Steven Seagal

American actor, director, producer and Aikido expert, often seen in roles that are highly physical.

He founded the Aikido Ten martial arts academy. His film debut was in "Above the Law," 1988. He is a 6th degree black belt (Sensei, or Master) of the Japanese Martial Art of Aikido, and has extensive knowledge of other more obscure Asian martial arts as well, some of which he demonstrated on film (his excellent and lethal knife-wielding skills in "Under Siege 1," for example). Seagal began his Martial Arts career in the 1960s after seeing a demonstration that intrigued him. He also became interested in Buddhism during this time, and took to its tenets ardently. It was in Japan that he met his now-ex wife, model and sometime actress Kelli Lebrock.

He burst on the American movie scene in the late 1980s with his debut film, "Above the Law", said to be a semi-autobiographical account of his life in the years immediately following the Vietnam War. Other hit films followed, perhaps the best of which was "Marked for Death." During the latter half of the '90s, Seagal's star power declined, along with some personal problems such as the end of his marriage to Lebrock.

Seagal made three marriages; five kids.