Who is Jean Claude?
Jean Claude Camille Francois Van Varenberg is professionally known as Jean Claude Van Damme. He is known for acting and direction in martial action films. Apart from being a retired martial artist, he is also a filmmaker, actor, and fight choreographer. The Belgian actor has done dramatic roles in movies like Wake Up Death, Legionnaire, JCVD, and Bouncer. Some of his most mentioned projects are Kickboxer, Bloodsport, Universal Soldier, Lionheart.
The Belgian actor was born in 1960 and celebrated his birthday on 18th October. 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.
Van Damme achieved national success in Belgium as a martial artist and bodybuilder, earning the “Mr Belgium” bodybuilding title. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 to pursue a career in film and achieved success with Bloodsport. From 1977 to 1982, Van Damme was a professional kickboxer. He had a record of 18 wins and 1 loss.
Quick Bio
Name | Jean Claude Camille Francois Van Varenberg |
Born | October 18, 1960 |
Gender | Male |
Profession | Actor
Fight Choreographer Filmmaker |
Country | Belgium |
Nationality | Belgian |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Ethnicity | White |
Height | 5ft 9in |
Weight | 83kg |
Hair Color | Light Brown |
Eye Color | Green |
Father | Eugene Van Varenberg |
Mother | Eliana Van Varenberg |
Spouse | Gladys Portugues (Presently) |
Children | 3 |
Birth Sign | Libra |
Profile | |
Sexual Orientation | Straight |
Career
What is Jean Claude famous for?
- Jean Claude Van Damme or Jean Claude Camille François Van Varenberg is a Belgian actor, fight choreographer, filmmaker, and martial artist. In the early part of his life, under the guidance of Claude Goetz, he joined the National Center of Karate at the age of 12, where he trained for 4 years. During his career as a karateka in Belgium, he claimed 44 victories and 4 defeats in different tournaments.
- He was a part of the winning team that won “The European Karate Championship” on 26th December 1979. On the 3rd day of “The Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament,” Van Damme defeated 25 opponents to reach the finals he lost to his teammate Angelo Spataro. From 1977 to 1982, Van Damme created 18 victories by 18 knockouts with just 1 defeat.
- Later, in a bodybuilding competition, he was named “Mr Belgium”. He played an uncredited role in a Belgian-French Drama, “Women Between Wolf and Dog, in 1979. Van Damme worked in a stunt team for the movie “Missing in Action” in 1984 and also played a role in a comedy short film “Monaco forever”.
- His first movie with a sizable role was Corey Yuen’s martial arts film “No Retreat, No Surrender”, where he played the role of a Russian Villain. “Bloodsport”, released on 26th February 1988, was his first breakout movie, a big box office hit in the US. After Bloodsport’s success, Van Damme played the lead role in Albert Pyun’s “Cyborg” in 1989. After that, Van Damme gave a couple of big hits like “Kickboxer”, “Death Warrant”, and Lionheart.
- His first dual role movie, “Double Impact” was released in 1991. His other blockbusters include “Universal Soldier”, “Nowhere to Run”, “Hard Target”, “Timecop”, “Street Fighter”, and “Sudden Death”. He also had a short appearance in the TV show “Friends” in two parts: “The One After The Superbowl”. “The Quest” and “Maximum Risk” are a couple of films he directed. He also voiced in the movie kung fu panda 2 in 2011. His other movies were “Six Bullets” in 2012, “Swelter” in 2014, “Pound of Flesh” in 2015, “Kickboxer: Vengeance” in 2016, “Black Water” and “The Bouncer” in 2018.
Personal Information
What is the height and weight of Jean Claude?
- Jean Claude is 5 ft 9 inches tall. He weighs around 83 kgs. He is a retired martial artist and presently choreographs fights. Hence he has an amazing physique and maintains his body well.
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Relationship
- The artist has a long history of marriages to be put forth. He got married to Gladys Portugues and gave birth to two kids, a son and a daughter, Kristopher Van Varenberg, an actor, and Bianca Bee, an actress.
- In 1994 he married actress Darcy LaPier. Nicholas Van Varenberg is the son of Darcy and Jean.
- Jean was also alleged to having an affair with her co-star, Kylie Minogue.
- Cynthia Derderian and Maria Rodriguez have also been married to Jean in 1985 and 1980, respectively.
- In 1999 he remarried his ex-wife and bodybuilder Gladys Portugues.
Net Worth
- He has a net worth of around $40 million, as estimated recently.
Trivia
- Jean is 5ft 9inches tall
- He has a net worth of $40 million
- He is a retired martial artist.
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