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1-30 of 30
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, an accountant. "The Muscles from Brussels" started martial arts at the age of eleven. 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 (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Master Claude Goetz in Ixelles, Belgium. Van Damme trained for 4 years and earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team. He won the European professional karate association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and also beat the 2nd best karate fighter in the world. His goal was to be number one but got sidetracked when he left his hometown of Brussels. In 1976 at the age of sixteen, Jean-Claude started his Martial Arts fight career.
Over the next 6-years, he competed in both full-contact and semi-contact matches. He debuted under his birth name of Jean Claude Van Varenberg. In his first match, Jean-Claude was staggered by a round-house kick thrown by fellow countryman, Toon Van Oostrum in Brussels, Belgium. Van Damme was badly stunned, but came back to knockout Van Oostrum moments later. In 1977, at the WAKO Open International in Antwerp, Belgium, Jean-Claude lost a decision to fellow team mate Patrick Teugels in a semi-contact match. At the 1978 Challenge De Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials),Jean-Claude placed 2nd in the semi-contact division. He defeated twenty-five opponents during the week long tournament, but lost in the finals to Angelo Spataro from the Naha Club. Later in 1978, Jean-Claude lost a 3-round match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship (semi-contact) to his fellow team-mate to Patrick Teugels.
In 1979, Jean-Claude traveled to the United States of America, to Tampa, Florida. In his first and only match against a United States opponent, Van Damme faced 'Sherman 'Big Train'Bergman', a kick-boxer from Miami Beach, Florida. For the first and only time in his career, Jean-Claude was knocked to the canvas after absorbing a powerful left hook from Bergman. However, Jean-Claude climbed off the canvas and with a perfectly timed ax-kick, knocked Bergman out in 56 seconds of the first round. Jean-Claude was a member of the Belgium team which competed on December 26, 1979 at the La Coupe Fancois Persoons Karate Tournament which was sanctioned by the Federation bruxelloise de Karate. Van Damme's final match victory enabled his team to win the European Team Karate Championship. In Full-Contact karate, Jean-Claude knocked out England's Micheal Heming in 46 seconds of the first round. In 1980, Van Damme knocked out France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds of a match fought under kick-boxing rules. Jean-Claude wanted to defeat his rival Patrick Teugels. At the Forest Nationals in Brussels, on March 8, 1980, Jean-Claude knocked Teugels down and Teugels suffered a nose injury and was unable to continue. Jean-Claude was awarded a first round victory.
Jean-Claude retired from martial arts in 1982, following a knockout over Nedjad Gharbi in Brussels,Belgium. Jean-Claude posted a 18-1 (18 knockouts) Kickboxing record, and a Semi-Contact record of 41-4. He came to Hong Kong at the age of 19 for the first time and felt insured to do action movies in Hong Kong. In 1981 Van Damme moved to Los Angeles. He took English classes while working as carpet layer, pizza delivery man, limo driver, and thanks to Chuck Norris he got a job as a bouncer at a club. Norris gave Van Damme a small role in the movie Missing in Action (1984), but it wasn't good enough to get anybody's attention. Then in 1984 he got a role as a villain named Ivan in the low-budget movie No Retreat, No Surrender (1985). Then one day, while walking on the streets, Jean-Claude spotted a producer for Cannon Pictures, and showed some of his martial arts abilities which led to a role in Bloodsport (1988). But the movie, filmed in Hong Kong, was so bad when it was completed, it was shelved for almost two years. It might have never been released if Van Damme did not help them to recut the film and begged producers to release it. They finally released the film, first in Malaysia and France and then into the U.S. Shot on a meager 1.5 million dollar budget, it became a U.S box-office hit in the spring of 1988. It made about 30 million worldwide and audiences supported this film for its new sensational action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.
