JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME
JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME
AKA J. Claude van Damme Jean Claude Vandam


DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH
18/10/1960 Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium

BIOGRAPHY
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: Former karate champion who, like predecessors Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, stars in action pictures highlighting his martial-arts skills. He has bounced around the various subcategories of the chop-socky genre, working in a sci-fi vehicle (1989's Cyborg a spy thriller (1988's Black Eagle and a gladiator-for-hire drama (1991's Lionheart. His thick-as-Heinz accent, wooden line readings, and noticeable lack of humor and irony mark him as one of the World's Worst Actors-he played twins in Double Impact (1991) and was twice as unconvincing as usual-but this handsome performer tries hard and, unlike fellow horrible actor/martial-arts star Steven Seagal, projects a certain modesty that could almost be mistaken for Gallic charm. (But, of course, it can't be Gallic charm-the guy's Belgian!) Recent credits include Universal Soldier (1992), Nowhere to Run a cameo in Last Action Hero John Woo's American debut picture Hard Target (all 1993), and Timecop (1994).

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY - ACTOR
c1985 No Retreat, No Surrender
1987 Bloodsport
c1988 Black Eagle
c1989 Cyborg
c1989 Kickboxer
c1990 Death Warrant
1990 A.W.O.L.
...aka "Lion Heart"
...aka "Lionheart"
...aka "AWOL"
...aka "A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave"
...aka "Wrong Bet"
c1991 Double Impact
c1992 Universal Soldier
c1993 Hard Target
c1993 Nowhere To Run
c1994 Street Fighter
c1994 Timecop
c1995 Sudden Death
c1996 Maximum Risk
c1996 Quest
c1997 Double Team


SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY - ACTION CHOREOGRAPHER
1990 A.W.O.L.
...aka "Lion Heart"
...aka "Lionheart"
...aka "AWOL"
...aka "A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave"
...aka "Wrong Bet"


SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY - SCRIPT WRITER
1990 A.W.O.L.
...aka "Lion Heart"
...aka "Lionheart"
...aka "AWOL"
...aka "A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave"
...aka "Wrong Bet"