Husein Gradasevic
General Facts and Figures
- Name: Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg
- Net Worth: $40 Million
- Occupation: Actor, Filmmaker, Fight choreographer
- Date of Birth: October 18, 1960
- Place of Birth: Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Belgium
- Zodiac: Libra
- Spouse: Gladys Portugues
- Social: Instagram
Early Life and Education
Jean-Claude François Van Varenberg, popularly known as Van Damme, is an American-based Belgian actor, producer, director, and black belt martial artist.
He was raised by parents of mixed heritage; a Belgian father and a Dutch mother.
He enrolled in Shotokan Karate School, which played a big role in shaping his martial arts skills. He received a blackbelt by the time he turned eighteen.
He later started mastering Taekwondo and Muay Thay and also attended ballet classes.
Career and Net Worth
Van Damme began pursuing his career as a teenager. He first trained at the National Centre of Karate and secured a spot in the Belgian Karate Team.
He would then participate in successive competitions from 1976 to 1980. He won 44 tournaments and only lost four times.
He continued pursuing martial arts as a full-time career but retired from the tournaments in 1982.
He then relocated to the United States, where he began starring in Hollywood films after several attempts to land a role.
Some of his highlighted movies include Kickboxer (1989), Hard Target (1993), Lionheart, and Double Team (1997).
One of his most successful film projects was Universal Soldier. The film’s total revenue accumulated to $102 million against a $23 million budget.
His entire filmography earned him The Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple and The Golden Lotus Award in 2014’s Macau International Film Festival.
Van Damme’s current net worth is $40 million. His income mainly streams from the movie roles he played in the ‘90s.
For example, in the movie, Bloodsport, he earned $25,000. Hit films like Black Eagle, Death Warrant, and Kickboxer each earned him $75,000.
His revenue skyrocketed in the 1990s, making over $600,000 in the movie Double Impact. He cashed in $1.5 million from his successful movie Universal Soldier and $3.5 million from Hard Target.
In the subsequent years, he accumulated a total of $18 million from the movies Timecop (1994), Street Fighter (1994), and Sudden Death (1995).
His salary grossed to about $40 million in the 1990s.
On the downside, Van Damme was heavily involved in Cocaine, which made him spend over $10,000 a week. He later enrolled on a drug rehabilitation program to contain his cocaine habit.
He also bought a mansion at $6 million in Marina Del Rey, California. His buying price exceeded the asking price by $125,000. He later sold the house at $7.5 million to Ice Cube (rapper).
Personal Life
Van Damme has not been fortunate enough to have lasting marriages. He’s had four different wives whom he married and divorced.
In all his marriages, he’s had three children – two sons and a daughter. He later remarried one of his exes, Portugues, in 1999 (married in 1987).
Associated With
Together with Mia Sara, he featured in Timecop.
