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. 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).
Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts sports action film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Leah Ayres, Forest Whitaker, Donald Gibb, Roy Chiao and Bolo Yeung. The film centers on Frank Dux, a United States Army Captain and ninjutsu practitioner, who competes in an underground full-contact martial arts tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong. Based on Dux's real-life claims, the film was marketed as a true story. It was one of Van Damme's first lead roles and showcased his abilities, launching his career as a mainstream action star.
Josiane Balasko is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice.
Timecop is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on Timecop, a story created by Richardson, written by Verheiden, and drawn by Ron Randall, which appeared in the anthology comic Dark Horse Comics, published by Dark Horse Comics. It is the first installment in the Timecop franchise.
Hard Target is a 1993 action film directed by Hong Kong film director John Woo in his U.S. debut. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Force Recon Marine who saves a young woman named Natasha Binder from a gang of thugs in New Orleans. Chance learns that Binder is searching for her missing father, and agrees to aid Binder in her search. They soon learn that Binder's father has died at the hands of hunt organisers Emil Fouchon and Pik van Cleef, a ruthless businessman and his right-hand mercenary, who arrange the hunting of homeless men as a form of recreational sport. The screenplay was written by Pfarrer and is based on the 1932 film adaptation of Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game".
Michael Jai White is an American martial artist and actor. He was the first Black American to portray a major comic book superhero starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White appeared as Marcus Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and starred as the character on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the Cyborg Seth in Universal Soldier: The Return, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. He portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television film Tyson. He also played the title role in the blaxploitation parody film Black Dynamite (2009), as well as the animated series of the same name.
Sudden Death is a 1995 American action-thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond J. Barry, and Dorian Harewood. The film pits a lone fire marshal against extortionists who hold unsuspecting NHL players and fans for ransom during game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, and set payment milestones to coincide with the game's progress. It was Hyams' second directorial collaboration with Van Damme, after Timecop (1994) and before Enemies Closer (2013).
Maximum Risk is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam in his American directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge.
Manny Perry is an American stunt coordinator and stuntman. He has performed in dozens of films including Armageddon, Con Air, and The Mighty Ducks. He played the role of Big Jim Slade in Kentucky Fried Movie. He has also had acting roles as a policeman in the TV series 24 and a terrorist henchman in the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Sudden Death.
Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.
The Exam is a 2006 Turkish comedy-drama film directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak, about five Turkish highschool students preparing to sit for the university entry exam, who enlist the services of a professional thief, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, to steal the papers. The film went on nationwide general release across Turkey on 20 October 2006.
The 12th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1986 and took place on 7 March 1987 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Sean Connery and hosted by Michel Drucker and Pierre Tchernia. Thérèse won the award for Best Film.
Universal Soldier is a series of military science fiction action films. The franchise began in 1992 with Universal Soldier and as of 2012 comprises six entries. The films centered on the character of Luc Deveraux until Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which focuses on a new protagonist named John.
La belle américaine is a French comedy film from 1961, directed by Robert Dhéry, written by Alfred Adam and starring Alfred Adam and Louis de Funès. The film was known under the titles La bella americana (Italian), The American Beauty (English) and Der tolle Amerikaner (German).
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.
JCVD is a 2008 crime drama film directed by French Tunisian film director Mabrouk el Mechri, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a semi-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.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson is an American action comedy-drama television series starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and produced by Ridley Scott with his production studio Scott Free Productions and Amazon Studios. It premiered on August 19, 2016. On January 18, 2018, the series was cancelled after one season.
Black Water is an American action thriller film directed by Pasha Patriki. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in their fifth collaboration, specifically the second time they appear as on-screen allies. The film was released direct-to-video in the US on May 25, 2018.
Ragaa Al Geddawy was an Egyptian actress and model. She was one of the most beloved actresses and one of the most prominent in the Middle East with a fruitful six-decade career.
Assa Aïcha Sylla is a French actress and writer. She debuted in the film Girlhood (2014), which earned her César and Black Reel Award nominations. She has since starred in the French version of Skam (2018–2020), the Netflix series Mortel (2019), and the film The Last Mercenary (2021).
