.[7]
He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shōtōkan karate school.[8] His styles consist of Shōtōkan Karate and Kickboxing.[9] He eventually earned his black belt in karate at 18, and earned the rank of 2nd-dan black belt.[10][11] He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.[12] At the age of 16, he took up ballet, which he studied for five years. According to Van Damme, ballet "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."[13] Later he took up both Taekwondo and Muay Thai.[14]
Career
Early 1970s to 1980: Martial arts and first film appearance
At the age of 12,[15] Van Damme joined the Centre National de Karaté (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Claude Goetz in Belgium. Van Damme trained for four years and he earned a spot on the Belgian Karate Team; he later trained in full-contact karate and kickboxing with Dominique Valera.[16] According to Van Damme, "it was tough growing up. I was kind of geeky, and physically I was not gifted".[17]
At the age of 15, he started his competitive karate career in Belgium. From 1976 to 1980, he compiled a record of 44 victories and four defeats in tournament and non-tournament semi-contact matches.
He was a member of the Belgium Karate Team when it won the European Karate Championship on 26 December 1979 at La Coupe François Persoons Karate Tournament in Brussels.[16][18]
He placed second at the Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials). At the three-day tournament, he defeated 25 opponents before losing in the finals to teammate Angelo Spataro.[16]
On 8 March 1980, in Brussels, Belgium, he competed against his former teammate Patrick Teugels at the Forest National Arena on the undercard of the Dan Macaruso-Dominique Valera Professional Karate Association Light-Heavyweight World Championship bout.[16] Prior to this match, Teugels had defeated Van Damme twice by decision, including a match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship. Van Damme had a 1977 victory over Teugels. Teugels was coming off an impressive showing at the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations World Championships four months earlier, and was favored by some to win this match. According to reports, and Patrick Teugels' own interview (with photos), Teugels lost to Van Damme by TKO in the 1st round. Teugels was kicked in the nose and was unable to continue as a result.[16] In a 2013 interview, Van Damme called this fight his most memorable match.[19]
He began his full-contact career in 1977, when Claude Goetz promoted the first ever full-contact karate tournament in Belgium.
From 1977 to 1982, he compiled a record of 18 victories (18 knockouts) and one defeat .
In 1979, he had an uncredited role in André Delvaux's Woman Between Wolf and Dog, a Belgian-French drama film starring Marie-Christine Barrault, and Rutger Hauer.
In 1980, he caught the attention of Professional Karate Magazine publisher and editor Mike Anderson and multiple European champion Geert Lemmens. Both men tabbed Van Damme as an upcoming prospect.[20] Van Damme retired from competition in 1982.
During his early life, he sold flowers in restaurants, and got a loan to open a gym to save some money before his move to the United States.[21] Aptly titled California Gym, it was opened in 1979 and catered to "karate, dancing, aerobics, bodybuilding – everything". Van Damme adds that "I wrote special training programs for people, and it was a very upbeat atmosphere with music". At its peak, California Gym was making $15,000 per month; "when I decided to sell my gym my father thought I was crazy. He said, 'What the hell are you doing? You have the best gym in Brussels. You have a sports car, a beautiful apartment, you’re making so much money that you can have anything you want — and now you’re going to sell your business and go to America'. He was very upset".[22]
1982 to 1988: Early works and breakthrough
In 1982, he and childhood friend Michel Qissi moved to the United States in the hope of working as actors. They did a variety of jobs to support themselves. Their first job working on a film as extras in the hip hop dance film Breakin' (1984), made by Cannon Films; they are seen dancing in the background at a dance demonstration.[23]
Around that time he developed a friendship with action martial art film star Chuck Norris. They started sparring together, and Van Damme started to work as a bouncer at a bar named Woody's Wharf, owned by Norris.[24] He also supplemented his income as a limousine driver and private karate instructor.
