Dolph Lundgren Biography

Summary

"Dolph Lundgren" (born "Hans Lundgren" on November 3, 1957 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish actor, director and karateka.

Well known for his tall stature and level of fitness, Lundgren stood around 6 ft 5 in (195 cm) and over 240 pounds (108 kg) at his peak. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme, some of whom he has worked with in his career.

Lundgren's breakthrough came when he starred in "Rocky IV" in 1985 as the imposing Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, he has starred in more than 40 pictures, all of them in the action film genre. He portrayed He-Man in the 1987 film "Masters of the Universe", and in the early 1990s, appeared in films such as "Showdown in Little Tokyo" (1991), opposite Brandon Lee, "Universal Soldier" (1992), opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme, "Joshua Tree" opposite Kristian Alfonso and George Segal, and "Johnny Mnemonic" alongside Keanu Reeves. Since the mid 1990s Lundgren has increasingly starred in lower profile action pictures and B movies, many of them direct to video.

"The Defender" in 2004 marked Lundgren's directorial debut, following up with films such such as "The Mechanik" (2005) "Missionary Man" (2007) and the upcoming "Command Performance" in which he also starred.

Biography

A native of Stockholm, Lundgren holds a 3rd Dan (3rd Degree Black Belt) in Kyokushin Karate. He won the European championships in 1980 and 1981 as well as a heavyweight tournament in Australia in 1982. He was also captain of the Swedish Kyokushin Karate team, and was a formidable challenger at the 1979 World Open Tournament (arranged by the Kyokushin Karate Organization) when he was only a green belt. In addition to kyokushin karate Lundgren has also studied fencing, boxing, judo, goju-ryu, and taekwondo.

Dolph Lundgren graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology. He has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney (1982), and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 - but quit after two weeks to pursue acting. He speaks over five languages: Swedish, English, German, French, Spanish, some Japanese, and some Italian, but is not fluent in all of them. He has two sisters and a younger brother named Johan who reside in Sweden.

Lundgren completed his mandatory military service in his native Sweden at the Amphibious Ranger School. He left this elite marine unit (Kustjägarna) with the rank of conscript corporal.

Lundgren was selected to serve as the Team Leader of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Modern Pentathlon Team during the Atlanta Games, where he coordinated planning and other details between the team and the United States Olympic Committee. He is actively involved in promoting the image of the sport. 'Over the past few years, my involvement with modern pentathlon has grown from pure interest to an opportunity to raise the visibility of the sport, increase recruitment of young talent and make sure that this event, originated by the founder of the Olympics, Baron de Coubertin, will remain in the Games,' Lundgren has said.

Film career

In 1985, Lundgren made his feature-film debut in the James Bond film "A View to a Kill" with a minor role as a suited KGB henchman named Venz. The role was suggested to the producers of the Bond film by his girlfriend at the time, Grace Jones. Then he beat 5000 other hopefuls to land the breakthrough role of Ivan Drago, Sylvester Stallone's opponent in "Rocky IV" (1985). As he stated himself, he was initially turned down for the role because he was too tall. In order to improve his physique and athletic abilities for the role of "Ivan Drago", he began to train intensely in bodybuilding and boxing shortly before the film was shot. In an interview with his co-star, Sylvester Stallone said of Lundgren: 'During Rocky IV, Dolph had hit me so hard I had swelling around the heart and had to stay in intensive care at St. John's Hospital for four days.' This answer was in relation to a question on Lundgren losing a real boxing match to former UFC fighter Oleg Taktarov.

Dolph received his first lead role as the mighty He-Man in "Masters of the Universe" (1987), based on the popular children's Mattel toys. He starred as a reformed Spetsnaz in "Red Scorpion", and then as Marvel comics character Frank Castle aka The Punisher, in the 1989 film "The Punisher". In the 1990s he starred in action films such as "Showdown in Little Tokyo" (co-starring Brandon Lee), "Universal Soldier" (co-starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by Roland Emmerich), "Joshua Tree" (directed by stunt legend Vic Armstrong), "Men of War" (scripted by John Sayles), "Johnny Mnemonic" (co-starring Keanu Reeves and directed by artist Robert Longo), "Silent Trigger" (directed by Russell Mulcahy) and the TV pilot Blackjack (directed by John Woo).

In 2004 he has made his directorial debut with the films "The Defender" also co-starring Jerry Springer, and The Mechanik (with Ben Cross). Dolph has three new DVDs available: a historical/biblical film, "The Inquiry", which debuted on DVD (February 19th 2008) from Fox Home Entertainment, a Mongolia-based action adventure, "Diamond Dogs", and a modern western, "Missionary Man", which Lundgren wrote and directed, released on DVD (January 22nd 2008) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "Missionary Man" was specially screened at the 2008 AFI Dallas Film Festival

Earlier this year, Dolph wrapped filming action-packed thriller, "Direct Contact", in Sofia, Bulgaria. He just completed filming of an action-thriller he directed titled, "Command Performance", in which he plays an ex-biker working as a drummer in a rock band at a Moscow charity concert; showcasing Dolph's longtime musical talents.

Lundgren is currently filming his reunion with Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation" and is also prepping a new directorial / starring effort, the thriller drama "Icarus", to be filmed in Vancouver, Canada in 2009.

Other

Dolph did a Japanese television commercial for Swatch watches. He played opposite famous small man Danny DeVito. The popular commercial ran on Japanese television for 18 months.

At a student-interview in Lund, Sweden in July 2007, Dolph claims to have turned down a part in "Gladiator" a couple of years before it was eventually made.

Personal life

During the early 1980s he dated singer Grace Jones. He has been married to Anette Qviberg, a jewellery designer and fashion stylist, since 1994. The couple spends their time between their new home in London and Marbella. They have two daughters: Ida Sigrid Lundgren (born April 1996) and Greta Eveline Lundgren (born November 2001).

Cultural references

Dolph Lundgren was satirized in an article by "The Onion" in 2004, titled ' (Dolph Lundgren Wins Long, Courageous Battle Against Fame) '.

Metalcore band Will Haven released a song named "Dolph Lundgren" on their album "Carpe Diem".

Dolph Lundgren was parodied in the August 2008 issue of Toyfare Magazine's Twisted Toyfare Theater in which he, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis were members of the Hollwood Cafe's Manly Man of Action Club, which was currently in the midst of initiating new members. A running gag involved Dolph's lack of recent work such as when he attempted to recruit Gerard Butler and mistook the title of '300' to be the number of films Butler had starred in, causing him to gripe, 'I've only done 75 and 50 of them were on Sci-Fi.'

Larry the Cable Guy frequently refers to a supposed similarity between his buttocks and those of Dolph Lundgren as a part of his comedy routine.