Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène van Varenberg, an accountant. “The Muscles from Brussels” started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was physically weak. At the age of 12, van Damme began his martial arts training at Centre National De Karate (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Master Claude Goetz in Ixelles, Belgium. Van Damme trained for 4 years and earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team. He won the European professional karate association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and also beat the 2nd best karate fighter in the world. His goal was to be number one but got sidetracked when he left his hometown of Brussels.
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène van Varenberg, an accountant. “The Muscles from Brussels” started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was physically weak. At the age of 12, van Damme began his martial arts training at Centre National De Karate (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Master Claude Goetz in Ixelles, Belgium. Van Damme trained for 4 years and earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team. He won the European professional karate association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and also beat the 2nd best karate fighter in the world. His goal was to be number one but got sidetracked when he left his hometown of Brussels.
In 1976 at the age of sixteen, Jean-Claude started his Martial Arts fight career. Jean-Claude retired from martial arts in 1982, following a knockout over Nedjad Gharbi in Brussels, Belgium. Jean-Claude posted a 18-1 (18 knockouts) kickboxing record, and a semi-contact record of 41-4. He came to Hong Kong at the age of 19 for the first time and felt insured to do action movies in Hong Kong. In 1981, van Damme moved to Los Angeles. He took English classes while working as carpet layer, pizza delivery man, limo driver, and thanks to Chuck Norris he got a job as a bouncer at a club. Norris gave van Damme a small role in the movie Missing in Action (1984), but it wasn't good enough to get anybody's attention. In 1984, he got his first significant role as a villain named Ivan in the low-budget movie, No Retreat, No Surrender (1986). Then one day, while walking on the streets, Jean-Claude spotted a producer for Cannon Pictures and showed some of his martial arts abilities which led to a role in Bloodsport (1988). The movie, filmed in Hong Kong, was so bad when it was completed, it was shelved for almost two years. It might have never been released if van Damme did not help them to re-cut the film and begged producers to release it. They finally released the film, first in Malaysia and France and then into the US shot on a meager 1.5 million dollar budget, it became a US box-office hit in the spring of 1988. It made about 30 million worldwide and audiences supported this film for its new sensational action star, Jean-Claude van Damme.
His good looks led to starring roles in higher budgeted movies like Cyborg (1989), AWOL: Absent Without Leave (1990), Double Impact (1991) and Universal Soldier (1992). In 1994, he scored with his big breakthrough $100 million worldwide hit Timecop (1994). But in the meantime, his personal life was coming apart. A divorce, followed by a new marriage, followed by another divorce. It began to show up in his career when his projects began to tank at the box office: The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996) and Double Team (1997). The three films made less than $50 million combined. In 1999, he remarried his ex-wife, Gladys Portugues, and restarted his lost career to attain new goals. With help from his family, he faced his problems and made movies like Replicant (2001), Derailed (2002), and In Hell (2003).
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0000241
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q308840
Facebook: https://facebook.com/JCVDworld
Instagram: https://instagram.com/jcvd
Filmography (Movies)
Darkness of Man
Character:Russell Hatch
Release Date:18/12/2025
Dolph: Unbreakable
Character:Self
Release Date:21/10/2025
Sensation: Cruise
Character:Kyle LeBlanc (archival footage from 'In Hell')
Release Date:28/06/2025
The Gardener
Character:Léo
Release Date:30/01/2025
Kill 'em All 2
Character:Philip
Release Date:24/09/2024
Spaten
Character:Van Damme
Release Date:05/06/2024
Albert Pyun: King of Cult Movies
Character:Self
Release Date:26/11/2023
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Character:Jean Clawed (voice)
Release Date:29/06/2022
Haters
Character:Jean-Claude Van Damme
Release Date:03/12/2021
The Last Mercenary
Character:Richard Brumére
Release Date:30/07/2021
Monsieur Jean-Claude
Character:(uncredited)
Release Date:15/07/2021
Ultrarêve
Character:Self
Release Date:28/08/2020
In Search of the Last Action Heroes
Character:
Release Date:01/09/2019
The Making of Double Impact, Parts 1 & 2
Character:
Release Date:28/05/2019
We Die Young
Character:Daniel
Release Date:09/05/2019
The Bouncer
Character:Lukas
Release Date:22/08/2018
Black Water
Character:Wheeler
Release Date:18/05/2018
Kickboxer: Retaliation
Character:Master Durand
Release Date:26/01/2018
Kill 'em All
Character:Philip
Release Date:06/06/2017
Kickboxer: Vengeance
Character:Master Durand
Release Date:14/07/2016
Kung Fu Panda 3
Character:Master Croc (voice)
Release Date:23/01/2016
Jian Bing Man
Character:Jean-Claude Van Damme
Release Date:17/07/2015
Pound of Flesh
Character:Deacon
Release Date:07/05/2015
The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films
Character:Self
Release Date:22/10/2014
Swelter
Character:Stillman
Release Date:20/04/2014
Enemies Closer
Character:Xander
Release Date:04/12/2013
Welcome to the Jungle
Character:Storm
Release Date:27/04/2013
Days of Reckoning: The Making of Universal Soldier 4
Character:Self
Release Date:22/01/2013
U.F.O.
