Billy Blanks

Acting

Billy Blanks

Born 1955-09-01 · Erie - Pennsylvania - USA

Muscular African American sports star, actor, media identity and inventor of the phenomenally popular "Tae Bo" fitness system, derived from his extensive martial arts training. Blanks was born in Eerie, Pennsylvania in 1955 amongst humble backgrounds and grew up as one of 15 children, battling dyslexia and tendon problems. However that didn't stop him from starting his martial arts training at age 14 and eventually achieving black belts in tae kwon do & several other arts, and winning numerous US martial arts tournaments. Blanks first popped up on movie screens in the mid 1980s in tough guy parts utilizing his athletic background and grim faced looks. Films roles included Tango & Cash (1989), Driving Force (1989) and A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave (1990). Things looked up in 1991, when Blanks scored the minor role of drug addicted running back "Billy Cole" in the explosive The Last Boy Scout (1991)....and further work followed often sharing lead billing in low budget - high action fare such as Talons of the Eagle (1992), TC 2000 (1993) and Expect No Mercy (1995). In the late 1990s, Billy's innovative and exciting "Tae Bo" workout routine swept around the world like wildfire, and propelled him into the position of one of the world's most recognizable and biggest selling fitness trainers. The remarkable Blanks continues to refine and promote his unique "Tae Bo" fitness system, and he operates the Billy Blanks World Training Center in Sherman Oaks, California. 7th Degree Black Belt Billy Blanks had one of the greatest karate fight records in the sport's long history. Blanks was a 7-time world karate champion, the first Amateur Athletic Union Champ in 1975, the 1984 Massachusetts Golden Gloves Boxing Champion, and the Tri-State Golden Gloves Champion of Champions. He was the captain of the United States Karate Team and won over 30 gold medals in international competition. He was the number 1 or number 2 rated full-contact karate fighter in the United States for almost seven straight years. His epic battles with "Nasty" Anderson are legends among martial arts fans. He posted over 300 career victories. In 1982, Billy Blanks was honored by being inducted into the Karate Hall of Fame.

Acting credits

The Last Boy Scout poster
6.8

Somewhere in Los Angeles, the city of broken dreams, a stripper is murdered. Now, the private detective she had hired and her ex-footballer boyfriend are going to find her murderer... if they don't kill each other first. But the more they dig, the deeper they become enmeshed in a web of extortion, blackmail and corrupt politics hidden beneath the surface of professional football.

The Last Boy Scout

1991

Kiss the Girls poster
6.5

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

Kiss the Girls

1997

Lionheart poster
6.6

Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.

Lionheart

1990

Jack and Jill poster
4.4

Jack Sadelstein, a successful advertising executive in Los Angeles with a beautiful wife and kids, dreads one event each year: the Thanksgiving visit of his twin sister Jill. Jill's neediness and passive-aggressiveness is maddening to Jack, turning his normally tranquil life upside down.

Jack and Jill

2011

Tango & Cash poster
6.5

Ray Tango and Gabriel Cash are two successful narcotics detectives who can't stand each other. Crime lord Yves Perret, furious at the loss of income they have caused him, plots an elaborate revenge against them.

Tango & Cash

1989

The King of the Kickboxers poster
6.9

Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.

The King of the Kickboxers

1990

The Master poster
6.6

When old martial arts master Master Tak disappears, his best student, Jet, steps in to find him. However, when he learns that Tak's life is in danger, he decides to protect him at all costs.

The Master

1992

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks poster
6.8

The fantastic story of how an ancient martial art, Chinese kung fu, conquered the world through the hundreds of films that were produced in Hong Kong over the decades, transformed Western action cinema and inspired the birth of cultural movements such as blaxploitation, hip hop music, parkour and Wakaliwood cinema.

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

2019

Timebomb poster
5.2

When someone tries to murder watchmaker Eddy Kay, the incident triggers a barrage of nightmares and flashbacks into a past that isn't his own. Fearing for his sanity, Eddy contacts psychiatrist Dr. Anna Nolmar for help. Anna thinks he's hallucinating until another attack proves the dangers are all too real. The two of them go on the run, trying to discover the truth about Eddie's past and true identity before it kills them.

Timebomb

1991

TC 2000 poster
5.3

Somewhere in the future the environmental overkill had come. Many people had died. The rich were able to build the underworld, the poor had to stay on the surface building gangs to survive. Jason Storm, an underworld guard gets knowledge of a conspiracy to kill all people on the surface. He needs to flee to the surface, and wins Sumai, a respected martial arts master, as his ally to stop the dirty plot.

