ACTION HERO GOES ON DEFENSE IN TRIAL.Byline: Peter Hartlaub Daily News Staff Writer Jean-Claude Van Damme makes millions of dollars as an action hero in the movies, but Monday the martial-arts star told jurors that he'd rather not be so famous. ``I'm just a simple guy, my friend. I don't like when you call me a star,'' the Chatsworth resident testified during the first day of a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court civil trial. ``Look what happens to me when I become a star. I get sued by friends and people like you,'' he told attorney Steven Kramer, whose client Frank Dux Frank Dux is the founder of the amalgamated martial art Dux Ryu Ninjutsu, claiming to be the first American-born form of Ninjutsu. He is perhaps best known as the protagonist portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme in the biopic Bloodsport. is suing Van Damme for more than $1.5 million. The dispute is over ``The Quest,'' a 1995 martial-arts movie based on a story Van Damme and Dux n. 1. (Mus.) The scholastic name for the theme or subject of a fugue, the answer being called the comes, or companion. both got credit for creating. Van Damme also directed and starred in the film. ``This case is about, ladies and gentlemen, a bill that hasn't been paid, plain and simple,'' Kramer said in opening statements. ``No more delays. No more excuses. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to pay the debt.'' Dux and Van Damme used to be friends - Van Damme's first hit movie was based on Dux's life story - but they glared at each other from opposite ends of the courtroom Monday. Dux contends the actor promised him 2.5 percent of the gross profits from ``The Quest,'' which Kramer said may be more than $60 million. Van Damme asserts Dux made a deal with a studio to work on another film that was never made and doesn't have any connection to ``The Quest.'' So for the past two years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time two known for their physical fighting skills have been doing battle with words and lawyers. Taking the witness stand Monday afternoon, Van Damme verbally sparred with Kramer until Superior Court Judge James A. Kaddo stepped in. ``It's like a script,'' the judge told the actor, after his testimony wandered beyond the question he was asked. ``Once you answer, you stop. It's on to the next question.'' Since the lawsuit was filed in early 1997, it's been clear the dispute between Dux and Van Damme is personal. Dux's complaint alleged that ``Van Damme had lied to the public that he was a martial-arts champion.'' He also claimed the actor was trained in ballet and invented his European karate titles. Van Damme's lawyers challenged those statements in September 1997 and got a judge's order to keep the accusations out of any future court records. Dux, who once owned martial-arts dojos in Sherman Oaks and Toluca Lake, claims he was the first American First American may refer to:
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That battle - described by Kramer as a ``human cockfight'' - is the backdrop for the 1987 cult hit ``Bloodsport,'' Van Damme's first film as a star. Dux said he only got $15,000 for his life story, and the percentage points from ``The Quest'' was supposed to be his big payback Payback The length of time it takes to recover the initial cost of a project, without regard to the time value of money. . Kramer asserted that Van Damme got a mutual friend to convince Dux to come to the actor's Chatsworth home, where he promised Dux a share of the profits from ``The Quest,'' predicting it would be ``the greatest martial-arts movie of all time.'' CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO VAN DAMME |
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