# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/jean-claude-van-damme
# Generated: 2026-09-07T20:32:41.574Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/jean-claude-van-damme"
name: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
slug: "jean-claude-van-damme"
description: "He turned competitive karate and a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding trophy into a Hollywood action franchise, then proved the muscle-and-splits persona could carry real acting when JCVD let him play a washed-up version of himself."
tagline: "Belgian actor and martial artist (born 1960)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Van_Damme_Cannes_2010_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Actors"
  slug: "actors"
profileType:
  name: "Actor"
  slug: "actor"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33999"
birthDate: "1960-10-18"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           81.7
  momentum:             3.320055198448097
  historical:           33.61848
  currentAttention:     15.22020210436107
  sourceConfidence:     90
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 49
totalFollowers: 937000
tags:
  - name: "Actors"
    slug: "actors"
  - name: "Athlete"
    slug: "athlete"
  - name: "Boxing"
    slug: "boxing"
  - name: "Film Directing"
    slug: "film-directing"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Screenwriting"
    slug: "screenwriting"
  - name: "Voice Acting"
    slug: "voice-acting"
platforms:
  - platform:  "X"
    url:       "https://x.com/jcvd"
    handle:    "jcvd"
  - platform:  "INSTAGRAM"
    url:       "https://www.instagram.com/jcvd/"
    handle:    "jcvd"
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/JCVDworld"
    handle:    "JCVDworld"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000241/"
    handle:    "nm0000241"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "https://www.jcvdworld.com/"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeIXvKs4HbvnVD9aTN90rEw"
    handle:    "@jcvdworld"
    followers: 937000
sources:
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%EF%BC%9D%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%80%E3%83%A0"
    title: "ジャン＝クロード・ヴァン・ダム"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BC%2C_%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D0%9A%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4"
    title: "Ван Дамм, Жан-Клод"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%9A-%E5%85%8B%E5%8B%9E%E5%BE%B7%C2%B7%E8%8C%83%E9%81%94%E7%BE%8E"
    title: "尚-克勞德·范達美"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q308840"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Jean-Claude%20Van%20Damme"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D9%84%DB%86%D8%AF_%DA%A4%DB%95%D9%86_%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85"
    title: "ژان کلۆد ڤەن دام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%96%CE%B1%CE%BD-%CE%9A%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%84_%CE%92%CE%B1%CE%BD_%CE%9D%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BC"
    title: "Ζαν-Κλοντ Βαν Νταμ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eml.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Jean-Claude Van Damme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D0%9A%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BC"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://bs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://guw.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/2184102"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born Jean-Claude Van Varenberg in Brussels in 1960, he started Shotokan karate at ten and by his teens held a European Professional Karate Association middleweight title and a national bodybuilding crown. He moved to the United States in 1982 chasing an actor's life and broke through six years later as the lead in Bloodsport. A decade-long run followed — Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, Timecop, Street Fighter — that made him a sex symbol and a fixture of early-90s action cinema, with three Hong Kong directors (John Woo, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam) using him as their bridge to Western filmmaking. Popularity waned through the late 90s until 2008's JCVD, a meta crime drama where he played himself in decline, brought critical respect and a second act that included a villain turn in The Expendables 2 and steady work in action films and voice roles. His films have grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide.