The transcript below is from the video “Who is Steven Seagal?” by Anomaly Documentaries.

Anomaly Documentaries:

This is Steven Seagal, the most eccentric action star in Hollywood history. Though he found early success with a range of box office hits like Under Siege, Steven is perhaps best known for his unusual backstory and the many bizarre antics he’s found himself in over the years. He’s had it out with multiple stunt workers accusing him of mistreatment, was once targeted by the Italian-American mafia, and more recently has been seen cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Steven has also been caught multiple times embellishing or flat-out lying about his experiences as a martial artist, both before and after breaking into the movie industry. Unsurprisingly, this has been the source of much amusement for both fans and critics but it’s also led to heavy debate over what the man is really like. Today, we’re going to dive into his confusing and often contradictory history to answer one simple question – who is Steven Seagal?

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It’s difficult to be sure which of Steven Seagal’s backstories are true, especially when he’s the one recounting them. What we know is that he was born to a middle-class family in Michigan on April 10, 1952 and picked up a love of the martial arts at an early age. One story says he first saw an older man performing exotic motions at a football halftime show and was instantly enthralled. In his early years as an action star, Steven cultivated a history as a rough and tough youth who other kids were afraid of, though his own mother contradicted this in a 1990 People magazine article saying that until the family moved to California, he was a “puny kid” with asthma.

At some point in his teenage years, Steven began studying Aikido with an old Japanese man, who gave him his first introduction to the orient. Steven later credited this man with persuading him to visit Japan early on. When exactly Steven left for the East is unclear though sometime between 1971 and 1973 seems most likely. He once claimed to have gone over to teach English in 1968 although records indicate he was attending Fullerton College through fall 1971 when he dropped out. It’s been implied that he studied under the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. Yet the sensei’s other students like Terry Dobson deny that the two ever met. The sensei died in 1969 and Steven, himself, said in a 1991 interview that he only saw the sensei without meeting him personally. At any rate, Steven stayed in Japan until the mid-70s when he returned to California with a plan to spread the martial arts throughout America.

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He met his first wife Miyako Fujitani in 1974. Miyako describes their initial meeting as follows, “When I met Steve, he had long hair and he was very tall and skinny. I hate that type, skinny with long hair. I was frightened. He looked like a Japanese ghost and he had on one of those Hawaiian shirts, the real bright ones, you know”. But Steven was determined to prove himself to Miyako. Following her back to Japan, she eventually caved and the two started a relationship. The couple married in 1975 and had two children; Kentaro and Ayako.

Steven then became a Buddhist and received his first-degree black belt. Miyako’s family owned a dojo in Osaka, where Steven became famous for being the first foreign teacher of Aikido in Japan. Steven has said to have taken over the dojo when Miyako’s father retired, although Steven later said that Miyako’s father “never even heard the word Aikido”. He once claimed he had to fight the Yakuza for the rights to the dojo, supposedly lost in a gambling debt. Though after their divorce, Miyako recanted this story and said he “yelled at some drunks but never fought anyone”.

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One of Steven’s other famous stories about running the dojo involved a mysterious white dog which followed him around for a few days, eventually telling him through barking that the building was on fire. Steven was able to save the dojo from burning to the ground. But by the time he went to find the dog to thank it, it had disappeared. He credited the canine with saving his martial arts school. This story was about one of many interactions with animals that Steven later credited with his burgeoning love for other creatures, a theme that would follow into his acting career down the road.

At any rate, Steven picked up an interest in acupuncture and traditional apothecary and was featured in a 1977 edition of Black Belt Magazine. The ensuing media attention brought scores of new practitioners to the dojo, curious about this mysterious Westerner who had devoted himself to their culture. One former student said of his training “Seagal taught a very practical Aikido, swift footsteps, hand movements like sword cuts and a body posture that was very straight, very strong”.

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Apparently, Japanese locals weren’t the only people to take notice of the rising martial arts star. According to a 1988 interview with the LA Times, Steven was approached by the CIA to undertake secret missions into training their members. “These guys were my students. They saw my abilities both with martial arts and with the language. My CIA godfather told me he had never heard any Americans speak Japanese so well. I would say I was a prime candidate to be recruited”. An associate named Gary Goldman initially backed up these claims but it appears the two fell out just a year later over money issues while writing a script together. Goldman is said to have recanted his support of Steven in his own letter to the LA Times writing “The plain truth of the matter is that Seagal was and is a gutless coward who is trying to convert the heroic deeds of those brave men into a personal history for himself”.