He described his early days in the United States as being particularly difficult – excluding $2,000, he had placed all of his money from the sale of his gym into a European bank;[22] thus, he struggled financially.[25] To ensure his own emotional wellbeing, he would go for runs every night in Santa Monica. After that, he would train at the world-renowned Gold's Gym. This routine reportedly helped him survive for many years. He actively participated in casting calls and had a specific routine. On Wednesdays, he would purchase the Drama-Logue magazine; then Thursday mornings, he would send out his picture and resume in response to advertisements. He was willing to try anything to achieve success, even going so far as to fabricate a story. He would call movie studios and claim to be an actor from Brussels with an investor from Hong Kong. He also instructed a friend to play along and act as if they wanted him to star in a movie and were willing to invest money, but required additional funding. Armed with this, he approached producers and suddenly found that all his phone calls were being answered. Of course, his intention was simply to meet the person and put his name out there, as opposed to securing illegitimate deals.[22]
In the 1984 action film Missing in Action starring Norris, which was also released by Cannon Films, Van Damme is credited in the stunt team crew.[26] That same year he also had a role in the comedy short film Monaco Forever.[27][28]
Corey Yuen's martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender, which premiered On 2 May 1986 in Los Angeles,[29] was his first sizeable role when he was cast as the Russian villain. It starred Kurt McKinney, and was released through New World Pictures.[30][31] McKinney stars as Jason Stillwell, a U.S. teenager who learns karate and defends his martial arts dojo against a Soviet martial artist played by Van Damme.[32] Both Vann Damme and McKinney were set to also star in No Retreat, No Surrender 2, but backed out.[33]
He worked for director John McTiernan for the film Predator (1987) as an early (eventually abandoned) version of the titular alien, before being removed and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.[34] As the first choice to play the titular Predator character, with the intent that he would use his martial arts skills to make the alien an agile, ninja-like hunter, but after few days shot, he left the film. It was reported that he constantly complained about the monster suit being too hot and causing him to pass out; he allegedly also voiced reservations about only appearing on camera in the suit. Additionally, it became apparent that a more physically imposing actor was needed to make the creature appear threatening against the team of soldiers. The role eventually went to Kevin Peter Hall.[35] After Predator was a success, Van Damme said that he appreciated the movie and that he had no regrets about missing that role.
Van Damme's breakout film was Bloodsport, which opened on 26 February 1988, based on the alleged true story of Frank Dux.[36] It was shot on a $1.5-million budget for Cannon.[37][38] The film is about U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (played by Van Damme), trained from his youth in the ways of ninjutsu by Senzo Tanaka, who takes the place of Tanaka's deceased son Shingo in the illegal martial-arts tournament Kumite in Hong Kong.[39][40] It became a U.S. box-office hit in the spring of 1988. Producer Mark Di Salle said he was looking for "a new martial arts star who was a ladies' man, [but Van Damme] appeals to both men and women. He's an American hero who fights for justice the American way and kicks the stuffing out of the bad guys."[41] In reality, Van Damme had begged for a starring role; at the point of casting, he was homeless, sleeping in cars and garages, and sometimes had to resort to stealing food to survive.[25] Also in 1988, he played another Russian villain in Black Eagle, opposite Sho Kosugi.[42]
1989 to 1999: International stardom
After the success of Bloodsport, Cannon Films offered him the lead in Delta Force 2, American Ninja 3 or Cyborg, a cyberpunk martial arts film directed by Albert Pyun.[43] He chose Cyborg which premiered in 1989. The film was a low budget box office success and led to two sequels, neither of which Van Damme appeared in.
Cannon used Van Damme again in Kickboxer released that same year. It was highly successful, returning over $50 million on a $3-million budget.[44] The film started the Kickboxer franchise. He did not appear in any of the film's four sequels, though he did return as a different character in the reboot series.
In 1990, he starred in Death Warrant, the first script credit for David S. Goyer. Also that year he starred in Lionheart.[45] Lionheart was directed by Sheldon Lettich who had co-written Bloodsport, and said the film was "the first movie to demonstrate that Van Damme was more than just a flash-in-the-pan "Karate Guy" who would never rise above simplistic low-budget karate movies."[46] It also featured rear nudity from Van Damme which Lettich says "became a very memorable moment for the ladies in the audience, and for the gay guys as well. Showing off his butt (clothed or unclothed) almost became a signature trademark of his after that."[46]
In 1991, Double Impact was released. Directed by Lettich, it features Van Damme in the dual role of Alex and Chad Wagner, estranged twin brothers fighting to avenge the deaths of their parents. Upon its opening it received mixed reviews. The Los Angeles Times said the film "delivers the goods", while Variety didn't like the plotline and predicted a flop. The film grossed $23,683,813 in its first 28 days.[47] It made a total of $30,102,717 in the US.[48] Retrospective critics perceive it to be a fun action film, with good comical moments, and a good performance by Van Damme who plays two distinct characters.[49][50][51][52]
