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We start out with the most famous of them all: The Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger is our first action hero. He became a true Hollywood star when he took on on the role of "The Terminator" in 1984.
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Aside from serving as the Governor of California from 2003 until 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still very active in Hollywood at 76 years old today! Most recently he starred in 'Terminator: Dark Fate' alongside his former 'Terminator' co-star Linda Hamilton.
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Another actor who found fame starring in martial-arts films is the Belgian Jean-Claude van Damme. He started his career, like many other action heroes, as a bodybuilder. His biggest role while he was starting out was in the 1986 film No Retreat, No Surrender.
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Jean Claude van Damme is still a sought-after actor and has appeared in numerous action films. In 2012, he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis in The Expendables. He also starred (as almost himself) in the Amazon original series Jean Claude van Johnson...
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David Rasche became a household name due to his role in the cult series Sledge Hammer! In the late eighties, the actor played the aggressive and chauvinistic police inspector.
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After the series ended, Rasche appeared in several TV series and feature films. He had roles in Men in Black 3 and in the 2013 film The Big Wedding. He even landed countless recurring roles in shows like The West Wing, L.A. Law, Monk, The West Wing, Veep, and the HBO hit Succession.
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Sylvester Stallone became famous when he starred in the 1976 drama Rocky. Stallone not only played the main role but also wrote the screenplay. The sixth film of the series, Rocky Balboa, was released in 2006. Starting in 2015, Stallone set up a new series of boxing movies starring Michael B. Jordan as "Adonis," the son of "Apollo Creed" from the original Rocky movies. Creed was released in 2015, Creed II followed in 2018.
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Sylvester Stallone is still going strong today at 77 years old. He has recently starred in 'Creed' (2015), 'Creed II' (2018) and 'Rambo: Last Blood' in 2019.
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Tom Selleck had his big breakthrough in 1980 with Magnum, P.I.. Selleck played the private eye "Thomas Magnum" and took TV screens by storm all over the world.
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In 2010 Selleck starred in the film Kiss & Kill alongside Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. He has played one of the leading roles in the American crime drama series Blue Bloods since the fall of 2010. He has also starred as "Jesse Stone" in a number of made-for-TV movies since 2006. He's been featured in countless roles in shows like Friends and Archer as well!
The following actors all had their big breakthroughs in the eighties and nineties as action heroes. Carry on reading to see how their careers began and which actors are still successful today!
These stars were made into action figures all over the world! Their movies were smash-hits at the box office for action fans everywhere!
Check out what Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, and the many other action stars are up to today!