When pressed for details about his service Steven was noticeably elusive. Instead, Steven would tell other stories like his involvement in ushering the former Shah of Iran’s family to safety in the wake of the country’s 1979 revolution. In that same interview, he talked about providing security for bishop Desmond Tutu and getting security clearance at the White House. He also repeated a common Soviet talking point about the origin of the aids virus, describing it as accidentally having been released by the US government.

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Steven returned to America in 1982, temporarily settling in Taos New Mexico, re-established his tension Boogey Gakuen dojo with a student named Craig Dunn. A year later, Steven left the school in Dunn’s charge to spend some time in Japan before deciding to pursue a career in Hollywood. Well, in California, he opened another dojo and employed as sensei another star pupil, Haruo Matsuoka. Around this time, Steven was gaining early traction in Hollywood as a bodyguard, instructor, and martial arts coordinator. His first gig was organizing stunts for the 1982 film The Challenge with early promo material introducing him as Shihan or Master of Masters. He went on to teach choreography for the James Bond film Never Say Never Again. At one point, breaking Sean Connery’s wrist during a rehearsal.

Sean Connery (Actor):

But a number of years ago with a guy who’s become very successful Steven Seagal, we were going to do a film called Never Seen Ever Again and there was a possibility I was going to do Aikido and [inaudible] and I got a hold of Steven and we had this training in the building where I had an apartment and he was really very very good and everything. And then I got a little cocky because I thought I knew what I was doing because, you know, the principle is its defense. So it’s a pyramid and I got a bit flash and I did that and he broke my wrist.

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Steven also married actress Adrienne La Russa while still married to his first wife but that matrimony was annulled later that year. Miyako and Steven divorced in 1986. These escapades didn’t hinder him from mingling with Hollywood kingmakers like producer Michael Ovitz whom Steven was said to have mentored. There’s a popular story that Michael once had a bet with a fellow producer that he could make an action star out of anyone, which apparently paved the way for Steven to star in his own movies. By this point, he had married his third wife, supermodel Kelly LeBrock, whom he had been the bodyguard of now for several years.

Steven himself remembers meeting with a handful of producers who offered him his choice of stories out of a pile of scripts. He settled for Above the Law which he soon helped rewrite. Steven broke his nose when co-star Henry Silva accidentally bopped him during a torture scene. The movie was a smash hit, launching Steven’s lucrative career that extended into the 1990s.

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Filmmaker Andy Davis, best known for also directing the movie Holes, had this to say “What we’re really doing here with Steven is making a documentary”. Steven himself has claimed that the movie was based off of aspects of his real life. Steven enjoyed rising popularity with a string of hits like Marked for Death which he also produced he even got the chance to host saturday night live in 1991.

Comedian David Spade remembered it as perhaps the worst hosting experience on the long-running program.

David Spade (Actor):

And we’re saying, we respect if we’re getting you on the show to host, we all want it to work and if you make fun of yourself, this is where it gets tricky, if you make fun of yourself, it will benefit you and we promise you. And if you don’t and you fight it so much and that was him. He was too cool and had his image and, you know, like Stallone would come on, you know, whoever would come out and they make fun of Rock and, you know, that’s the way to do it. And then people go, “Oh, you’re a human. You play so cool”. But you can at least goof around. And it’s more relatable. He wouldn’t do Kung Fu fighting as a cold open or a monologue.

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Though embarrassing, the story remained mostly a Hollywood urban legend throughout the 1990s, no doubt to help Steven save face during the height of his popularity. Both parties still dispute what happened and over the years, colleagues of LeBell have confirmed some aspects of the story while disputing others, like what film said it allegedly happened on.

Steven nevertheless continued to anger old-guard martial artists with his usual bluster in media interviews, where he downplayed the likes of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Interviewer:

Since you’ve been here last for Hard to Kill, we’ve had a lot of action-adventure stars popping out of the woodwork. Do you go watch the other guys? What do you think of Jeff Speakman or Van Damme? Do you know Van Damme?