In 1992, he starred in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year in the sci-fi action picture, Universal Soldier, directed by Roland Emmerich for Carolco. Van Damme (as Luc Deveraux) and Dolph Lundgren (as Sergeant Andrew Scott) play U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War who end up shooting each other dead after Devereaux discovers that Scott has gone insane and resorted to mutilating civilians.[53] They are later reanimated in a secret Army project along with a large group of other previously dead soldiers and sent on a mission. At the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Van Damme and Lundgren were involved in a verbal altercation that almost turned physical when both men pushed each other only to be separated, but it was believed to have only been a publicity stunt.[54][55] Universal Soldier opened in theatres on 10 July 1992, a moderate success domestically with $36,299,898 in US ticket sales, but a major blockbuster worldwide, making over $65 million overseas, which earned the film a total of $102 million worldwide, on a $23 million budget.[56]
He was considered to play Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man[57] and was briefly considered for the role of Michael Cheritto in Heat.[58]
Controversies
Lawsuit and fight record controversy
In 1997, Frank Dux, the martial artist whom Van Damme portrayed in Bloodsport, filed a lawsuit against him for $50,000 for co-writing and consultation work Dux did on the 1996 film The Quest. According to the lawsuit, Dux also accused him of lying to the public about his martial arts fight record, stating that when Dux tutored Van Damme while the latter was laying carpet for a living, Van Damme exhibited a lack of martial arts skills. Van Damme's lawyer, Martin Singer, responded, "There are records to document his martial arts acclaim. Why, just look at his movies; he didn't get those roles on his acting ability! He's the one who does those splits on chairs. He doesn't have a stuntman to do that."[99]
Chuck Zito incident
Tensions arose between Van Damme and bodyguard/stuntman Chuck Zito when Zito began dating Van Damme's estranged wife Darcy LaPier. Zito was reportedly unhappy about LaPier's claim in a divorce action that Van Damme had abused her.[100] On 6 February 1998, the New York Daily News reported that Van Damme had been punched by Zito the previous night at the Scores strip club in Manhattan, New York.[101] Zito, who had previously bodyguarded Van Damme and did stunts on the film Nowhere to Run, recalled the incident in his 2002 autobiography Street Justice, claiming that he suffered a broken hand as a result of striking Van Damme several times after Van Damme made disparaging remarks about him to a club bouncer, who then relayed the comments to Zito.[102] Van Damme denied in an appearance on Inside Edition days after the incident that he had been struck by Zito and challenged Zito to a fight.[100]
Kadyrov event
In October 2011, Van Damme, along with other celebrities including Hilary Swank, Vanessa-Mae and Seal attracted criticism from human rights groups for attending an event in Russian federal subject Chechnya's capital Grozny on the 35th birthday of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov on 5 October.[103] Human rights groups, who had urged the celebrities to cancel their appearances because of abuses carried out under Kadyrov, criticised the celebrities for attending the event.[104] Human Rights Watch released a statement which said, "Ramzan Kadyrov is linked to a litany of horrific human rights abuses. It's inappropriate for stars to get paid to party with him [...] And getting paid to be part of such a lavish show in Chechnya trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses there."[105][106]
Public image and influence
Van Damme is widely regarded as an icon of action and martial arts cinema.[107][108] His popularity is credited with opening the Hollywood doors to names like Don Wilson, Olivier Gruner, Dale Cook and Loren Avedon. Described as the most 'remade' action star, his films have spawned endless sequels, such as Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996), Bloodsport III (1997), Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite (1999), Cyborg 2 (1993), Cyborg 3: The Recycler (1994), Kickboxer 2-6 in the Kickboxer (film series), Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998), Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1998), Hard Target 2 (2016), Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (2014), Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003), the Timecop (TV series) (1997), and Welcome to Sudden Death (2020). Van Damme's influence has been compared to the Bruceploitation explosion of the 1970s.[109]
Many martial artists, athletes, and filmmakers have cited Van Damme as an influence, such as Alain Moussi,[110] Scott Adkins,[111] Dave Callaham,[112] Jay Cutler,[113] Georges St-Pierre,[114] Nick Diaz,[115] Tom Duquesnoy,[116] John Albert,[117] Charles Rosa,[118] Murad Ramazanov,[119] Halil Amir,[120] Andrei Stoica,[121] Giorgio Petrosyan,[122] Alfie Davis,[123] Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu,[124] and Angela Chang.[125] In August 2016, Georges St-Pierre described fighting Van Damme in the film Kickboxer: Vengeance as "a dream come true".[126]
The original video game Mortal Kombat (1992) was conceived as a fighting game based on Van Damme.[127] Creators Ed Boon and John Tobias had originally wanted to star Van Damme himself in the game. That fell through as he had allegedly a prior deal for another game under the auspices of the Sega Genesis platform. Boon and Tobias eventually decided to create a character named Johnny Cage, who is modelled after Van Damme, primarily from Van Damme's appearance and outfit in the martial arts film Bloodsport.[128][129] In the German version of the Donkey Kong 64 website, DK's greatest hero is Jean-Claude Van Kong.
American professional wrestler Robert Alexander Szatkowski was given his ring name "Rob Van Dam" in 1992 by Ron Slinker, a promoter in Florida, possibly because of his martial arts experience and his resemblance to Van Damme.[130]