Character:George
Release Date:15/12/2012
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Character:Luc Deveraux
Release Date:04/10/2012
6 Bullets
Character:Samson Gaul
Release Date:11/09/2012
The Expendables 2
Character:Jean Vilain
Release Date:08/08/2012
Dragon Eyes
Character:Tiano
Release Date:10/05/2012
Corporal vs. Napoleon
Character:Himself
Release Date:25/01/2012
Beur sur la ville
Character:Colonel Merot
Release Date:11/10/2011
Assassination Games
Character:Vincent Brazil
Release Date:28/07/2011
Kung Fu Panda 2
Character:Master Croc (voice)
Release Date:25/05/2011
Slinger
Character:Gibson Rickenbacker
Release Date:11/03/2011
Full Love
Character:Frenchy
Release Date:13/05/2010
Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Character:Luc Deveraux
Release Date:23/02/2010
JCVD
Character:J.C.V.D.
Release Date:04/06/2008
The Shepherd: Border Patrol
Character:Jack Robideaux
Release Date:04/03/2008
Until Death
Character:Anthony Stowe
Release Date:19/01/2007
Heist School
Character:Charles
Release Date:20/10/2006
Second in Command
Character:Cmdr. Samuel 'Sam' Keenan
Release Date:02/05/2006
The Hard Corps
Character:Phillippe Sauvage
Release Date:29/07/2005
Wake of Death
Character:Ben Archer
Release Date:28/12/2004
Narco
Character:Jean-Claude Van Damme fantasmé par Lenny
Release Date:01/12/2004
Universal Soldier: A Tale of Two Titans
Character:Himself
Release Date:19/10/2004
Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier'
Character:Himself
Release Date:19/10/2004
In Hell
Character:Kyle LeBlanc
Release Date:24/11/2003
Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme
Character:
Release Date:07/05/2003
Derailed
Character:Jacques Kristoff
Release Date:19/05/2002
All the Love You Cannes!
Character:Self
Release Date:16/05/2002
Replicant
Character:Replicant / Garrotte
Release Date:11/05/2001
The Order
Character:Rudy Cafmeyer
Release Date:05/05/2001
Inferno
Character:Eddie Lomax
Release Date:25/09/1999
Universal Soldier: The Return
Character:Luc Deveraux
Release Date:05/08/1999
Legionnaire
Character:Alain Lefevre
Release Date:03/12/1998
Knock Off
Character:Marcus Ray
Release Date:04/09/1998
Double Team
Character:Jack Quinn
Release Date:04/04/1997
Maximum Risk
Character:Alain Moreau / Mikhail Suverov
Release Date:13/09/1996
The Quest
Character:Christopher Dubois
Release Date:19/04/1996
Sudden Death
Character:Darren Francis Thomas McCord
Release Date:27/10/1995
Street Fighter
Character:Colonel Guile
Release Date:23/12/1994
Timecop
Character:Max Walker
Release Date:15/09/1994
Last Action Hero
Character:Jean-Claude Van Damme (uncredited)
Release Date:18/06/1993
Hard Target
Character:Chance Boudreaux
Release Date:27/04/1993
Nowhere to Run
Character:Sam Gillen
Release Date:15/01/1993
Universal Soldier
Character:Luc Deveraux / GR44
Release Date:10/07/1992
Double Impact
Character:Alex / Chad Wagner
Release Date:31/07/1991
Death Warrant
Character:Louis Burke
Release Date:14/09/1990
Lionheart
Character:Lyon Gaultier
Release Date:07/06/1990
Kickboxer
Character:Kurt Sloane
Release Date:20/04/1989
Cyborg
Character:Gibson Rickenbacker
Release Date:07/04/1989
Black Eagle
Character:Andrei
Release Date:01/05/1988
Bloodsport
Character:Frank Dux
Release Date:26/02/1988
No Retreat, No Surrender
Character:Ivan Kraschinsky "The Russian"
Release Date:02/05/1986
Missing in Action
Character:Soldier (uncredited)
Release Date:16/11/1984
Breakin'
Character:Spectator in First Dance Sequence (uncredited)
Release Date:04/05/1984
Street of the Damned
Character:Extra in Police Arrival Sequence (uncredited)
Release Date:04/01/1984
Monaco Forever
Character:Gay Karate Man
Release Date:01/01/1984
Woman Between Wolf and Dog
Character:Movie Goer / Man in Garden (uncredited)
Release Date:04/06/1979
Television Appearances
Ramez Movie Star
Character:
The UnXplained
Character:Self
Quotidien
Character:Self - Guest
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
Character:Johnson
Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors
Character:
Conan
Character:Self
Las Vegas
Character:Self
Celebrities Uncensored
Character:Self
The Apartment
Character:Self - Guest
Beckmann
Character:Self
Vivement dimanche
Character:Self
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
Viva el lunes
Character:Self
WCW Monday Nitro
Character:
Friends
Character:Jean-Claude Van Damme
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Character:
Sacrée Soirée
Character:Self
The Late Late Show
Character:Self
Images