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

No.

Interviewer:

You’ve heard him? Let’s start with him, Steven. What do you think of his work as a martial artist first?

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

Can we change the subject?

Interviewer:

Well, I mean, because like you guys go back to the martial arts world before you were movie stars, right? I mean, he was like a champion somewhere…

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

I mean, I just promised all my mentors that I was gonna be a good boy. I think that that’s a matter of opinion that he was a champion anywhere. And I mean, you know, I’m not being catty or anything. I wish the guy all the best but there are an awful lot of people who say that that’s not true.

Interviewer:

How about Jeff Speakman? Nice guy, huh?

Anomaly Documentaries:

Black Belt Magazine reported that Steven even disparaged the entire art of American Karate once telling them “I haven’t met anybody who could walk up to me and want to face me”. This caught the attention of accomplished black belt Robert Wall, a friend of both Bruce and Chuck. Bob Wall scolded Steven’s attitude as unbecoming of a martial arts professional, deciding to put him in his place by organizing a team of martial artists willing to challenge him, aptly named The Dirty Dozen. Among them was Gene LeBell. Other members had their own reasons for disliking Steven, mostly because of a persistent rumor that he intentionally hurt many of his own stuntmen while filming. Nothing physical ever came as a result of the supergroup and while there were some in the Karate community uncomfortable with the pro-violence messages sent, it appears Steven was too cowed by them to escalate the situation.

Steven’s most famous film throughout his golden age was Under Siege, where he shared the spotlight with Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. Though most of his films were panned by critics, they certainly resonated with audiences. Yet, accusations of Steven’s poor conduct continued to follow him onto the movie set, where he had been accused of roughing up stuntmen and clashing with his fellow stars.

Anomaly Documentaries:

One time, Steven apparently rewrote the climax of the story while on set, opting not to kill the film’s serial killer antagonist over fears that he would be met with karmic retribution. This was reversed when a fellow actor told Steven that going ahead with killing the villain would allow him the opportunity to spiritually atone for his sins, which Steven agreed was the superior moral play. Another famous story came from John Leguizamo, who shared the screen with Steven Seagal in the movie Executive Decision.

John Leguizamo (Actor):

Yeah, that wasn’t easy. I did a movie called Executive Decision. And the first day we get together for rehearsal with the actors and the director he comes in, “I’m in command. What I say is law. You disagree..” And I started cracking. I was like I thought he was kidding. We were just hanging out. Yeah and he Aikido’d me against the brick wall. Knocked all the air out of me. I was like why? Yeah, I mean, what I really want to say is how big and fat he is and how he runs like a b*th. Look at it online. You can see he runs like this.

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Steven also had his character’s death scene changed. At first refusing to do it at all but later going along with an altered version when he was threatened with a breach of contract.

Ultimately, Steven only appeared in the first 45 minutes of the movie. He was later nominated for a Razzie for worst supporting actor. Though he lost to Marlon Brando from The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Time magazine reported in 1993 that an NYPD detective named John Connolly had compiled a dossier asserting Steven Seagal had connections to organized crime. It went so far as to suggest that Steven had sought out hitmen to murder some of his enemies, with Gary Goldman implicitly being one of his targets. Such accusations weren’t enough to bring a halt to Steven’s career, much less have him arrested for conspiring to murder. The claims fizzled out without any concrete follow-up.

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Even at the height of his fame, Steven remains somewhat of an outlier amongst the popular action stars of the day. His feud with Jean-Claude Van Damme continued through his comments in interviews, where Steven repeatedly asserted he could beat him up. This came to a head at a party hosted by Sylvester Stallone, where Steven was apparently confronted by the Muscles from Brussels and challenged to put his money where his mouth was. Though Steven escaped to a random Miami nightclub, JCVD gave chase and reiterated his challenge only for Steven to disappear once more. It doesn’t seem they ever figured out who was tougher, though Stallone was convinced Jean-Claude had the edge.

Years later, the action star seemed to have put his feud with Steven behind him, even if the respect wasn’t reciprocated.

