Childhood and youth of Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme (real name Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Varenberg) was born into the family of an accountant and a flower seller (erroneous name options: Jean-Claude Vandamme, Jean-Claude Vandamme).
When Jean-Claude was born, his mother became a housewife, and his father devoted himself to working in a flower shop. The boy was thin and sickly. He always came home dirty and beaten. For five years, Jean-Claude studied classical ballet. Once he was even invited to dance at the Paris Opera.
At the age of 11, his father took Jean-Claude to the famous French karateka Dominique Valera. After studying with him for about a year, the boy forgot what illnesses were. Martial arts teachers believed that Van Damme could have a wonderful sports future.
At the age of 16, Jean-Claude, who did not particularly like studying, decided to leave school for the sake of sports. At the next tournament, the guy defeated an opponent who was twice as old and heavier as Van Damme. In 1978, Jean-Claude received a black belt in karate, and in 1980 he knocked out the experienced German Dietrich Targills and became the European champion among professionals.
After this fight, Jean-Claude decided to leave professional sports and try himself as an actor. However, first he decided to improve his financial situation. He took money from his first wife, wealthy twenty-five-year-old Venezuelan Maria Rodriguez, and bought the California Jim sports complex.
Morning work-out
Jean-Claude also bought a house, a brand new car, and opened a sizable bank account. In 1981, Jean-Claude sold the club and put the proceeds in the bank. After that, he and his best friend Kissy went to Hollywood.
Van Damme's training and parameters in his youth
Jean devoted all his free time to training, so he wore a tracksuit almost everywhere and did not miss the opportunity to show himself either at school or on the street. And since there were no age or weight restrictions in the section he attended, he had to fight with older, stronger and more trained men. Of course, this greatly strengthened the young fighter.
Van Damme's coach, Claude Gets, appreciated the guy's perseverance and all his efforts, so he paid special attention to his preparation. Jean Claude often recalls in his interviews how the trainer gave him a protective suit and set a German shepherd on the student. The dog was trained and only attacked places protected by a special suit, but I didn’t want to succumb to even such bites. You had to protect yourself from a big dog. This and other types of training became part of the film “Kickboxer,” in which the actor depicted the beginning of his sports career on the big screen.
At the age of 18, Jean-Claude Van Damme received a black belt in karate, and already at 20, he knocked out Dietrich Targills with one kick in the first round, for which he was awarded the title of European Champion. In addition to karate, in his youth Van Damme was involved in kickboxing and bodybuilding, was in excellent physical shape and had every chance of a great sports career. But the athlete decided to quit his career as a fighter and connect his life with cinema.
The fighter’s parameters were: 177 cm - height, 85 kg - weight, biceps girth at the peak of his career - 43 cm.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in Hollywood
However, in Hollywood I met a young karateka who spoke poor English and was very hostile.
First, Jean-Claude got a job as a driver, then as a bouncer in bars, then taught martial arts and karate. However, in 1984 he received his first film role. He starred in episodic roles in the films “Street of the Barbarians”, “Monaco Forever”, “Breakdance”, “Missing”. However, critics and audiences paid attention to the actor, who has excellent control of his body, only in 1986, when Van Dam starred as the suave Ivan in the film No Retreat, No Surrender. The film's producer, Menahem Golan, allocated a million dollars to promote the young actor.
In 1988, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in the film Bloodsport, where the actor played the serious-minded Frank. After this, the actor became famous. In the same year, the already popular actor starred in a wonderful supporting role, playing the sensual Kurt in the film “Kickboxer”. This film was a huge success with audiences.
In 1989, Jean-Claude starred in the action film Cyborg, where he excellently played the role of the brave Gibson, who works as a guide through the territory controlled by a gangster group, who, together with a female cyborg, saves the people remaining on the planet from slow death due to nuclear debris. With each new role, the actor’s professional skills grew. Character began to develop. Van Damme played heroes, muscular handsome men, real men who restored justice.
Jean-Claude Van Damme with Vladimir Putin
In 1990, the actor played the role of strong-willed Leon Gautier in AWOL. In 1991, Jean-Claude Van Damme played the main role of the strange Alex-Chad in the 1991 film Double Impact.
How a 26-year-old handsome man almost lost Hollywood forever
He was 26 years old when he managed to play his first film role. In 1986, the film “No Retreat, No Surrender” was released. No one noticed Van Varenberg then...
After that, he decided to take a pseudonym so that the surname would become more sonorous. This is how Van Damme was born.
Jean-Claude Van Damme also knows kung fu
A year later, he received an offer that was supposed to completely change Jean-Claude’s life - the role of the main villain in the film “Predator”. But in the end, the young karateka was replaced by a professional actor.
Jean-Claude Van Damme played a memorable role in the film Double Impact
The producers named the actor’s short height—177 cm—as the official reason for the personnel changes. In fact, the reason lay in the Belgian’s hot-tempered character. He got into a fight with one of the film’s creators, who was in charge of the filming process on the set...