His martial arts assets, highlighted by his ability to deliver a kick to an opponent's head during a leaping 360-degree turn, and his good looks led to starring roles in higher budgeted movies like Cyborg (1989), Lionheart (1990), Double Impact (1991) and Universal Soldier (1992). In 1994, he scored with his big breakthrough $100 million worldwide hit Timecop (1994). But in the meantime, his personal life was coming apart. A divorce, followed by a new marriage, followed by another divorce. It began to show up in his career when his projects began to tank at the box office - The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996) and Double Team (1997). The three films made less than $50 million combined. In 1999 he remarried his ex-wife Gladys Portugues and restarted his lost career to attain new goals. With help from his family he faced his problems and made movies like Replicant (2001), Derailed (2002), and In Hell (2003) which did averagely in box office terms, but he tried to give his fans the best, his acting in those movies got better, more emotional and each movie was basically in different action tones.- Actor
- Writer
Peter Van den Begin is a Belgian actor and writer whose career spans over almost 4 decades. He is known for his versatility, delivering award-winning performances both in drama and comedy as well as theater. Most recently he received international acclaim for his role in festival favorite King of the Belgians (2016), for which he also received the Best Actor award at Les Magritte du Cinéma 2018. The Hollywood Reporter stated "Peter Van den Begin plays the multifaceted figure to perfection", Variety said "Peter Van den Begin perfectly captures the ultra-composed royal placidity". He also appears in many television series, such as De infiltrant (2018), Tabula Rasa (2017), Amateurs (2014) and Oud België (2010). Peter received various nominations for the Joseph Plateau Awards in the category of Best Belgian Actor for Everything Must Go (1996), Le bal masqué (1998) and Film 1 (1999). He also received a nomination for the Ensors in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his role in Waste Land (2014), and won two Best Actor awards (in both Film and Theater categories) at the 2017 Flemish Actors Guild awards.- Jacques Maury was born on 25 June 1937 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Love and Death (1975), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) and Lady Oscar (1979). He died on 20 March 1985 in Mahé Island, Seychelles.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Gert Verhulst was born on 24 January 1968 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Samson en Gert (1990), The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) and K3 en de kattenprins (2007).- Robert Borremans was born on 16 May 1942 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor, known for Niet voor publikatie (1991), Thuis (1995) and Ons geluk (1995).
- Director
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Walter Rits was born on 24 September 1949 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was a director and actor, known for Slisse & Cesar (1996), Editie (1995) and Familie (1991). He died on 25 December 2002 in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Johan Terryn was born on 24 February 1969 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Terug naar Oosterdonk (1997), Rupel (2004) and De grote boze wolf show (2000).- Actor
- Music Department
Born on November 2, 1924 as Leon De Waegenaere in the town of Berchem near Antwerp, young Leo soon developed a great interest for music throughout his childhood, especially the clarinet. Throughout his early career, he excelled in musical performances mixed with subtle touches of humor and even short sketches done in between songs. In the late sixties however, he came into contact with Gaston Berghmans, with whom he formed the immortal and inseparable comedy duo "Gaston & Leo" in 1972.
After mostly performing in local theaters all over Belgium, Gaston and Leo signed a exclusivity contract with commercial TV station VTM when it first started up in February of 1989.
The last show the duo hosted was "De Gaston & Leo Show", airing from 1992 to 1993. Leo Martin suddenly passed away on March 18, 1993 of lung cancer. After his untimely death, his partner Gaston revealed he had always considered Leo the brother he never had and "a piece of me has died along with him and will never come back".
With his great big brown mustache and resounding bass voice, Leo will always be remembered by Flemish television viewers and theater aficionados alike.- Yolande Markey was born on 25 June 1930 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. She was an actress, known for Hobson's dochters (1974), Koning Lear (1969) and De vrouwen naar het graf (1972). She died on 14 March 2013 in Malle, Flanders, Belgium.
- Yoeri Lewijze had his first stage-appearance at the age of twelve. By his eighteenth birthday he attended acting classes at the Brussels Conservatory, after which he started work as an assistant-director and stage-manager on plays, musicals, and large-scale arena-productions in Belgium and the Netherlands.
He appeared as an actor in children's musicals, and on television shows such as "Thuis", "Zone Stad", "Flikken", "Megamindy" and many more. He was a recurring main character on a celebrity show called "De Bende van Jim". At the 'Fakkeltheater' he acted in educational plays, some of which went on to play several hundred performances. For more than one of these performances he composed the musical score.
