‘Street Fighter’ Star Jean-Claude Van Damme (66) Blows Out His Birthday Candle in a Way Only ‘The Muscles From Brussels’ Could
Few action stars have stayed as recognizable as Jean-Claude Van Damme. For decades, the Belgian martial artist has been a fixture of the genre, and fans never stop celebrating him. Every year on October 18, that devotion comes back in full force.
This year the occasion is a milestone of sorts. Born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Brussels on October 18, 1960, the actor turned 66 on Sunday. Social media filled with tributes, and one short clip in particular has been making the rounds.
The 7-second video shows Van Damme standing in what appears to be a bright, modern living space, ready to blow out the candle on his cake. He wears a navy robe stitched with his initials, a dark cap and sunglasses, which gives the whole moment the cool-guy energy his fans expect. The robe matches the cake, which is decorated with his initials in gold letters.
The cake is a blue creation covered in gold coins, cash and small figurines. A “Happy Birthday” message runs along the base, completing a celebration that feels equal parts playful and extravagant. It is a fitting way for ‘The Muscles from Brussels’ to mark another year.
Van Damme’s path to stardom began when his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of 10. He earned a black belt at 18 and competed in karate and kickboxing, posting a kickboxing record of 18 wins, all by knockout, and 1 loss. At 16, he also took up ballet and studied it for 5 years, which helped shape his famous flexibility.
After moving to the United States in the early 1980s, he landed his breakthrough in ‘Bloodsport’ in 1988. The film, produced by Menahem Golan, reportedly made $65 million and turned Van Damme into an overnight star. Hits followed quickly, including ‘Kickboxer’, ‘Lionheart’, ‘Double Impact’, ‘Universal Soldier’ and ‘Timecop’.
His most famous video game role came in 1994, when he played Guile in ‘Street Fighter’. The performance has taken on a cult status of its own over the years.
Van Damme’s later career has had a surprising range. ‘JCVD’, Mabrouk El Mechri’s 2008 film, cast him as a fictionalized version of himself and became one of the most acclaimed projects of his career. The film arrived on HBO Max on March 20, 2026, giving a new generation the chance to discover it.
He also joined Sylvester Stallone’s ‘The Expendables 2’ and voiced a character in ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’. ‘Kickboxer: Retaliation’, released in 2018, earned the best reviews of his career. More recently, he appeared in the French action comedy ‘The Gardener’ last year.
The actor shows no sign of slowing down. He is set to star in ‘Raid Pacific’, a WWII action epic directed by Steven Luke, as submarine captain William Pierce. The film is set in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, and Pierce is tasked with transporting a Marine raider unit through enemy waters. It does not yet have a release window.
His past work is also getting a second life. A24 is developing a remake of ‘Bloodsport’ from writer and director Michaela Coel, a sign that the original film’s influence has not faded. For a movie that started with a splits-in-the-producer’s-office legend, that is a remarkable legacy.
It would be easy to treat this as just another celebrity birthday post. But the reaction says something about Van Damme’s place in pop culture. He remains one of the few action stars of his generation who can make people smile with a single image of a robe, a cap and a cake.
Fans clearly feel the same, as they keep celebrating the star who brought them ‘Bloodsport’ and ‘Kickboxer’ every October 18. For the action-movie faithful, a new year for Van Damme is a good excuse to revisit the classics.
Which Van Damme movie is your all-time favorite?
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