Dominique Vandenberg is a Belgian martial artist, actor and stunt performer. Vandenberg lives in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he has appeared in such movies as '' Pit Fighter'' DVD Talk Review "Pit Fighter" by Scott Weinberg, 29 May 2005
/ref> and ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

''.

Background

Dominique Vandenberg was born Dominique Horevoets in Waasmont, Belgium. As a young adult, Vandenberg competed in many martial arts competitions, winning most of them, and left school at age sixteen to enroll in a Kunto training course in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan. After graduating the course in a tie for first rank, Vandenberg returned to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where he was drafted into the military. Vandenberg volunteered for a post in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as it offered a shorter service of eight months (as opposed to a year). Immediately upon his release, Vandenberg began training for an invitational freestyle

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

competition he had been invited to upon completion of the Kunto course. Vandenberg won the competition with only two months of training but was hit by a car and broke his leg. Unable to fight in further events, Vandenberg left

to join the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

. Graduating from basic training in the top five, he was allowed to pick his post. Vandenberg chose the elite

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

regiment, the 2REP, and, after more training, was sent to Africa. He spent five years in countries such as

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, fighting to control rebellions. During this time, he met his fiancée, Waruny, a freedom fighter. After their meeting, he returned to fulfill his last eight months of service to the Legion, but when he returned, she had been killed. Vandenberg then left the Legion for good and traveled to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

to fight in their famed freestyle fighting rings, or "iron circles". After winning several bouts, he returned to Europe.

Bibliography

* ''The Iron Circle: The True Life Story of Dominique Vandenberg'', Dominique Vandenberg and Rick Rever, Volt Press, 2004.

Filmography

* 1996 ''

Barb Wire file:Barbed Wire Roll.jpg, Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern United States, Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp ...

'' as Officer Frack * 1998 ''Death Row the Tournament'' as Louis Gerard (Short) * 1999 ''The Doorman'' as Andre Siegel * 2002 ''The Honorable'' as Andre Siegel * 2002 ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American-Italian epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The fil ...

'' as Dead Rabbit Gang Member * 2004 '' Skeleton Man'' as Cottonmouth Joe * 2005 '' Pit Fighter'' as Jack Severino * 2006 ''

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

'' as Trainyard Worker * 2007 '' Alien Agent'' as Sartek * 2009 '' Charlie Valentine'' as Dom * 2009 '' Green Street Hooligans 2'' as "Gonzo" * 2009 ''The Perfect Sleep'' as Captain Keller * 2009 '' The Butcher'' as 1970's IRA Member * 2010 '' True Legend'' as Bald One-Eye * 2011 ''Social Distortion: Machine Gun Blues'' as Special Agent Delvaux (Short) * 2013 ''March with the Devil'' as himself * 2019 '' Triple Threat'' as Dom * 2019 ''The Mercenary'' as Maxx * 2020 ''March with the Devil'' as himself * 2021 ''Hell Hath No Fury''

Stunts

* 1995 ''

'' - Stunt Player * 1999 ''The Doorman'' - Fight Coordinator * 2002 ''

'' - Fight Coordinator * 2003 ''

Detonator A detonator is a device used to make an explosive or explosive device explode. Detonators come in a variety of types, depending on how they are initiated (chemically, mechanically, or electrically) and details of their inner working, which of ...

'' - Stunts * 2006 ''

'' - Stunt Player * 2007 ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' - Fight Coordinator

Producer

* 1999 ''The Doorman'' * 2002 ''The Honorable'' * 2019 ''Gray House'' * 2019 ''The Mercenary''

Writer

* 2013 ''March with the Devil''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenberg, Dominique Belgian male film actors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Belgian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Belgian male actors Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion People from Landen