Dolph Lundgren News


Dolph Lundgren

Contact Celebrity

Contact Dolph Lundgren

Dolph Lundgren's Big Comeback

Entertainment Tonight: Topstories - Found May. 29, 2009
Action star Dolph Lundgren is returning to Hollywood and kicking up a storm! Now, ET brings you up to speed on Lundgren's family life and explosive...

Posted on May 29, 2009, 11:08 am

Vern makes DIRECT CONTACT with Dolph Lundgren!

Ain't It Cool News - Found May. 31, 2009
DIRECT CONTACT is the new Dolph Lundgren DTV movie directed by Danny Lerner (SHARKS IN VENICE) and written by Les Weldon (RAGING SHARKS).

Posted on May 31, 2009, 6:53 am

Dolph Lundgren Talks The Expendables

MovieWeb - Found May. 28, 2009
Dolph Lundgren discusses The Expendables I just got off the phone with actor Dolph Lundgren, where we discussed his latest film on DVD, Direct

Posted on May 28, 2009, 2:18 am

EXCLUSIVE: Dolph Lundgren Talks The Expendables

MovieWeb - Found May. 28, 2009
Dolph Lundgren discusses The Expendables I just got off the phone with actor Dolph Lundgren, where we discussed his latest film on DVD, Direct

Posted on May 28, 2009, 1:15 pm

Dolph Lundgren May Be In The Expendables, But Here He

Cinema Blend - Found May. 19, 2009
This direct-to-DVD film stars Dolph Lundgren as an imprisoned ex-U.S. Special Forces agent in Russia named Mike Riggins He’s offered his freedom in

Posted on May 19, 2009, 4:21 am

Bullock denies 'Expendables' rumour

Digital Spy - Found 19 hours ago
Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Charisma Carpenter, Mickey Rourke, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Arnold Schwarzenegger are among the cast.
Exclusive: Bullock Was Never Expendable - Empire Online
Explore All

Posted on July 3, 2009, 7:56 am

Arthouse movie listings for July 1-7, 2009

SF Weekly - Found Jun. 30, 2009
Dark Room Theater. Bad Movie Night: Rocky IV: The one with Dolph Lundgren and Brigitte Nielsen. Apollo Creed dies!

Posted on June 30, 2009, 9:28 am

Punisher: No Mercy

FAN 590 - Found Jun. 28, 2009
Sure, the movies may have been pretty weak? but The Punisher as a character has always been pretty cool (even if Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and,

Posted on June 28, 2009, 4:43 am

Quantum Game Design Questions Answered By Tecmo

Siliconera - Found Jun. 28, 2009
Yeah. 80s action stars, Dolph Lundgren. That?s the kind of style we were going for. Are you planning any downloadable content for Quantum?
First Electronic Quantum Processor Created - Red Orbit
Demonstration of two-qubit algorithms with a superconducting quantum ... - Nature
Scientists create first electronic quantum processor - PhysOrg.com
Scientists create first electronic quantum processor - Genetic Engineering News
Explore All

Nature

Posted on June 28, 2009, 8:08 am

The 50 Best Movie Villains revealed

The Times - Found Jun. 24, 2009
48. Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) Rocky IV (1985) Hes 65, 261 pounds and he killed Apollo Creed.

Posted on June 24, 2009, 5:04 am

Dolph Lundgren Biography

Dolph Lundgren
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Dolph Lundgren

Dolph Lundgren
Born Hans Lundgren
3 November 1957 (1957-11-03) (age 51)
SpĂĄnga, Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation Actor and Director
Years active 1985 - present
Spouse(s) Annette Qviberg (1994 - present)

Dolph Lundgren (born Hans Lundgren on 3 November 19571) is a Swedish actor, director, model, and karateka.

Well known for his tall stature and level of fitness, at peak, Lundgren stands around 6' 5" (195 cm) and weighs around 245 lb. (120 kg). 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.2 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.