From 2006 until 2012 he was an actor at the bilingual 'Ensemble Leporello', touring from Groningen in the Netherlands to Monaco in France, playing "Britannis", "Koffie/Temesta" and "Macbethbranding". This last play ran for a series of 21 performances at the Avignon Festival. He directed two children's musicals and was an acting-coach on multiple other productions. He gave workshops for the Ensemble Leporello and was a drama teacher at the Zaventem Municipal Academy and the cultural centre of the city of Sint Niklaas.
In the summer of 2011 he directed a large scale parade in the city of Antwerp, based on a concept album of Axl Peleman, a renowned Flemish pop-musician. It ran in the streets of the city, and was played by over 300 participants and for an audience of thousands.
In the season of 2012-2013 he directed "A view from the bridge" by Arthur Miller for the "Theater aan de Stroom", and a new educational performance called "2019", written and staged to raise awareness for environmental issues by the 'Educatief Theater Antwerpen'. He appeared in television shows "Familie" and "Rox".
In 2013-2014, he directed "Alle 5" for the same company , a play about youngsters in an underprivileged environment, which premiered in attendance of Her Majesty Queen Mathilde. During the same season he played in "Games in the backyard" by Edna Mazya and directed Debbie Issitt's "The Woman who cooked her husband" at the 'Theater aan de Stroom'. In march of 2015 he translated and directed "King Lear", for this same company. - Nini Van der Auwera was born on 19 January 1929 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. She was an actress, known for Buiten de Zone (1994), Hof van Assisen (1998) and Hallo België (2003). She died on 25 March 2022 in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium.
- Jacques Careuil was born on 8 August 1935 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium. He is an actor, known for Tintin et le lac aux requins (1972), La tricheuse (1960) and Le médium (1960).
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Bob Davidse was born on 26 July 1920 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was a producer and writer, known for Merlina (1983), Vrijgezel met 40 kinderen (1958) and F.C. De Kampioenen (1990). He died on 16 February 2010 in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Actor
Nest Adriaenssen was born on 31 May 1941 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He is a producer and production manager, known for Editie (1995), Spoed (2000) and Zone stad (2003).- Paul Moons was born on 10 September 1950 in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Wittekerke (1993), Spoed (2000) and Gilliams & De Bie (1997). He died on 11 May 2018 in Borgerhout, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Vander Donckt was born on 23 April 1962 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium. He is a production manager and assistant director, known for Mr. Nobody (2009), JCVD (2008) and Climax (2018).- Producer
- Production Manager
Marcel Groulus was born on 27 April 1904 in Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Belgium. Marcel was a producer and production manager, known for Thanasse et Casimir (1946) and Soldats sans uniforme (1944). Marcel died on 15 February 1992.- Pierre de Caters was born on 25 November 1875 in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium. He was married to Charlotte Emilie Axeline Catherine de Bosschaert. He died on 21 March 1944 in Paris, France.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Jef Nys was born on 30 January 1927 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was a director and actor, known for De schat van de zeerover (1968) and Latijns Amerika (1973). He died on 20 October 2009 in Antwerp, Belgium.- Pol Bollansee was born on 22 August 1929 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for 15 jaar Strangers (1968). He died on 26 December 1984 in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium.
- Writer
- Actor
Staf Knop was born on 20 October 1921 in Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Belgium. He was a writer and actor, known for Mijn geweten en ik (1966), Prelude tot de dageraad (1959) and Tenderly (1959). He died on 5 March 2018 in Knokke, Flanders, Belgium.- Largie Ramazani was born on 27 February 2001 in Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium.
- Marcel Dries was born on 19 September 1929 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for De Roof van Hop-Marianneke (1955), 1954 FIFA World Cup (1954) and Koning Voetbal (1956). He died on 27 September 2011 in Wilrijk, Flanders, Belgium.
- Gust Maes was born on 2 July 1893 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Diepten (1930). He died on 11 June 1979 in Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Belgium.
- Actor
- Composer
Jack Sels was born on 29 January 1922 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor and composer, known for Meeuwen sterven in de haven (1955), Het afscheid (1966) and De geboorte en dood van Dirk Vandersteen jr. (1968). He died on 21 March 1970 in Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium.