99 Facts About Dolph Lundgren

1.

Dolph Lundgren's breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in Rocky IV as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago.

2.

Since then, Lundgren has starred in more than 80 films, most of them in the action genre.

3.

Dolph Lundgren received a degree in chemical engineering from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in the early 1980s and a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney in 1982.

4.

Dolph Lundgren received a Fulbright scholarship to MIT and moved to Boston.

5.

Jones convinced him to leave the university and move to New York City to be with her and begin acting, where, after a short stint as a model and bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub The Limelight, Dolph Lundgren got a small debut role as a KGB henchman in the James Bond film A View to a Kill.

6.

Dolph Lundgren reprised his role in The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3.

7.

Dolph Lundgren reprised his role of Ivan Drago in Creed II, and is due to reprise his role as Gunner Jensen in The Expendables 4.

8.

Dolph Lundgren appears in Aquaman, playing the father of Mera.

9.

Dolph Lundgren had a recurring role in the fifth season of Arrow as Bratva leader Konstantin Kovar, the main antagonist of the season's flashback storyline.

10.

Dolph Lundgren lived in Spanga until the age of 13, when he moved to his grandparents' home in Nyland, Angermanland.

11.

Some sources wrongly state 1959 as his year of birth, but Dolph Lundgren himself has confirmed it to be 1957.

12.

Dolph Lundgren has two sisters, Katarina and Annika and a younger brother Johan.

13.

Dolph Lundgren has stated that, during his tirades, his father would call him a "loser", which motivated him later as he grew more ambitious to prove himself.

14.

Dolph Lundgren was first credited as Dolph Lundgren with the release of Rocky IV.

15.

The name "Dolph Lundgren" came from a relative on his mother's side.

16.

Dolph Lundgren has said that, as a child, he was insecure and suffered from allergies, describing himself as a "runt".

17.

Dolph Lundgren showed a keen interest in drumming and had aspirations to become a rock star.

18.

Dolph Lundgren took up Kyokushin karate at the age of 10, and began lifting weights as a teenager.

19.

Dolph Lundgren studied chemical engineering for a year at Washington State University between 1975 and 1976, prior to serving his mandatory one year in the Swedish Coastal Artillery at the Coastal Ranger School.

20.

Amidst his years of studying, Dolph Lundgren honed his karate skills by training hard in the dojo for five years, attaining the rank of 2nd dan black belt in Kyokushin in 1978.

21.

Dolph Lundgren captained the Swedish Kyokushin karate team, and was a formidable challenger at the 1979 World Open Tournament when he was only a green belt.

22.

Dolph Lundgren won the European championships in 1980 and 1981, and a heavyweight tournament in Australia in 1982.

23.

In 1982, Dolph Lundgren graduated with a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney.

24.

Dolph Lundgren was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT in 1983.

25.

Dolph Lundgren earned a living as a bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub The Limelight, which was housed in the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, working with Chazz Palminteri.

26.

Roger Moore, in his last performance as James Bond, once memorably said, "Dolph Lundgren is larger than Denmark".

27.

Dolph Lundgren found the entertainment business more attractive and rewarding than chemical engineering, so he decided to pursue a career in acting despite having no formal training.

28.

Dolph Lundgren tried out for the role, but as he himself has stated, he was initially turned down because he was too tall.

29.

In 1987, Dolph Lundgren released on home media a workout video called Maximum Potential, and got his first lead role as He-Man in Masters of the Universe, based on the popular children's toyline and cartoon.

30.

Dolph Lundgren starred alongside Frank Langella, Meg Foster, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty and Courteney Cox.

31.

Dolph Lundgren weighed his all-time heaviest during the filming at 248 pounds.

32.

In 1990, Lundgren starred in Craig R Baxley's sci-fi thriller I Come in Peace opposite Brian Benben, Betsy Brantley, Matthias Hues and Jay Bilas.

33.

Dolph Lundgren plays a tough Houston cop with an inner sensitivity, who does not let the rules of police procedure prevent him pursuing his mission to wipe out a gang of drug dealers who killed his partner.

34.

In 1991, Dolph Lundgren starred in Manny Coto's action film Cover Up opposite Louis Gossett Jr.

35.

Dolph Lundgren portrays a US Marine veteran turned reporter and who finds his own life in jeopardy after stumbling across a political cover-up over a Middle Eastern terrorist plan to kill thousands of people.

36.

Later in 1991, Dolph Lundgren appeared in martial arts action film Showdown in Little Tokyo opposite Brandon Lee.

