Jean-Claude Van Damme born 18 October (1960), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of ten his father enrolled him in martial arts classes, which led to Van Damme entering several competitions. 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 martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Van Damme became a popular action film star and followed up with 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), Maximum Risk (1996), etc. After a decline, Van Damme returned to prominence with the critically acclaimed crime drama JCVD (2008).
From thereon Van Damme continued starring in more action films and playing supporting roles in The Expendables 2 (2012), the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2011–2016), and the Kickboxer reboot (2016–2018).
In 2012, a statue of the actor was unveiled in Anderlecht, Belgium. The artwork, which depicts a younger incarnation of the Muscles from Brussels in one of his fighting poses from the movie Kickboxer, was commissioned to commemorate the 40th
anniversary of the Westland Shopping complex. The unveiling took place on Boulevard Sylvain Dupuis and was attended by Van Damme, his parents, Wallonia-Brussels culture minister Fadila Laanan [nl] and nearly 2,000 fans. Van Damme said the statue “represented the dream of a Brussels kid” and was “for all the children who want something bad”, adding that “if you believe in something strongly enough, it can come true”.
