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Concept
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Summary
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (ʒɑ̃ klod kamij fʁɑ̃swa vɑ̃ vaʁɑ̃bɛʁɡ; vɑn ˈvarə(n)ˈbɛrx; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (vɑ̃ dam; vɑn ˈdɑmə), is a Belgian martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and fight choreographer.
Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of ten his father enrolled him in a Shotokan school. Starting in the late 1970s, Van Damme competed in several semi-contact and full-contact matches in both karate and kickboxing. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the film Bloodsport (1988).
Van Damme became a popular action film star and followed up with multiple commercially successful movies, such as Cyborg (1989), Kickboxer (1989), Lionheart (1990), Death Warrant (1990), Double Impact (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Nowhere to Run (1993), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Street Fighter (1994), Sudden Death (1995), The Quest (1996), and Maximum Risk (1996). After a decline, Van Damme returned to prominence with the critically acclaimed crime drama JCVD (2008).
From thereon Van Damme continued starring in action films, and playing supporting roles in The Expendables 2 (2012), the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2011–16), and the Kickboxer reboot (2016).
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, on 18 October 1960, in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an accountant and florist. His father is from Brussels and bilingual, and his mother is Flemish (Dutch-speaking). Van Damme was brought up Roman Catholic. His paternal grandmother was Jewish.
He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shōtōkan karate school. His styles consist of Shōtōkan Karate and Kickboxing. He eventually earned his black belt in karate at 18. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.
Official source
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