Steven Seagal

This article is about the actor and martial artist. For the animator/professor, see Steve Segal. For the comic book writer, see Steven T. Seagle.

Steven Seagal
Seagal in 2024
Born
Steven Frederic Seagal

(1952-04-10) April 10, 1952 (age 72)
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Citizenship
  • American
  • Serbian
  • Russian
Alma materFullerton College
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • producer
  • martial artist
  • musician
Years active1982–present
StyleAikido
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Spouses
  • Miyako Fujitani
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1975; div. 1986)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1984; ann. 1984)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1987; div. 1996)​
  • Erdenetuya Batsukh
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2009)​
Children7, including Ayako Fujitani
Websitestevenseagal.com

Steven Frederic Seagal (/sɪˈɡɑːl/ sig-AHL; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan[2] where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo.[3] He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences.[4]

By 1991, he had starred in three successful films, and would go on to achieve greater fame in Under Siege (1992), where he played Navy SEALs counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback, a role he reprised in the sequel Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995). In 1994, he starred in his directorial debut film On Deadly Ground. During the latter half of the 1990s, Seagal starred in three more feature films and the direct-to-video film The Patriot. Subsequently, his career shifted to mostly direct-to-video productions. He has since appeared in films and reality shows, most notably as the main villain in Robert Rodriguez's Machete (2010), and Steven Seagal: Lawman, which depicted Seagal performing duties as a reserve deputy sheriff.

Seagal is a guitarist and has released two studio albums, Songs from the Crystal Cave and Mojo Priest, and performed on the scores of several of his films. He has worked with Stevie Wonder and Tony Rebel, who both performed on his debut album. He has been involved in a line of "therapeutic oil" products and energy drinks. Seagal is an environmentalist,[5] animal rights activist, and supporter of 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.[6][7] In 2004, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.[8]

Seagal has been the subject of controversy during his career. Since 1991, multiple women have accused Seagal of sexual harassment or assault.[9][10] He is a supporter of Vladimir Putin, to whom he once referred as "one of the great living world leaders".[11] He backed the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[12] He was granted both Russian[13] and Serbian citizenship in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed Russia's special envoy to the U.S.[14] Seagal has declared himself, "one million per cent" Russian and has lashed out at U.S. "disinformation".[15] In 2024, Seagal also wrote a letter to Putin "expressing his willingness to fight and die for him".[16]

  1. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 8, 1988). "Above the Law". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (February 14, 1988). "Steven Seagal Gets a Shot at Stardom". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  3. ^ "British Aikido History – Segal an Aikido Dojo in Japan ?". British Aikido. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  4. ^ Bill Palmer; Karen Palmer; Ric Meyers (January 1995). The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. Scarecrow Press, 1995. p. 2. ISBN 1461672759.
  5. ^ "Blogs – Six Things You Didn't Know About Steven Seagal – AMC". AMC. March 23, 2011. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  6. ^ Flintoff, Corey (October 16, 2007). "Dalai Lama Draws Strong Reactions on Both Sides". NPR. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Cassola, Paola (April 13, 2010). "Steven Seagal – The actor of Under Siege is accused of sexual harassment". Vogue Italia. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  8. ^ "Hall of Fame".
  9. ^ Wang, Amy B. (March 20, 2018). "Steven Seagal accused of raping an 18-year-old — adding to decades of claims against the actor". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  10. ^ Mancini, Vince (January 6, 2015). "A Brief History Of Sexual Assault Allegations Against Steven Seagal". Uproxx.com. Uproxx Media Group. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference MT140327 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/27/europe/vladimir-putin-steven-seagal-award-intl-scli
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Actor Steven Seagal made special US-Russia envoy". BBC.com. British Broadcasting Company. August 5, 2018.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Steven Seagal Said He Was 'Ready To Die for Russia' in Letter to Putin". www.newsweek.com. October 11, 2024.