Stefanos Miltsakakis

Born in humble surroundings in Provatonas, a small village near the town of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece, on August 3, 1959, Stefanos Miltsakakis shot to fame fighting Jean-Claude Van Damme in five Hollywood movies. He was raised in an environment where children grew up fighting and wrestling. In 1973, he moved to the United States with his family, none of whom could speak English. They settled in a studio apartment, shared with another Greek family in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later described how as a teenager he was subject to ostracism due to his background and struggled to integrate himself with the local youth. After getting into trouble, the high school free-fighting trainer encouraged him to join the school team. He won a scholarship for the State University of North Carolina and became a fighter for the All-Americans team. In 1984, at age 24, he was selected for the Greek team at the Olympics that year, but a knee injury just before the event forced him to abandon his Olympic dreams. This forced him to consider the idea of working in the world of cinema. In 1989 he got a small role in the film Cyborg (1989) by Albert Pyun, in which he had the chance to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme. He moved to Los Angeles and began a career of small character parts, especially in martial arts films, opposite van Damme in several movies. But Miltsakakis was also a great fighter in real life, with his 220 lbs and 100kg. On September 27, 1999, he took part in the 9th Vale Tudo World Championship during which he won against Judoka Joe Charles in 8.38 minutes, recording a personal record. In 2002 he participated in the 14th Vale Tudo, where he won against Mariano Mendoza gaining a 2-0-0 record. He was also a world champion in Pagration, an ancient Greek sport combining wrestling with boxing. After his retirement in 2011 he set up a gym in Venice, California. Miltsakakis died on January 10, 2019, aged 59, in his sleep in Santa Monica, California. He was interred in Greece next to his father.