Steven Seagal Biography

Seagal started his martial arts training at the age of seven under the tutelage of karate instructor and author Fumio Demura, after which he went on to study aikido with help from Harry Ishisaka. He travelled to Japan at the age of 17, where he taught English and perfected his martial arts skills, paving the way for him to work his way into the movie industry.

Following his 15 years in Asia, Seagal returned to the US where he got work as a celebrity bodyguard, later marrying one of his clients - Kelly LeBrock. However, he was cast into the limelight himself in 'Above the Law', which proved to be an instant hit and was well received.

His arrival in Hollywood was timely as this was when the high-octane action movie genre, to which he was well suited, was thriving. Following his debut in 1988, he appeared in 'Hard to Kill' as a police detective, which secured his status as a hard-hitting action hero. Other projects followed before he starred in 1992's 'Under Siege', which saw him take on characters played by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey in an action packed adventure.

A commercial success, the movie was well received by both audiences and critics and helped to establish Seagal further, paving the way for the 1995 sequel, 'Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'. He also starred in 'The Glimmer Man' and 'Executive Decision', although his character in the latter was killed earlier in the movie as his big name status appeared to have only been for marketing purposes.

In 1997, he announced that he had been proclaimed a tulku, the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama, by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Besides acting, he remained a student of Buddhism who spent many hours meditating, studying, and practicing to become a healer.

His work on the silver screen continued with projects including 1998's 'The Patriot', 'Exit Wounds' (2001), 'Half Past Dead' (2002), 'Into the Sun' (2005) and 'Mercenary for Justice' the following year. Although he was known for action movies, Seagal attempted other genres as well, appearing in the comedy 'The Onion Movie' in 2008 and the horror science fiction film 'Against the Dark' in 2009. 2010 saw him star in director Robert Rodriguez's 'Machete'.

Seagal's marriage to LeBrock, which ended in 1996, was not his first. Before she came along he was married to Miyako Fujitani in Japan, but the union ended, paving the way for marriage to Adrienne La Russa. Erdenetuya Seagal has been his wife since 2009.