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.
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 Tai-chung Kim. 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.
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".
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.
Cyborg is a 1989 American martial-arts cyberpunk film directed by Albert Pyun. Jean-Claude van Damme stars as Gibson Rickenbacker, a mercenary who battles a group of murderous marauders led by Fender Tremolo along the East coast of the United States in a post-apocalyptic future. It was followed by the sequels Cyborg 2 (1993) and Cyborg 3: The Recycler (1994).
Derailed is a 2002 American-Bulgarian action film directed by Bob Misiorowski, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana and Laura Harring. Van Damme's son Kristopher van Varenberg also appears as his fictional son. 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.
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).
Nowhere to Run is a 1993 American action film directed by Robert Harmon. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rosanna Arquette, Kieran Culkin, Ted Levine, and Joss Ackland.
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.
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.
Frenchy is an upcoming action drama written, produced, edited, and directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who also stars in the film as the main character Frenchy. The film also features two of his children, Kristopher Van Varenberg and Bianca Bree.
Dragon Eyes is a 2012 American martial arts film starring Cung Le and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was directed by John Hyams. In New Orleans, a mysterious man looks to unite two warring gangs against the lawmen who have been using them to advance their corrupt agenda. The film was the second collaboration between Van Damme and Hyams, after Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009).
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.
Enemies Closer is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones and Linzey Cocker. In it, a former Navy SEAL is marked for death by the mourning brother of a comrade he left behind, only to have to team up with him when they both become targets of a deranged crime lord.
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.
Kickboxer is an American action film franchise that totals seven films. The first installment revolves around a character named Kurt Sloane, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. Due to opting out of Kickboxer 2 to do the film Double Impact, the second through fourth installments focus on the character David Sloane, younger brother to Van Damme's character from the original. Redemption: Kickboxer 5 focuses on Matt Reeves, a friend of the Sloan family. After a long hiatus, a sixth entry was eventually made as Kickboxer: Vengeance, which also serves as a reboot to the storyline, with Alain Moussi portraying Kurt Sloane and original actor Van Damme playing his trainer. The seventh entry, titled Kickboxer: Retaliation, serves as a direct sequel to Kickboxer: Vengeance.
A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality.
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.
