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Kurt McKinney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Louisville, Kentucky U. S. |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | Maronda McKinney (?-Present) |
| Children | 2 |
Kurt Robin McKinney is an American actor and martial artist. McKinney played Jason Stillwell in the 1986 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender .
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, McKinney graduated from Ninth and O Christian School in 1980 and attended the University of Louisville for one year. After that, he gained acting experience in local commercials and films while supporting himself by selling cars for Neil Huffman Dodge. Encouraged by people's comments, he left Louisville to go to Hollywood. [1] He began martial arts at age 12 with Taekwondo, but later trained in Kickboxing.[ citation needed ]
McKinney's film debut came playing Jason Stillwell in 1985 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender , [2] (Kurt McKinney was 22 years old when he did that movie) which also starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails and Tai Chung Kim. The movie grossed $5 million at the US box office (and spawned two sequels). Although this success was moderate compared to similar movies of the time, such as the Rocky series, The Karate Kid series, or even The Last Dragon , it remains a cult classic film to many people around the world. 1987's No Retreat, No Surrender 2 was originally intended to be a direct sequel to this film, but safety concerns over filming in Cambodian jungles persuaded Van Damme to back out of the project, and he convinced McKinney to do the same. [3]
Early in his career, McKinney had guest starring roles on series such as Gimme a Break! (1985–86), Highway to Heaven (1987) and ALF (1986). He accepted his first contract role in a TV series. He appeared as the first Ned Ashton on the ABC soap opera General Hospital . [1]
After departing General Hospital, McKinney starred in the 1993 TV film Sworn to Vengeance and the unrelated 1996 feature Sworn to Justice. [2]
His second contract role in a TV series was also his longest, appearing as Matt Reardon in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light from 1994 [1] to 2000 and 2005 to 2009, when the series was canceled.
During his first stint in Guiding Light he filmed a minor role in 1999 film Pop. McKinney left the soap in 2000 and continued to appear in minor roles in relatively obscure independent films, including 2000's Cupid & Kate, 2001's Supertalk, 2002's Bending All the Rules and 2004's Savage Faith.
Shortly before his return to Guiding Light in 2005, reprising the role of Matt Reardon, McKinney commented in an interview that he had been busy doing several independent films in recent years saying "you'll probably never see which is unfortunately where so many of those end up."
McKinney is married to Maronda McKinney, [4] the former Maronda Buchta, whom he met when both were 18. They have a son, [1] Cole Madsen, and a daughter, Madison Taylor. [2]
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).
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No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1985 martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen in his American film directorial debut. It is the first title in the No Retreat, No Surrender franchise, whose plot lines and characters are mostly unrelated. It stars Kurt McKinney, with a supporting cast of Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails, Kathie Sileno, and Kim Tai-chung. The film was released in Italy on October 20, 1985, and in the United States on May 2, 1986. McKinney performs as Jason Stillwell, an American teenager who learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Stillwell uses these lessons to defend his martial arts dojo against Soviet martial artist Ivan Kraschinsky.
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