About Steven Seagal Steven F. Seagal (pronounced /sɨˈɡɑːl/; born April 10, 1952) is an American action movie actor, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist, energy drink entrepreneur, and deputy sheriff. He belongs to a generation of show action hero actors who were featured in many blockbuster action films of the late 1980s and 1990s, such as Sylvester Stallone, Jeff Speakman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Christopher Lambert, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an aikido instructor in Japan. He became the first foreigner to operate an aikido dojo in Japan. He later moved to the Los Angeles, California area where he made his film debut in 1988 in Above the Law. Since then, Seagal has become a major action star, mainly due to his films of the 1990s, such as Under Siege (1992) and Under Siege 2 (1995), where he played Navy SEALs counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback. In total, his movies have earned in excess of $923 million worldwide. Seagal is also a recording artist and guitarist and the founder of Steven Seagal Enterprises. In addition to his professional achievements, he is also known as an environmentalist, an animal rights activist and a supporter of the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, and the Tibetan independence movement. Spiritualism and Buddhism play an important role in Seagal's life and he has been recognized by Tibetan lama Penor Rinpoche as a reincarnated Tulku of 17th century eastern Tibet, Chungdrag Dorje.