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Steven Seagal (born April 10, 1951) is an action
movie actor and a 7th dan black belt in Aikido.

In various early interviews Seagal has hinted that
he has worked as a bounty hunter and an operative
for the Central Intelligence Agency|CIA, although
these statements have never been proven.

Seagal is a practicing Buddhist. In 1997, one of
his teachers, Pema Norbu|Penor Rinpoche proclaimed
him a tulku, a reincarnation of a Tibetan lama.

Though Seagal has had numerous big screen
successes, most notably Under Siege (1992), many
of recent films have gone straight to cable
television and video release, although he
continues to star in several films each year. In
this period, he has appeared in a well received
Mountain Dew commercial in the US, in which he
parodied his tough-guy persona.

Seagal has also recently recorded an blues album,
Songs from the Crystal Cave released by Sony Music
Entertainment|Sony in 2005 and features Tony
Rebel, Lt. Stichie, Lady Saw and Stevie Wonder.

===Background===
Steven Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan. In
his youth he relocated to Fullerton, California
and began studying the martial arts under the
direction of renowned Karate master Fumio Demura.
In his late teens, Seagal became part of Demura's
Karate Demonstration Team and performed daily
demonstrations in Japanese Deer Park, an amusement
park in Southern California.  When he was around
nineteen years old, Seagal moved to Japan in order
to continue his study of the martial arts. 

In Japan, Seagal trained under various teachers
such as Master Hiroshi Isoyama and Master Seiseki
Abe, eventually gaining Dan (martial arts)|7th dan
black belt in Aikikai and marrying another student
of Abe Sensei, Miyako Fujitani.  Fujitani's family
ran the Tenshin Dojo in Osaka where Seagal became
the first foreigner to gain master credentials and
teach Aikido in Japan.  Upon his return to the
United States, Seagal opened the Tenshin|Tenshin
Bugei Gakuen in 1982, after the Dojo where he
trained in Japan.

Seagal's first venture into the film industry
occurred when he was hired as the stunt
co-ordinator for the 1982 film The Challenge,
starring Toshirô Mifune. In 1983 Seagal retuned
to the United States, a decade after he left, in
order to pursue a career in the film industry. In
1984, he married his second wife, former Days of
Our Lives actress Adrienne La Russa, even though
the divorce to his first wife had not been
finalized. His third marriage was to marry actress
Kelly LeBrock who he first met when he was hired
to be her body guard.

Seagal's acting career took off when, by chance,
Michael Ovitz, the then president of one of the
most powerful talent agencies in Hollywood,
Creative Artists Agency (CAA), came to Seagal's
Aikido Studio in Burbank, California and became
his student. Following this, Seagal's acting
career rapidly took off and he became known for
his roles in martial arts orientated action
movies. 

Seagal maintains a ranch in Colorado and a home in
the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood,
California, a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles.

===Filmography===
*Above the Law (film)|Above the Law. (aka "Nico")
(1988) - Blockbuster police drama directed by
Andrew Davis.
*Hard to Kill (1990) - Playing a cop out for
vengeance. (He later married costar Kelly
LeBrock.)
*Marked for Death (1990) - Playing a retired DEA
agent who returns to his hometown, to find an evil
drug lord in charge.
*Out for Justice (1991) - Playing one of two
childhood rivals fighting over old grievances.
This is also his first credit as a producer.
*Under Siege (1992) - Another Andrew Davis movie,
about a cook who prevents nuclear armageddon. This
was his most successful movie.
*On Deadly Ground (1994) - A movie in which he
befriends an Indian tribe and fights against an
evil oil company. This is Seagal's directorial
debut; he also produced. However, the movie
underperformed at the box office and damaged his
career.
*Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) - Seagal
returns as Casey Ryback, this time out to foil a
mad scientist who tries to hijack a satellite
weapon. He also produced this movie.
*Executive Decision (1996) - Playing the head of
an elite military team that must stop a plane
carrying a nerve-gas bomb.
*Glimmer Man|The Glimmer Man (1996) - Playing a
detective who must find a serial killer.
*Fire Down Below (1997) - Playing a hard-hitting
Environmental Protection Agency|EPA agent
investigating a mine in Kentucky. He also produced
this film.
*The Patriot (1998) - Playing a Canadian who foils
an evil, virus-releasing militia. He produced this
film also.
*The Prince of Central Park (2000) - Credited as
producer.
*Exit Wounds (2001) - Playing a tough urban
detective
*Ticker (2001) - Playing the leader of a bomb
squad.
*Half Past Dead (2002) - Playing an FBI agent.
*The Foreigner (2003) - Political intrigue and
scandal plague Seagal's character in this film.
Known as "The Package" in production
*Out for a Kill (2003) - Playing an archaeologist
who avenges the death of his wife. Oblowitz
directs.
*Belly of the Beast (2003) - Direct to video
release with Seagal parodying some of his best
known films.
*Out of Reach (2004) - Seagal and his stunt double
attempt to save a kidnapped girl.
*Clementine (film)|Clementine (2004 - Guest stars
in this Korea|Korean martial arts film.
*Unititled Onion Project (unreleased as of 2005) -
Guest stars in a hilarious spoof of himself by the
makers of The Onion.
*Into the Sun (film)|Into the Sun (2005) - Seagal
in fights the Yakuza in another direct to video
release shot in Japan.
*Submerged (2005)- Playing a mercenary who must
fight terrorists
*Today You Die (2005) -Seagal takes on white
supremacists in this undercover cop prison drama
*Mercenary:(Foreigner 2) (2006)- Seagal returns as
Jon Cold in this continuation of "Foreigner"
franchise. (Rumored to be his final film.)

===External links===
*http://www.stevenseagal.com Official Website
*imdb name|id=0000219|name=Steven Seagal
*http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/s
teven_seagal/index.html crimelibrary.com Gives you
a different idea