Gladys Portugues

Gladys Portugues (born September 30, 1957) is an American former professional female bodybuilder and actress. As a bodybuilder, she twice placed in the top 10 in the Ms. Olympia contest. She is married to Belgian actor and martial artist Jean-Claude van Damme.

Gladys Portugues
Born	Gladys Portugues (1957-09-30) September 30, 1957 (age 66) Manhattan, New York, U.S
Occupations	American bodybuilder fitness model actress author
Years active	1980–present
Spouses	Jean-Claude Van Damme ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1992)​ ​ ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	2

Personal life

Born of Puerto Rican parents, Portugues has said that she was inspired to start her own bodybuilding and weight training regimen while attending Marymount Manhattan College, when she saw Rachel McLish on television winning the Ms. Olympia title.^{[citation needed]}

In 1987, at the age of thirty, Portugues married Belgian martial artist and actor Jean-Claude van Varenberg.^[1] The couple divorced in 1992, but remarried in 1999. They have two children: Kristopher van Varenberg (b. 1987) and Bianca Brigitte (b. 1990).^[2] Her husband is professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Pumping Iron II: The Women	Herself	Cinecom International Films
1986	The Morning After	Bodybuilder	20th Century Fox
1987	It's Alive III: Island of the Alive	Waitress	Larco Productions Inc.

TV

Year	Title	Episodes	Role
2011	Behind Closed Doors	1 season (8 episodes)	Herself

Books

• Hard Bodies Express, Portugues, Dell; Reissue 1988, ISBN 0-440-53426-7
• Hard Bodies, Portugues and Vedral, Dell; Reissue edition 1986, ISBN 0-440-53424-0

References

1. "Top 10 Most Beautiful Female Bodybuilders in 2022". Sports Virsa. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
2. Friedman, Roger (May 14, 2010). "Cannes film festival 2010: Jean-Claude van Damme plans to appear in reality TV show for A&E". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2011-03-21.

External links

• Gladys Portugues at IMDb