Six-foot-six action star Dolph Lundgren was born Hans Lundgren in Stockholm, Sweden on November 3, 1957. Although the second-degree black belt was a three time continental karate champion (twice in Europe, once in Australia), he boasts an I.Q. of 160 and holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney. He also studied at the Royal Institure Of Technology in Stockholm, Washington State University, and Clemson University, and attended M.I.T. on a Fulbright scholarship. Lundgren speaks five languages: Swedish, German, French, English, and Japanese.
Shortly after arriving in the U.S. for doctoral work, Dolph caught the acting bug and was cast in a "A View To A Kill" and began dating Grace Jones. His minor role in the James Bond film would soon lead to bigger and better things. The following year Lundgren won the role of Ivan Drago, the evil Russian boxer who would kill Apollo Creed and incur Rocky Balboa's wrath in "Rocky IV". His success in a major Hollywood hit led some to label him the next big action hero, but Dolph's next film, "Masters Of The Universe" was critically panned and flopped at the box office. After a successive string of bombs like "Red Scorpion", "The Punisher", and "I Come In Peace", Dolph was cast in the Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick "Universal Soldier". It was Dolph's last major role, as the failure of "Universal Soldier" to strike box-office gold relegated Lundgren to B-movies and bit parts. He announced his retirement from motion pictures in April of 2002.
While Dolph was busy with his movie career, he also made time for other things. His love of physical fitness and martial arts resulted in the fitness video "Maximum Potential". He was also the team leader for the 1996 United States Olympic Pentathlon Team, and has worked to promote the sport. Lundgren also helped found the Group Of Eight, a New York theatre group. In 1994 he married Anette Qviberg, a fashion stylist and jewelry designer. The couple has two children, Ida and Greta.