The transcript below is from the video “The Life and Sad Ending of Steven Seagal” by Celebrity Tribute.
Celebrity Tribute:
Steven Seagal, was born Steven Frederic Seagal, on April 10 1952 in Lansing, Michigan, US. The son of medical technician Patricia and high school mathematics teacher Samuel Seagal. His mother was of Dutch, English, and German descent, while his father was the son of Russian Jews who had relocated to the US.
When he was five years old, he moved with his parents to Fullerton, California. His mother later told People magazine that, prior to the move, Seagal was frail and suffered from asthma: “He was a puny kid back then. But he really thrived after the move.”
Celebrity Tribute:
Seagal attended Buena Park High School in Buena Park, California, and Fullerton College between 1970 and 1971.
Seagal married his first wife, Miyako Fujitani, the daughter of an aikido instructor. With Fujitani, he had a son, actor and model Kentaro Seagal, and a daughter, writer and actress Ayako Fujitani. Seagal left Miyako to move back to the United States.
During this time, he met actress and model Kelly LeBrock, with whom he began an affair that led to Fujitani granting him a divorce. Seagal was briefly married to actress Adrienne La Russa in 1984, but that marriage was annulled the same year over concerns that his divorce had not yet been finalized.
Celebrity Tribute:
LeBrock gave birth to Seagal’s daughter Annaliza in early 1987. Seagal and LeBrock married in September 1987 and their son Dominic was born in June 1990. Their daughter Arissa was born in 1993. The following year, LeBrock filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Seagal is married to Mongolian Erdenetuya Batsukh, better known as “Elle”. They have one son together, Kunzang. A long with those years his career was known to be.
in 1987, Seagal began work on his first film above the law with director Andrew Davis. Following its success, Seagal’s subsequent movies were Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, and Out for Justice; all were box office hits, making him an action hero.
Celebrity Tribute:
Later, he achieved wider, mainstream success in 1992 with the release of Under Siege (1992), which reunited Seagal with director Andrew Davis.
Seagal directed and starred in On Deadly Ground (1994), featuring Michael Caine, R. Lee Ermey, and Billy Bob Thornton in minor supporting roles. On Deadly Ground was poorly received by critics, especially denouncing Seagal’s long environmental speech in the film.
Seagal followed this with a sequel to one of his most successful films, Under Siege, titled Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.
In 1996, he had a role in the Kurt Russell film Executive Decision, portraying a special ops soldier who only appears in the film’s first 45 minutes. The same year, he filmed a police drama The Glimmer Man (1996).
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In another environmentally conscious and commercially unsuccessful film, Fire Down Below (1997), he played an EPA agent fighting industrialists dumping toxic waste in the Kentucky hills.
In 1998, Seagal made The Patriot, another environmental thriller which was his first direct-to-video release in the United States.
After producing Prince of Central Park, Seagal returned to cinema screens with the release of Exit Wounds in March 2001. The film had fewer martial arts scenes than Seagal’s previous films, but it was a commercial success, taking almost $80 million worldwide. However, he was unable to capitalize on this success and his next two projects were both critical and commercial failures.
Celebrity Tribute:
Other than his role as a villain in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, all of the films Seagal has made since the latter half of 2001 have been released direct-to-video (DTV) in North America, with some theatrical releases to other countries around the world.
Seagal is credited as a producer and sometimes a writer on many of these DTV movies, which include Black Dawn, Belly of the Beast, Out of Reach, Submerged, Kill Switch, Urban Justice, Pistol Whipped, Against the Dark, Driven to Kill, A Dangerous Man, Born to Raise Hell, and The Keeper.
Celebrity Tribute:
In 2009, A&E Network premiered the reality television series Steven Seagal: Lawman, focusing on Seagal as a deputy in Louisiana.
In the 2010s, Seagal’s direct-to-video films increasingly started to become ensemble pieces, with Seagal playing minor or supporting roles, despite the fact that he often received top billing.
Maximum Conviction, Force of Execution, Gutshot Straight, Code of Honor, Sniper: Special Ops, The Asian Connection, The Perfect Weapon, Cartels, and China Salesman all exemplify this trend. This has led some commentators to criticize Seagal for his low-effort participation in movies which heavily promote his involvement.
Celebrity Tribute:
In 2011, he starred in the series entitled True Justice. It was renewed for a second season on ReelzChannel in 2012. In the UK, True Justice has been repackaged as a series of DVD “movies,” with each disc editing together two episodes.
Seagal’s music appears in some of his films (for example, Into The Sun and Ticker, where he appears as part of a bar band), as does his fluency in other languages and religion. In addition to acting and aikido, Seagal also plays the guitar. His songs have been featured in several of his movies, including Fire Down Below and Ticker.
Celebrity Tribute:
Among his extensive collection are guitars previously owned by “the Kings”; Albert, BB, and Freddie, as well as Bo Diddley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix.
In 2005, he released his first album, Songs from the Crystal Cave, which has a mix of pop, world, country, and blues music. It features duets with Tony Rebel, Lt. Stichie, Lady Saw, and Stevie Wonder.
The soundtrack to Seagal’s 2005 film Into the Sun features several songs from the album. One of his album tracks, “Girl It’s Alright”, was also released as a single in several countries alongside an accompanying music video.
Celebrity Tribute:
Seagal’s second album, titled Mojo Priest, was released in April 2006. Subsequently, he spent the summer of 2006 touring the United States and Europe with his band, Thunder box, in support of the album.
In 2017, actress Portia de Rossi accused Seagal of sexually harassing her during a movie audition. De Rossi alleged that during an audition in Seagal’s office, he told her “how important it was to have chemistry off-screen” before unzipping his pants.
On November 9, 2017, Dutch model Faviola Dadis posted a statement on her Instagram account stating that she also had been sexually assaulted by Seagal years earlier.
