Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, 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. As a teenager, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association in 1979 and the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978. With the desire of becoming an actor in Hollywood, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
The Quest is a 1996 American martial arts adventure film starring and directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme, in his directorial debut. It co-stars Roger Moore, James Remar and Janet Gunn. The plot, set in 1925, follows New York thief Chris Dubois who is sold into slavery by Lord Edgar Dobbs (Moore) and, after receiving Muay Thai training in Siam, enters an ancestral martial arts tournament in Tibet to earn back his freedom.
Double Impact is a 1991 American action film written and directed by Sheldon Lettich, and written, produced by and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chad and Alex Wagner. The film marks Van Damme's third collaboration with director Sheldon Lettich and second collaboration with Bolo Yeung. Double Impact was released in the United States on August 9, 1991.
Derailed is a 2002 American vigilante action film directed by Bob Misiorowski. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana, Laura Harring, Jessica Bowman, and Van Damme's real life son Kris Van Varenberg. In the story, a secret agent must escort a thief (Harring)—and the bioweapon she has stolen—from Slovakia to Germany, but the agent's unsuspecting family and a dangerous criminal (Arana) end up on the same train as them.
Lionheart is a 1990 American martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page, Lisa Pelikan and Brian Thompson. It also features the acting debut of Ashley Johnson. Van Damme plays a French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Africa, who must desert to the United States and enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his murdered brother's family.
Gladys Portugues is an American former professional female bodybuilder and actress. As a bodybuilder, she twice placed in the top 10 in the Ms. Olympia contest. She is married to Belgian actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Darcy LaPier is an American former actress and model.
Frenchie or Frenchy may refer to:
The Shepherd: Border Patrol is a 2008 American action film directed by Isaac Florentine. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a supporting cast of Natalie J. Robb, Stephen Lord, Gary McDonald, Scott Adkins and Van Damme's real life daughter Bianca Van Varenberg. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on March 4, 2008.
Claudia Bassols Alonso is a Spanish actress from Barcelona, Spain.
Mabrouk el Mechri is a French director, screenwriter, and actor.
Universal Soldier: Regeneration is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed and co-edited by John Hyams, written by Victor Ostrovsky, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. It is the fifth installment in the Universal Soldier franchise and an alternative sequel to the original Universal Soldier (1992), ignores the events from the 1999 theatrical sequel Universal Soldier: The Return and the two made for television sequels that were produced in 1998.
Woman Between Wolf and Dog, also known as Woman in a Twilight Garden is a 1979 Belgian-French drama film directed by André Delvaux. It was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and received the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC). The film was also selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 52nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a 2012 American science fiction action film directed by John Hyams, who co-edited with Andrew Drazek, and wrote the screenplay with Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenlagh. It stars Scott Adkins with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, who both reprise their roles from the first film, alongside newcomer Andrei Arlovski. It is the sixth and final installment in the Universal Soldier film series.
Assassination Games is a 2011 American action thriller film directed by Ernie Barbarash and starring Jean-Claude van Damme and Scott Adkins with Ivan Kaye as their main antagonist. The film was released in the United States on July 29, 2011.
Six Bullets is a 2012 American action film directed by Ernie Barbarash, produced by Brad Krevoy and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Joe Flanigan, Anna-Louise Plowman, and Charlotte Beaumont. The film was released on direct-to-video in the United States on September 11, 2012.
Welcome to the Jungle is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Rob Meltzer and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adam Brody, Megan Boone, Rob Huebel, Kristen Schaal and Dennis Haysbert. The film premiered at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival.
JCVD is a 2008 satirical black comedy crime drama film co-written and directed by Mabrouk el Mechri, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a fictionalized version of himself: a down and out action star whose family and career are crumbling around him as he is caught in the middle of a post office heist in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium.
Clarence Ranjith Jeyaretnam, known professionally as Clarence Jey, is an American record producer and songwriter. He co-founded ARK Music Factory with Nigerian record producer Patrice Wilson in 2010. The label signed American singer Rebecca Black; Jey and Wilson wrote and produced her 2011 single "Friday", which peaked at number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Youssef Guezoum is a Los Angeles–based Moroccan-American-Belgian film music composer, orchestrator, and sound designer.
