Jean-Claude Van Damme
Belgian actor and martial artist (born 1960)
尚-克勞德·范·達美 · ジャン＝クロード・ヴァン・ダム · 장클로드 반담
- Born
- 18 October 1960, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe
- Citizenship
- Belgium
- Sport
- karate
- Occupation
- boxer, film producer, film actor, film director, screenwriter
- Height
- 177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
- Weight
- 78 kg (172 lb)
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, he was enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd Dan in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. As a teenager, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association in 1979 and the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978. With the desire of becoming an actor in Hollywood, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Awards and honours
- Officer of the Order of the Crown
Films
| Film | Year | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| No Retreat, No Surrender | 1986 | cast |
| Black Eagle | 1988 | cast |
| Bloodsport | 1988 | cast |
| Kickboxer | 1989 | cast |
| Death Warrant | 1990 | cast |
| Lionheart | 1990 | cast |
| Double Impact | 1991 | cast |
| Hard Target | 1993 | cast |
| Street Fighter | 1994 | cast |
| Kickboxer 4 | 1994 | cast |
| Timecop | 1994 | cast |
| The Quest | 1996 | cast |
| The Quest | 1996 | director |
| Legionnaire | 1998 | cast |
| Universal Soldier: The Return | 1999 | cast |
| Wake of Death | 2004 | cast |
| Six Bullets | 2012 | cast |
| Dragon Eyes | 2012 | cast |
| Kickboxer: Vengeance | 2016 | cast |
| Kickboxer: Retaliation | 2018 | cast |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q308840 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.