The heyday of Jean-Claude Van Damme's film career
The film career of Jean-Claude Van Damme developed very rapidly.
The actor’s film success was cemented by his roles in such popular films as “Hard Target”, “Last Action Hero”, “Nowhere to Run” and “Universal Soldier” in 1992. In “Universal Soldier,” Van Damme played the universal killer Private Luke Deveraux, who went astray from the cyborg program. Now the actor himself began to choose roles, films, directors, and he himself indicated the amount of remuneration for participating in the film. The actor's salary increased to $6 million!
In Time Patrol, Van Damme played police officer Walker, who works in a strange bureau overseeing time travel, and exposes and destroys an influential senator.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in the ring against 3 karatekas In 1996, Van Damme began a decline in his film career. This was mainly due to problems in his personal life, as well as problems with the police, cravings for alcohol and drugs, and legal proceedings.
In 1997 and 1998, the actor starred in only three films. He played in the film Colony by Jake Quinney, in Legionnaire by Alain Lefebvre, and in The Blaster by Marcus Ray.
Fame struck Van Damme at 28
After such a failure, Jean-Claude could forget about Hollywood, but he was not happy with this situation. The karateka set a goal to become an action star, and it was impossible to stop him.
Jean-Claude Van Damme and his famous splits
Van Damme secured a meeting with Cannon Film producer Menahem Golan. And he gave him the role. Why? Years later, the director threw up his hands and admitted that he did not know the answer to this question. He simply decided to make a film, the script of which had been gathering dust on a shelf for years. Can you guess what picture we are talking about? That's right - "Bloodsport"!
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Boshirov and Petrov
Well, all that remains is not to veer off the beaten track. Jean-Claude played in the films “Cyborg”, “Kickboxer”, “AWOL”, “Death Warrant” and “Double Impact”, which made Van Damme an action star.
Van Damme: return to screens
Jean Claude Van Damme only calmed down in 1999, when he remarried for the fifth time to his former third wife Gladys Portugues.
His film career became stable and began to gain heights again, thanks to the work of the actor. In 2002, Van Damme starred in the American documentary "The Best Martial Arts Scenes in Movies." Jean-Claude Van Damme: Kickboxer Van Damme began to appear in films constantly. In 1999, he starred in the films “Universal Soldier: Return” and “Inferno.” In 2001, “The Secret of the Order” and “The Double” were released, with the participation of Van Damme. In 2002, the actor appeared in the films “Derailed” and “The Best Martial Arts Scenes in Films.” In 2003, the actor starred in the series “Las Vegas”, as well as in the film “In Hell”. In 2004, the film “Waking Death” was released. In 2006, the actor starred in the leading role in the film project Second in Command. Van Damme managed to create a patriotic image of the mysterious American army officer Samuel Keenan. In 2007, Van Damme starred in the film Till Death, playing the role of police officer from the drug trafficking department Anthony Stowe. 2008 Jean-Claude played the main role of a state border patrol agent who fought against smugglers in the film “The Shepherd.”
In the same year, the actor starred in the film project “Zh.K.V.D.” In 2009, the next “Universal Soldier 3: A New Beginning” was released.
Return to Hollywood
The triumphant return occurred after the release of the new film “J. K.V.D.” in 2008. After which directors and producers became interested in the celebrity again, so he played leading roles in several films at once:
- "Universal Soldier 3: Rebirth";
- "The Expendables 2";
- "Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors."
In 2012, a new film with the participation of the celebrity “Rzhevsky against Napoleon” was released, however, in the Russian film the artist only got a small role as a foreign guest.
After that, the actor was lucky to star in several more action films and in the comedy film “Welcome to the Jungle.” In the winter of 2020, the animated film “Kung Fu Panda 3” was released, where Van Damme speaks in the voice of the main character, Master Croc: as the artist himself recalls, he really enjoyed voicing the cartoon character. The full list of films with the famous Belgian can be viewed on the Kinopoisk website.
Personal life of Jean-Claude Van Damme
The personal life of Jean-Claude Van Damme can be divided into several stages.
Van Damme's first wife was Maria Rodriguez, but their family collapsed as soon as Jean-Claude stopped needing her financial support. After this, Jean-Claude Van Damme married Cynthia Derderian. When the actor first appeared in films in 1986, he immediately divorced Cynthia.
In the same year, Jean-Claude met the American bodybuilding champion, fashion model Gladys Portugues. Soon they signed. Their marriage produced a son, Christopher. For the sake of her family, Gladys left sports and took care of raising a child and home. Soon she gave birth to a daughter, Bianca.
With wife Gladys Portugues
However, Jean-Claude met the winner of the Hawaiian beauty pageant, Darcy la Pierre. Jean-Claude appeared with her everywhere. They posed for erotic magazines, kissed and hugged in front of everyone.
Therefore, after six years of family life, Van Damme divorced Gladys Portugues and married Darcy la Pierre. The fifth Miss Van Damme in June 1999 was the actor's former third wife Gladys Portugues. This time, the actor decided to get married in a small Belgian town.
