Dolph Lundgren

Dolph Lundgren (born Hans Lundgren, November 3, 1957) is a Swedish actor, director and karateka.

A native of Stockholm, Dolph Lundgren is 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.
He speaks five languages: Swedish, English, German, French, Spanish, some Japanese, and some Italian.
He has a younger brother named Johan and two sisters who reside in Sweden.

Lundgren completed his mandatory military service in his native Sweden with the Swedish Navy and Kustjägarna. He left this elite marine unit (Kustjagarna) with the rank of conscript corporal.

Lundgren holds a 3rd Dan (3rd Degree Black Belt) in Kyokushin Karate and 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.

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.

In 1985, Lundgren made his feature-film debut in the James Bond film A View to a Kill briefly as a suited KGB henchman named Venz. 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.

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 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 January 2002).