Dolph Lundgren

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Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.
Birth name	Hans Lundgren
Born	November 03, 1959 (age 47) Stockholm, Sweden
Height	196cm (6 ft 5 in)
Notable roles	Venz in A View to a Kill Ivan Drago in Rocky IV He-Man in Masters of the Universe Frank Castle in The Punisher Andrew Scott in Universal Soldier

Dolph Lundgren (born Hans Lundgren, November 3, 1959) is a Swedish actor and director.

1 Biography
2 Movie career
3 Personal life
4 Trivia
5 Filmography
6 Cultural references
7 Footnotes
8 External links

[edit] Biography

A native of Stockholm, Dolph Lundgren is 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) and weighs approximately 107 kg (237 lb). A graduate of 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[1]. He speaks five languages: Swedish, English, German, some Japanese and some French.

Lundgren holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate and won the European full-contact karate championships in 1980 and 1981 and a heavyweight tournament in Australia in 1982 [2]. He was also a member of the Swedish Kyokushin Karate knockdown team for the 1979 World Open Tournament arranged by the Kyokushin Karate Organization.

Lundgren was selected to serve as the Team Leader of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Pentathlon Team during the Atlanta Games where he coordinated planning and other details between the team and the United States Olympic Committee [3].

[edit] Movie career

In 1985, Lundgren made his feature-film debut in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. Then he beat out 5000 other hopefuls to land the breakthrough role of Ivan Drago, Sylvester Stallone's opponent in Rocky IV (1985). He received his first lead role as He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987), based on the popular children's toy, but the film was not a success and was ridiculed by most audiences. Lundgren subsequently however found his calling in action films. He starred 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, Universal Soldier, Red Scorpion, Silent Trigger and Johnny Mnemonic.

In recent years, Lundgren has usually only appeared in foreign and/or low-budget direct-to-video films. He has made his directorial debut in 2004 with the film The Defender. After that he directed The Mechanik (Currently known in the United States as The Russian Specialist). Currently he is filming the historical adventure The Inquiry.

[edit] Personal life

He has been married to Anette Qviberg, a jewelry designer and fashion stylist, since 1994. The couple spend their time between their new home in London, U.K. and Marbella, Spain. They have two daughters: Ida Sigrid Lundgren (born April 1996) and Greta Eveline Lundgren (born January 2002).

[edit] Trivia

I was turned down at my first audition for Rocky 4 for being too tall, I was 6ft 5in and you were supposed to be 6ft 3in maximum. I didn't know what the casting call was for and I just showed up, they asked me how tall I was, I said 6ft 5in and they said "Next! - Impact magazine [4].

Dolph has often been the victim of over-billing, something he loathes according to his statement on a recent interview with a Swedish state channel. At one point, the interviewer asked "Are you 6 ' 5 feet tall?" To which Dolph responded by saying, "No, it's supposed to be 6 ' 3 feet". At the time of Showdown in Little Tokyo, he was marketed to the Japanese public as a 10 feet tall body-builder from a country near the North Pole and the son of a bear-trapper, who grew up in the harshest northern wilderness known to mankind.

Lundgren is the first actor to portray Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, in live action.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Movie	Role
2007	Diamond Dogs	Xander Ronson
2006	The Inquiry	Brixos
2005	The Mechanik	Nick Cherenko
2004	The Defender	Lance Rockford
2004	Retrograde	John Foster
2004	Fat Slags	Randy
2004	Direct Action	Frank Gannon
2003	Detention	Sam Decker
2001	Hidden Agenda	Jason Price
2000	Agent Red	Matt Hendricks
2000	The Last Patrol	Nick Preston
2000	Jill Rips	Matt Sorenson
1999	Storm Catcher	Major Jack Holloway
1999	Bridge of Dragons	Warchild
1998	Blackjack	Jack Devlin
1998	Sweepers	Christian Erickson
1998	The Minion	Lukas
1997	The Peacekeeper	Major Frank Cross
1996	Silent Trigger	Waxman (Shooter)
1995	The Shooter	Michael Dane
1995	Johnny Mnemonic	Street Preacher
1994	Men of War	Nick Gunar
1994	Pentathlon	Eric Brogar
1993	Joshua Tree	Wellman Anthony Santee
1992	Universal Soldier	Andrew Scott/GR13
1991	Showdown in Little Tokyo	Police Sgt. Kenner
1991	Cover Up	Mike Anderson
1990	Dark Angel	Jack Caine
1989	The Punisher	Frank Castle/The Punisher
1989	Red Scorpion	Nikolai
1987	Masters of the Universe	He-Man
1985	Rocky IV	Ivan Drago
1985	A View to a Kill	Venz

[edit] 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.