
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Acting
Biography
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).
Known For

Six young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life.
Friends

A late night television talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien.
Conan

Ed Deline is a strict ex-CIA officer who went from being Head of Security to becoming President of Operations of the Montecito, whose job is to run the day-to-day operations of the casino. Following his departure, former Marine Danny McCoy, Ed's former protégé, becomes the Montecito's new President of Operations.
Las Vegas

Jay Leno hosts some of the biggest celebrities in the world.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Quotidien (nicknamed "The French Show with the Good Lighting" abroad) is a French daily infotainment television program broadcast in the early evening on TMC since September 12, 2016. The show is hosted by Yann Barthès and produced by Bangumi. It consists of segments and reports produced by the team of commentators and journalists surrounding Yann Barthès and features daily guests including newsmakers, intellectuals, politicians, and French and international celebrities.
Quotidien

No description available.
Vivement dimanche

No description available.
Sacrée soirée

Reinhold Beckmann hosts a weekly talk show.
Beckmann

Po is finally living the dream as the Dragon Warrior—until a shadow from his past comes roaring back. When the ruthless peacock Lord Shen unleashes a devastating new weapon used to wipe out kung fu masters across the land, Po and the Furious Five race across China to put an end to his plans. But if Po is to have any hope of stopping him, he must first confront the truth of his origins—and find inner peace before his past tears him apart.
Kung Fu Panda 2

Explore the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries. Each episode features compelling contributions from scientists, historians, witnesses and experiencers—each seeking to shed light on how the seemingly impossible actually can happen.
The UnXplained

While Po and his father are visiting a secret panda village, an evil spirit threatens all of China, forcing Po to form a ragtag army to fight back.
Kung Fu Panda 3

A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them, with the backup of his followers, the Minions.
Minions: The Rise of Gru

The guest of the day is received on a set, located in an apartment without an audience, and guided simply by the sound of the host's voice.
The Apartment

Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
The Expendables 2

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.
Bloodsport

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.
Hard Target

Chat show that looks at current affairs in Ireland.
The Late Late Show

Jean Claude Van Damme plays a dual role as Alex and Chad, twins separated at the death of their parents. Chad is raised by a family retainer in Paris, Alex becomes a petty crook in Hong Kong. Seeing a picture of Alex, Chad rejoins him and convinces him that his rival in Hong Kong is also the man who killed their parents. Alex is suspicious of Chad, especially when it comes to his girlfriend.
Double Impact

WCW's flagship show led to the famous Monday Night War. Featuring the nWo, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Sting, and the Cruiserweights.
WCW Monday Nitro

Colonel Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of dictator M. Bison and his cohorts.