Born of Puerto Rican parents, Gladys has said that she was inspired to start her own
bodybuilding and
weight training regimen while attending
Marymount Manhattan College, when Gladys saw
Rachel McLish on television winning the
Ms. Olympia title. In 1987, at the age of 30, Gladys married Belgian martial artist and actor
Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude van Varenberg). The couple divorced in 1992, then remarried in 1999. They have two kids: Kristopher van Varenberg (b.1987) and Bianca Brigitte (b.1990). ==Filmography==