Loren Avedon
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Loren A. Avedon (born July 30, 1962[1] in Los Angeles) is an American martial arts film actor. He has also acted in several popular American TV shows, including Baywatch.
[edit] Biography
He has over 20 years of martial arts experience and is a 5th Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a 7th dan black belt in Hap Ki Do.
His first acting roles were as a child in TV commercials, mainly for Carnation Milk. He also worked as a model, and appeared in a couple of martial arts films, such as Ninja Turf (1985), which were produced by his martial arts instructor Dae jin Kang.
Avedon got his main break as a martial arts film star, when producer Roy Horan phoned the dojo where Avedon was training, and asked if they had any suitable martial arts practioners for the lead role in the film, No Retreat No Surrender 2 (1987). Avedon answered the phone, was given an audition, and won the lead role. He then signed a three film deal with Sesonal films (the company which produced the No retreat No Surrender films). In this three film deal Avedon also played the lead role in the films, No retreat No Surrender 3 and King of the Kickboxers. Since then Avedon has starred in many more martial arts and action films, all of which have been B movies. In an interview Avedon said that he believed he would have had greater success in his film career (similar to the success of Jean-Claude Van Damme) if it had not been for poor representation and disagreements that he had with one or two other actors.[citation needed] He was offered a three film deal with film production company PM entertainment, but turned it down (the deal was given to Don 'The Dragon' Wilson) because he was holding out for a better deal. Avedon said that he now regrets turning down this deal.[citation needed]
Avedon has also written and produced some of the films that he has starred in, such as, Deadly Ransom (1997).
He is the nephew of photographer Richard Avedon.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