TC 2000

1993

The Clapper poster
4.9

Eddie Krumble works as a paid audience member for infomercials and experiences a whirlwind of overnight fame after a late-night talk show host publicizes his frequent infomercial appearances.

The Clapper

2018

The Last Kumite poster
6.8

When shady businessman Ron Hall kidnaps his daughter, retired karate champion Michael Rivers is forced to enter a deadly illegal Kumite tournament in Bulgaria. Enlisting the help of seasoned trainers Master Loren and Julie Jackson, he discovers other fighters face the same desperate struggle to save their loved ones.

The Last Kumite

2024

Assault on Devil's Island poster
4.2

When one of Mike McBride's men goes rogue and takes a group of gymnasts hostage to Devil's Island in exchange for the return of drug lord Carlos Gallindo, the SEALS face their most perilous assignment yet.

Assault on Devil's Island

1997

Showdown poster
5.8

Ken has just moved from Kansas with his mother. He talks to a girl named Julie, not knowing that her boyfriend Tom is very possessive of her. Tom is learning karate from Lee, a sensei whose brother was killed by a rookie cop named Billy. Billy has since then become the janitor of the school that Ken, Julie and Tom go to. When Ken gets beaten up by Tom for talking to Julie again, Billy helps Ken by teaching him how to defend himself, which eventually leads to a battle between student vs. student, and sensei vs. sensei.

Showdown

1993

Invincible poster
7.0

Timid and wimpy triad gangster, Kit, is the right-hand man to gangster Brother Fire, who, in a bid to protect his younger sister Mandy from unwelcome advances, accidentally kills rival gang boss Brother Long's younger brother, Kwong. Brother Fire is sent to prison, leaving Kit to flee to France with Mandy, where Kit joins the French Foreign Legion. While he is away at boot camp, Brother Long sends assassins to kill Mandy. Months later, Kit returns to Hong Kong a tougher more fearless man. Accompanied by new friend Brother Hark, Kit vows revenge against Brother Long.

Invincible

1992

The Real Miyagi poster
6.5

The life of Fumio Demura, the greatest karate master of a generation.

The Real Miyagi

2015

Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes poster
9.0

Special honoring the grand masters of the martial arts with guest stars from film and television, music performances, live demonstrations, competitions and tributes to Jackie Chan, Bennie "The Jet" Urquidez, Cynthia Rothrock, Billy Blanks, Ernie Reyes Sr., and Shaka Zulu.

Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes

1998

Talons of the Eagle poster
5.1

After 3 DEA agents are killed by crime boss Mr. Li, the DEA reluctantly calls in New York cop and martial arts expert Tyler Wilson and sends him undercover on assignment to Toronto to team up with Canadian vice cop Michael Reeds. Wilson and Reeds must infiltrate Li's gang, so enter a martial arts tournament that Mr. Li is known to attend to recruit talent.

Talons of the Eagle

1992

Tough and Deadly poster
5.5

A private eye helps an amnesiac CIA agent elude mobsters who don't want him to regain his memory of their drug operation.

Tough and Deadly

1995

Bloodfist poster
4.8

To avenge the brutal murder of his brother, Jake Ray journeys to the Philippines, where his search for truth finds him battling both in and out of the ring. But the weapons are always the same: bare fists, bare feet. And the rules never change: last man standing wins.

Bloodfist

1989

Back in Action poster
5.4

Two men have different motivations but the same goal when they team up and mount an assault on a powerful drug gang.

Back in Action

1994

Expect No Mercy poster
4.5

Federal Service Agent Justin Vanier has been assigned to infiltrate the mysterious Virtual Arts Academy in search of Eric, a fellow agent. In this high-tech facility, the maniacal leader Warbeck is training assassins to become even more efficient killing machines using virtual reality. Penetrating the organization as a new recruit, Justin finds Eric, and together with the idealistic Vicki must bring down Warbeck before he succeeds with his deadly plans

Expect No Mercy

1995

No artwork available
10.0

The first video to combine international martial arts together with interviews and demonstrations by celebrities of Hollywood.

Encyclopedia of Martial Arts: Hollywood Celebrities

1995

China O'Brien II poster
5.0

This time China O'Brien has trouble with a dealer who puts a price on her head because she had spoiled an important drug deal of his. But all the world's criminals will not be enough to catch up with China O'Brian, one of the masters of the martial arts.

China O'Brien II

1990

Behind the camera