Jean-Claude Van Damme (Actor, Martial Artist, Filmmaker & Fight Choreographer):

I would love to see a Steven Seagal in part 3. He should lose some weight. No, no, joke on the side. So he can be a little more fast. I met the guy a few times. He’s a nice guy, doesn’t like me much. I like him a lot. Good guy, good charisma. He’s got something special on the screen. I would love to see him there.

Anomaly Documentaries:

Steven’s poor conduct was compounded by numerous complaints made by female co-stars, many of whom were Playboy models sought out at his request. It wasn’t uncommon for these actors to allege that Steven made lewd and inappropriate comments, attempted to grope them, or even worse. Steven has also purportedly engaged in similar chauvinistic behavior with his personal assistants with up to four of them quitting throughout 1991. Of course, he’s denied all allegations even as more and more women speak out about his misconduct in recent years. These have often been handled quietly behind closed doors.

Even with all of this, Steven had enough clout that he began injecting his movies with a mixture of environmentalist and new age overtones, reflecting his own personal beliefs. His last film under his Warner Brothers contract was 1997’s Fire Down Below, where he was again nominated for a Razzie award for worst actor. Though his films saw less financial returns and even worse critical reviews, Steven continued his career through a string of direct-to-video flicks that he could churn out even more frequently. Perhaps aware that something in his career was amiss, Steven sought out spiritual guidance from a number of Buddhist holy men. His favorite guru was a master named Penor Rinpoche, who in 1997 declared Steven Seagal to be a reincarnation of an obscure Tibetan llama. Steven’s clothing choices during the time became reminiscent of Buddhist monks clad and colorful robes indicating his position. This caused quite a stir in the American Buddhist community, with some adherence lamenting that Steven bought his way into a divine position. To calm the waters, Penor Rinpoche clarified that although his pupil had been recognized as a possible reincarnation, this didn’t mean he was formally enthroned as such.

Anomaly Documentaries:

Steven Seagal found himself in a situation not unlike one of his own movies back in the early 2000s. He seems to have had a falling out with his production partner Julius Nasso after suggesting he’d stop starring in movies glorifying violence, apparently at the behest of his spiritual advisor. Julius was outraged as there were still four more films in his contract to be completed. But Steven remained firm until the mafia got involved. Julius had allegedly secured some of his financing from members of the Gambino crime family, like Anthony Sunny Chicone, who demanded Seagal pay them out $150,000 per canceled film or else.

The action hero tried his usual bravado to worm his way out of paying but the mob saw right through this. Apparently, some mafiosos were caught on wiretap laughing at how scared Steven was during one shakedown attempt at a Manhattan restaurant though Steven continued stalling thereafter. He even tried securing the aid of yet another mobster to mediate though this was unsuccessful.

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Meanwhile, journalists covering the story found themselves the target of strange intimidation tactics consistent with the mafia. One was threatened at gunpoint and told to stop looking into the Seagal case, whereas another reported she found her car windshield smashed and a dead fish on the driver’s seat. When Julius tried slapping Steven with a multi-million dollar lawsuit, Steven encountered with charges that his former friend was trying to extort him, then the police got involved. This obviously didn’t sit well with the mafia, so when they finally had their day in court there was a palpable hostility towards Steven. His own credibility seemed to be on trial as cross-examiners brought up his past stories about scaring the Yakuza out of his Japanese dojo back in the day. Steven managed to snag immunity allowing them to testify and Julius eventually received a year and a day in prison for his connections to organized crime. The breach of contract suit was dropped just a few years later when the former partners settled out of court.

During his quieter years, Steven found other ways to make money with various side projects. He once tried marketing his image with a brand of energy drinks called Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt. The beverage came in three flavors although the root beer version is noticeably harder to find information about. The story goes that Steven spent time traveling throughout Asia to find the perfect rejuvenating ingredients that had the side benefit of delicious flavor. Using ginseng, goji berries, cordyceps and more, it promised “an energy drink as unique as the man who created it”. This was an understatement as this bizarre commercial would soon show.