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

Contents

Biography

Lundgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden.3 He has two sisters and a younger brother named Johan who reside in Sweden.4

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 1982.5 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.citation needed In addition to Kyokushin, karate Lundgren has also studied fencing, boxing, judo, goju-ryu, and taekwondo.

He graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology. He has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney (1982). He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 — but quit after two weeks to pursue acting.6 He speaks over five languages: Swedish, English, German, French, Spanish, some Japanese, and some Italian, but is not fluent in all of them. On numerous occasions he has referenced the Baby Luman soundtrack as inspiration for his latissimus dorsi excersises 4

Lundgren completed his mandatory military service in Sweden at the Amphibious Ranger School. During his service at the elite marine unit (Kustjägarna), he suffered an injury which had him reassigned and separated from his unit.

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.7

He reportedly has an IQ of 160,8 but has denied it.

Film career

In 1985, Lundgren made his feature film debut in the James Bond film A View to a Kill with a very 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 5,000 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.9 In order to improve his physique and athletic abilities for the role of Drago, he trained intensely in bodybuilding and boxing shortly before the film was shot.2 In an interview with his co-star, Sylvester Stallone said of Lundgren: "During [the filming of] 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."10 Oleg Taktarov.11

Lundgren in 1990

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 a.k.a. 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 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 19 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 22 2008) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Missionary Man was specially screened at the 2008 AFI Dallas Film Festival.

Lundgren is currently promoting the direct to video action flick Direct Contact, and has just completed Command Performance, an action-thriller he directed, in which he plays an ex-biker working as a drummer in a rock band at a Moscow charity concert. This showcases Dolph’s longtime musical talents. Lundgren then wrapped his on-screen reunion with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation where he plays Andrew Scott's clone. He returned to the directors chair with his subsequent movie Icarus.

While he is now editing a new directorial/starring effort, the thriller Icarus, Lundgren is about to co-star alongside Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Charisma Carpenter, Brittany Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others in the action film The Expendables and will be his first theatricaly released film in 12 years. "The Expendables has a seventy million-dollar budget," says Lundgren12, "and it's an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other."

Other

Artwork of Lundgren on a wall outside a cinema in Damascus, Syria

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.citation needed However, during an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in May 2008, Gladiator director Ridley Scott disputed this. He revealed that Dolph had been considered for the part of undefeated fighter Tigris of Gaul, but was eventually rejected because "as an actor, he just didn't fit in with what we were trying to achieve". 13

Despite being regarded as a direct-to-video star, none of Dolph Lundgren's movies have been primarily made for video (apart from Blackjack, which was a TV movie) have been released theatrically in various parts of the world.

Personal life

During the early 1980s he dated singer Grace Jones. He has been married to Anette Qviberg, a jewelry designer and fashion stylist, since 1994. The couple live in Marbella, Spain. They have two daughters: Ida Sigrid Lundgren (born April 1996) and Greta Eveline Lundgren (born November 2001). In January 200914, Lungren's home was reportedly broken into by three masked burglars who tied up and threatened Qviberg, but fled when they spotted a family photo and realized that the house was owned by Lundgren.8

