Short answers, pulled from the story.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg on the 18th of October 1960, in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium. His father Eugène Van Varenberg was an accountant and florist.
Van Damme won the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978 and was part of the Belgian Karate Team when it won the European Karate Championship on the 26th of December 1979 in Brussels. He compiled a semi-contact competition record of 44 victories and four defeats between 1976 and 1980.
Van Damme's breakout film was Bloodsport, which opened on the 26th of February 1988. It was shot on a $1.5-million budget for Cannon Films and became a box-office hit in the spring of 1988.
Timecop (1994), directed by Peter Hyams, is Van Damme's highest-grossing film in a lead role, having earned over $100 million worldwide. His total film grosses across his career exceed $3.3 billion worldwide.
The original Mortal Kombat (1992) was conceived as a game starring Van Damme, but a prior deal prevented it. Creators Ed Boon and John Tobias then created the character Johnny Cage, modelled on Van Damme's appearance and outfit from Bloodsport. In 2023, Van Damme provided his voice and likeness as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 1.
Van Damme was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1998. He publicly discussed the condition in 2011 on his British reality show Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors, describing mood swings that had affected him since childhood.