HG Spotlight on
Jean Claude Van Damme
| His is one of those incredible success stories that conjures intense images of the underdog overcoming impossible odds and improbable circumstances to live out his dream. Consider the obstacles. Jean-Claude Van Damme came to Hollywood from Belgium in 1981 hoping to become a movie star. He hardly spoke a word of English. He know nobody. He brought $2,000 with him, which he lived on for four years. |
| JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME, a.k.a. "The Muscles From Brussels," won the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and then took his black belt to the greener pastures of the United States, in 1981. The move wasn't immediately successful. The aspiring actor--known then as Frank Cujo--took English classes while working as a chauffeur, carpet layer, pizza deliverer, trainer, and bouncer, before being reduced to taking roles in Rue Barbare, No Retreat, No Surrender, and other low-budget fare. His martial-arts assets--highlighted by his ability to deliver a kick to an opponent's head during a leaping, 360-degree turn--and his dreamboat good looks led to starring roles in increasingly bloody and increasingly well-budgeted flicks. His violently acrobatic and realistic fight sequences in such cult favorites as Bloodsport and Kickboxer became legendary, and Van Damme was headed for headlining roles in mainstream features. Like his physical gifts, the actor's attitudes toward women are somewhat distinctive. He once told a reporter, "I'm a little old-fashioned when it comes to women. I like women to be there for me. I like it when they cook--you know, the smell of food in the kitchen. Women just don't cook anymore. I like rabbit stews and horse meat." Van Damme has been through three wives at last count, and wife number four, a former Hawaiian Tropic pin-up girl named Darcy LaPier, has filed for divorce on two different occasions, citing irreconcilable differences both times. |  |
| Among other stimulating occupations, he worked as a bouncer and a chauffeur. There were times when he was forced to sleep in his card and scrounge for food. It took him five years to get his big show business break in Bloodsport. Then, when Bloodsport was completed, the original version was so bad the picture was shelved for almost two years. It might have never been released had not Van Damme helped recut the film himself and beg producers to release it. Then the miracle happened. Bloodsport, shot in Hong Kong on a meager $1.5 million budget, became U.S. box-office hit in the spring of 1988. Once it ran its international course, it made about $30 million. Audiences supported this film for only one reason. Its star was sensational. Jean-Claude Van Damme, Hollywood's new Bruce Lee, had finally arrived. |  |
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| Today his name is known worldwide. His dream came true. Born Jean Claude Van Varenberg, the son of a Belgian florist and a Flemmish mother, Van Damme grew up in cosmopolitan Brussels with one sister, Veronique. He received his black belt in Shotokan karate from Claude Goets in 1978 and briefly studied kickboxing in Paris with French karate king Dominique Valera. He won numerous tournament championships on the European karate circuit. But Van Damme always wanted to be an actor. After doing some European television and film work, in 1981 he sold his very prosperous "California Gym," which he says was grossing $15,000 a month, to move to Los Angeles in pursuit of stardom. It was there that his troubles really began. |  |
| After a nightmare period of survival, Van Damme got his first co-starring role in 1985 in Seasonal Film's No Retreat , No Surrender, in which he played a Russian kickboxer. It was in this film that Van Damme established himself as a commanding physical presence with awesome fighting and gymnastic prowess. His star arrived as the lead in Bloodsport. And while that was shelved he starred opposite Sho Kosugi in Black Eagle, an espionage thriller. In 1986, Jean Claude married gorgeous champion body builder Gladys Portuguese. They have two children. |  |
| Van Damme says "My Karate instructor had a trained attack dog. When I finished my run, he'd put me in an outfit [padding] and he'd yell, "Run!" Then he'd let the dog go after me. The dog was nice; he didn't bite my face [laughter]. He'd just go for my arms and legs. So I'd fight with the dog." What made Jean Claude Van Damme a candidate for superstardom? The 5-foot-10 180 pound actor has it all. He's handsome, muscular;charismatic on screen, charming off screen; a superbly skilled martial artist; intelligent (he speaks English, French, Flemmish and Italian - lately, Hollywood-ese!); and he's not just an actor but a filmmaker - an artist. |  |
Filmography
Breakin' (1984)
Braddock: Missing in Action (1984)
Monaco Forever (1984)
Rue barbare (1984)
No Retreat, No Surrender (1985)
Black Eagle (1988)
Kickboxer (1989)
Death Warrant (1990)
Lionheart (1990)
Double Impact (1991)
Universal Soldier (1992)
Hard Target (1993)
Last Action Hero (1993)
Nowhere to Run (1993)
Street Fighter (1994)
Timecop (1994)
Sudden Death (1995)
Maximum Risk (1996)
Quest, The (1996)
Double Team (1997)
Knock Off (1998)
Legionnaire (1998)
Abominable (1999)
Coyote Moon (1999)
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
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JCVD Trivia
Real Name: Jean-Claude Van Varenburg Birth Date and Place: October 18, 1960 Berchem-Sainte Agathe, Belgium "If you just want sex, rent a porno." Jean-Claude Van Damme (December 1996) Enters substance abuse clinic in Southern California. (December 1996) Checks out of clinic after one week. (10 November 1997) Van Damme's wife, LaPier, filed papers against him for spousal abuse and cocaine addiction. Van Damme had started divorce proceedings in June. This is the third time (1994,1996) that the couple has initiated divorce proceedings. He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care." His fight scenes are so intense that he won't film them in the U.S. for fear of being sued. In 1989, he was sued for "willfully" gouging the eye of
an extra in a swordfight while filming Cyborg. Won a court case filed against him by martial arts legend Frank Dux, who claimed he collaborated with Van Damme on his 1996 directorial debut The Quest, only for Van Damme to deny him any share of the profits. His evidence was lost in an earthquake. Coincidentally, Van Damme played Dux in his debut Bloodsport (1988) Was put down like a bitch from one punch by Chuck Zito while in Scores.
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