37.

In 1992, Dolph Lundgren starred in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year in the sci-fi action picture Universal Soldier directed by Roland Emmerich.

38.

At the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were involved in a verbal altercation that almost turned physical when both men pushed each other only to be separated, but it was believed to have only been a publicity stunt.

39.

In 1993, Dolph Lundgren starred opposite Kristian Alfonso and George Segal in Vic Armstrong's Joshua Tree.

40.

Dolph Lundgren plays Wellman Anthony Santee, a former racecar driver who has turned to hauling exotic stolen cars with his friend Eddie Turner.

41.

In 1994, Dolph Lundgren starred in Bruce Malmuth's Pentathlon as an East German Olympic gold medalist pentathlete on the run from an abusive coach.

42.

Dolph Lundgren trained with the US pentathlon team in preparation for the role, which later led to him being selected to serve as the Team Leader of the 1996 US Olympic Modern Pentathlon team during the Atlanta Games, to promote the image of the sport and to coordinate planning and other details between the team and the United States Olympic Committee.

43.

Later in 1994, Dolph Lundgren appeared in Perry Lang's Men of War alongside Charlotte Lewis and BD Wong as Nick Gunar, a former Special Ops soldier who leads a group of mercenaries to a treasure island in the South China Sea.

44.

In 1995, Dolph Lundgren appeared in Robert Longo's Johnny Mnemonic, co-starring Keanu Reeves.

45.

Dolph Lundgren plays Karl Honig, a Jesus-obsessed hitman and street preacher who wears a robe and carries a shepherd's staff.

46.

Later in 1995, Dolph Lundgren appeared in Ted Kotcheff's The Shooter, an action drama in which he plays Michael Dane, a US Marshall who gets caught up in politics when he is hired to solve the assassination of a Cuban ambassador.

47.

In 1996, Dolph Lundgren starred in Russell Mulcahy's Silent Trigger, about a sniper and his female spotter.

48.

Dolph Lundgren plays a former Special Forces agent who joins a secretive government agency as an assassin.

49.

The Motion Picture Guide to the films of 1997 said, "this stylish but empty thriller gives square-jawed Dolph Lundgren another shot at straight-to-video immortality".

50.

In 1997, Dolph Lundgren starred in Frederic Forestier's The Peacekeeper, playing Major Frank Cross of the US Air Force and the only man who can prevent the president being assassinated and with the ability to thwart an imminent nuclear holocaust.

51.

Dolph Lundgren is a butt-kicking Templar monk with a spiked leather glove whose sacred duty it is to do what the Templars have always done and stop a key that has kept the Anti-christ imprisoned for thousands of years from falling into the right hands.

52.

Later in 1998, Dolph Lundgren appeared alongside Bruce Payne and Claire Stansfield in Sweepers as Christian Erickson, a leading demolition expert and head of an elite team of specialists, trained to disarm mine fields in a humanitarian minesweeping operation in Angola.

53.

In 2000, Dolph Lundgren starred in The Last Warrior as Captain Nick Preston under director Sheldon Lettich.

54.

Later in 2000, Lundgren appeared in Damian Lee's Agent Red, alongside Alexander Kuznetsov, Natalie Radford and Randolph Mantooth.

55.

In 2001, Lundgren starred in Hidden Agenda, directed by Marc S Grenier.

56.

Dolph Lundgren plays Jason Price, an ex-FBI agent who protects a witness.

57.

Dolph Lundgren's next starring role was in the science fiction picture Retrograde.

58.

Dolph Lundgren made his directorial debut, replacing Sidney J Furie who got ill during pre-production, with The Defender, in which he starred alongside Shakara Ledard and Jerry Springer, who played the President of the United States.

59.

Dolph Lundgren plays Lance Rockford, the bodyguard of the head of the National Security Agency, Roberta Jones, in a war on terror.

60.

In 2005, Dolph Lundgren starred and directed his second picture The Mechanik, playing a retired Russian Special Forces hitman Nikolai "Nick" Cherenko caught in the crossfire with Russian mobsters.

61.

In 2007, Dolph Lundgren directed and starred in the Mongolia-based action adventure, Diamond Dogs.

62.

Dolph Lundgren plays a mercenary hired by a group of fortune hunters to act as their guide and bodyguard.

63.

Later in 2007, Dolph Lundgren wrote, directed and starred in Missionary Man alongside Charles Solomon Jr.

64.

In 2008, Dolph Lundgren starred opposite Michael Pare in the direct-to-video action flick Direct Contact.

65.