Filmography

Actor

Year Movie Role Director
1985 A View to a Kill Venz John Glen
1985 Rocky IV Ivan Drago Sylvester Stallone
1987 Masters of the Universe He-Man Gary Goddard
1988 Red Scorpion Lt. Nikolai Rachenko Joseph Zito
1989 The Punisher Frank Castle/The Punisher Mark Goldblatt
1989 I Come in Peace (Dark Angel) Jack Caine Craig R. Baxley
1990 Cover-Up Mike Anderson Manny Coto
1991 Showdown in Little Tokyo Chris Kenner Mark L. Lester
1992 Universal Soldier Sgt. Andrew Scott/GR13 Roland Emmerich
1993 Joshua Tree (Army Of One) Wellman Anthony Santee Vic Armstrong
1994 Sunny Side Up Himself Bettina Speer
1994 Pentathlon Eric Brogar Bruce Malmuth
1994 Men of War Nick Gunar Perry Lang
1995 Johnny Mnemonic Karl Honig (Street Preacher) Robert Longo
1995 The Shooter (Hidden Assassin) Michael Dane Ted Kotcheff
1996 Silent Trigger Waxman (Shooter) Russell Mulcahy
1997 The Peacekeeper Major Frank Cross Frédéric Forestier
1998 The Minion Lukas Sadorov Jean-Marc Piché
1998 Sweepers Christian Erickson Keoni Waxman
1998 Blackjack (TV) Jack Devlin John Woo
1999 Bridge of Dragons Warchild Isaac Florentine
1999 Storm Catcher Jack Holloway Anthony Hickox
1999 Jill Rips (Jill The Ripper) Matt Sorenson Anthony Hickox
2000 The Last Patrol Captain Nick Preston Sheldon Lettich
2000 Agent Red Matt Hendricks Damian Lee
2001 Hidden Agenda Jason Price Marc S. Grenier
2003 Detention Sam Decker Sidney J. Furie
2004 Direct Action Frank Gannon Sidney J. Furie
2004 Fat Slags Randy Ed Bye
2004 Retrograde John Foster Christopher Kulikowski
2004 The Defender Lance Rockford Dolph Lundgren
2005 The Mechanik (The Russian Specialist) Nikolai Cherenko Dolph Lundgren
2006 The Inquiry (The Final Inquiry) Brixos Giulio Base
2007 Diamond Dogs Xander Ronson Shimon Dotan / Dolph Lundgren
2007 Missionary Man Ryder Dolph Lundgren
2008 Direct Contact Mike Riggins Danny Lerner
2009 Command Performance Joe Dolph Lundgren
2009 Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation Andrew Scott John Hyams
2009 Icarus Edward Genn Dolph Lundgren
2010 The Expendables Gunnar Jensen Sylvester Stallone

Director

Year Movie
2004 The Defender
2005 The Mechanik (The Russian Specialist)
2007 Diamond Dogs (replacement director)
2007 Missionary Man
2009 Command Performance
2009 Icarus

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.
  • In The Nanny, Niles refers to C.C. as Dolph Lundgren in the episode Fashion Show.

References

  1. ^ "Dolph Lundgren". NNDB. http://www.nndb.com/people/835/000023766/. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
  2. ^ a b "Dolph Lundgren Training and Hollywood". [1]. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dolph_lundgren_interview.htm. Retrieved on 2008-07-12. 
  3. ^ Sveriges befolkning 1970
  4. ^ a b Questions and answers: Dolph Lundgren
  5. ^ "DOLPH :: Article". DOLPH :: the ultimate guide. http://www.gmrmedia.com/dolph/articles/article13.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
  6. ^ "Dolph Lundgren". Talent Development Resources. http://talentdevelop.com/interviews/dlundgren.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
  7. ^ "CHRONICLE". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DF113CF933A0575BC0A963958260. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
  8. ^ a b "Burglars tie up woman - but flee the house when they realise she's married to action hero actor Dolph Lundgren". The Daily Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1173697/Burglars-tie-woman--flee-house-realise-shes-married-action-hero-actor-Dolph-Lundgren.html?ITO=1490. Retrieved on 2009-04-27. 
  9. ^ "Dolph Lundgren Height - how tall". CelebHeights. http://www.celebheights.com/s/Dolph-Lundgren-22.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
  10. ^ Why 'Rocky IV' is the best fight -- Ever!
  11. ^ Dolph Lundgren and Oleg Taktarov Boxing Match
  12. ^ "Dolph Lundgren: Direct Contact". SuicideGirls.com. 31 May 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Dolph+Lundgren%3A+Direct+Contact/. Retrieved on 2009-06-02. .
  13. ^ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2008
  14. ^ "Dolph Lundgren: Direct Contact". SuicideGirls.com. 31 May 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Dolph+Lundgren%3A+Direct+Contact/. Retrieved on 2009-06-02. .

External links