Steven Frederic Seagal (/sɪˈɡɑːl/; born April 10, 1952) is an American-born screenwriter, and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan[2] and eventually ended up running his father-in-law's dojo.[3] He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films. Seagal also holds Serbian and Russian citizenship.
In 1992, he played Navy SEAL counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback in Under Siege. 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, including 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,[4] animal rights activist, and supporter of 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.[5][6] He is a supporter of Vladimir Putin, to whom he once referred as "one of the great living world leaders".[7] He was granted both Russian[8] and Serbian citizenship in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed Russia's special envoy to the U.S.[9]
From 1996 to 2018, multiple women accused Seagal of sexual harassment or assault.[10][11]