Dolph Lundgren plays an ex-US Special forces operative on a rescue mission.

66.

The story was inspired by a concert Madonna put on for Russian President Vladimir Putin, although Dolph Lundgren has likened the pop singer to Britney Spears.

67.

In 2009, The Dolph Lundgren Scholarship was instituted in his name, which is awarded to the student with the best grades at Adalsskolan in Kramfors, the school where he himself studied.

68.

Dolph Lundgren then reunited with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier: Regeneration, where he plays Andrew Scott's clone.

69.

Later in 2009, Dolph Lundgren directed and starred in the hit-man thriller Icarus.

70.

Dolph Lundgren plays a businessman named Edward Genn, working for an investment company, who has a shady past as a KGB special agent known as "Icarus".

71.

Dolph Lundgren tries to escape from his past life, but his identity is discovered and he is hunted down, placing the lives of his wife and daughter and himself in jeopardy.

72.

In 2010, Dolph Lundgren made a guest star appearance on the TV series Chuck in the fourth-season premiere episode, "Chuck Versus the Anniversary", as Russian spy Marco, with references to Rocky IV's Ivan Drago.

73.

Dolph Lundgren then played a drug-addled assassin in the ensemble action film The Expendables.

74.

Dolph Lundgren was one of three hosts for the 2010 Melodifestivalen, where the Swedish contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest is selected.

75.

Dolph Lundgren's appearance was hailed by critics and audience, particularly his rendition of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation".

76.

Dolph Lundgren played the lead role in Uwe Boll's In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, and had supporting roles in Jonas Akerlund's Small Apartments and a thriller called Stash House.

77.

In 2013, Dolph Lundgren starred alongside Steve Austin in The Package.

78.

Dolph Lundgren starred in a number of other films later that year, including Legendary, Battle of the Damned, Ambushed, and Blood of Redemption.

79.

In 2014, Dolph Lundgren co-starred opposite Cung Le in the action film Puncture Wounds, and reprised his role as Gunner Jensen for the third time in The Expendables 3.

80.

Dolph Lundgren then wrote, produced, and starred alongside Tony Jaa and Ron Perlman in Skin Trade, an action thriller about human trafficking.

81.

On 21 January 2015, Dolph Lundgren started filming straight-to-video film Shark Lake on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

82.

Dolph Lundgren portrays Agent Reed, a law enforcement officer who must go undercover as a kindergarten teacher, in order to recover a missing flash drive from the Federal Witness Protection Program.

83.

Dolph Lundgren starred in the music video of Imagine Dragons's Believer, which was released on 7 March 2017.

84.

Dolph Lundgren reprised his role of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV in Creed II, the 2018 sequel to Creed.

85.

Dolph Lundgren played an older, impoverished Drago in the film, which introduces the character's son, Viktor.

86.

Later in 2021, Dolph Lundgren starred and directed in the 2021 action film Castle Falls as Richard Ericson, in his first feature film as directed in nearly 12 years.

87.

In 2022, Dolph Lundgren starred in a series of Old Spice advertisements to promote a new antiperspirant line of deodorant spray.

88.

Dolph Lundgren wrote an autobiographical fitness book, Train Like an Action Hero: Be Fit Forever, published in Sweden on 9 August 2011, offering tips he learned over the years to work out in various situations.

89.

Dolph Lundgren cites a better quality of life as having inspired him to maintain his physical fitness.

90.

Dolph Lundgren cites dead lifting and squats as the best exercises for muscle building.

91.

Dolph Lundgren is not a heavy drinker, but has professed on many occasions to being fond of tequila and cocktails, citing his knowledge in chemical engineering as "making really good drinks".

92.

Dolph Lundgren speaks Swedish and English fluently, as well as smaller amounts of French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, but is not fluent in five languages as has often been reported.

93.

Dolph Lundgren supported Everton FC when he lived in Europe, but developed more of an interest in international football tournaments after moving to Los Angeles.

94.

Dolph Lundgren was whisked off to the United States, where he completed his final thesis.

95.

Dolph Lundgren later stated he believed the intruders to be Eastern European and had asked contacts in Bulgaria to investigate them, but to no avail.

96.

Dolph Lundgren's wife was the "most traumatized", and as of 2011 they are divorced.

97.

Dolph Lundgren was in a relationship with Jenny Sandersson from 2011 to 2017.

98.

Dolph Lundgren became engaged to Norwegian personal trainer Emma Krokdal in June 2020.

99.

In May 2023, Dolph Lundgren revealed that he had been battling lung cancer since 2015.