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The drink didn’t seem to catch on as he had hoped and cans of lightning bolt are hard to come by as of 2021. One of Steven’s other side ventures was a Steven Seagal blues band with which he produced soundtrack selections for several of his movies. His band can be booked for private or public gatherings through his website and he released his first studio album Songs from the Crystal Cave in 2005. Many reviews were uncomplimentary but this didn’t hinder Steven from trying again in 2006 with the album Mojo Priest. Though his website promises a third album sometime in the future, as of 2021, Steven still hasn’t gotten around to it.

Steven’s career saw a popular revival with the creation of his 2009 reality television series Steven Seagal: Lawman, redone the badge of a Louisiana police officer under the blessing of Sheriff Harry Lee. Steven said the two met while he was shooting a film in the area sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. Lee, being a fan of his films, apparently asked Steven to train members of the police department in the art of Aikido. The LA Times however cast a doubt on this story, noting that the picture of his swearing-in ceremony looked about 20 years older than it should have been and that there were no formal records of Steven ever being licensed. When the LA Times sought clarification Steven refused to comment.

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He nevertheless pushed the idea that he had secretly been acting as a reserve police officer throughout his movie career, only coming forward with his role in The Wake Of The Hurricane Katrina Disaster. The showrunners insisted this wasn’t a publicity stunt though admitted Steven was only on active duty whenever he had time for it in between filming direct-to-video flicks. This usually amounted to two or three weeks out of the year. Multiple articles pointed out that it was rare for Steven to get into the thick of the action, usually commenting on how other officers were handling the call from inside the police car.

Steven did, however, find himself in trouble over the course of the series’s run, not because of an interaction with bloodthirsty gangs or violent criminals, mind you. The action star was at the center of claims that he had assaulted and harassed several female cast and crew members who worked on his movies. Ultimately, the district attorney of Los Angeles dropped the case citing too much time having passed. Nevertheless, the allegations against Steven were a blight on his already poor reputation in tinseltown. He denied all accusations. The affair nevertheless derailed the production of Law Man for a few years while everything was sorted out and the third season didn’t air until 2014. Notably, this was the only season to feature Steven in Arizona instead of Louisiana, where he worked with the infamous and controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County. The series drew headlines when Steven and Sheriff Arpaio stormed the estate of a man they claim to belong to the cartels, even bringing a tank to batter down the walls of the home. The accused homeowner sued the actor for a hundred thousand dollars in damages.

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And although many found this to be a hilariously absurd overreach, Steven didn’t rule out taking his community service to the next level with a run for Arizona Governor in 2014. Although he considered it a long shot that he might not end up pursuing, this didn’t stop the political media from running with the story as if he had already launched a bid. Of course, Steven never wound up filing paperwork for a formal campaign.

Steven’s branching out through the 2010s also included an attempt at becoming a coach for rising martial artists. In 2011, reports came up that UFC fighter Anderson Silva underwent training with the martial artist to sharpen his skills in the Octagon. While it was true that Steven had walked with Anderson to the fateful fight, it appears that the actor had characteristically embellished exactly what it was he had done for the fighter. Steven went as far as to say he had invented the infamous front kick used to win the fight.

Interviewer:

Anderson, after the fight, said that he learned that front kick to the face from you.

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

Right.

Interviewer:

Where’d you teach that? Where’d you learn that?

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

Where did I learn? oh, I learned it, you know, sort of a variation of that in Japan probably 30-40 years ago and I’ve been perfecting it all these years. It’s not exactly Karate. It’s just something that I created that’s a little bit different that I thought Anderson could learn well.

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His other attempts at coaching in the world of MMA were less successful with Jon Jones once rejecting his assistance.

Lately, Steven Seagal has gained notoriety as an unlikely ally of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The ties go back to at least the mid-2010s when Seagal praised Putin as “one of the greatest world leaders, if not, the greatest world leader alive today” and said he “would like to consider him as a brother”. Apparently, the two would get together to watch MMA fights and Putin even promoted Steven’s version of Aikido as a standard all Russian soldiers should follow. Steven supported the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea for which he was scrutinized in the Western media. Though this wouldn’t stop him from joining a cadre of pro-Putin bikers over in Russia.

Steven began working on obtaining a Russian passport of his own that same year with Putin personally overseeing his application. Unsurprisingly, Steven became a Russian citizen in 2016. His ties only strengthened in 2018 when he was granted a role as a special envoy between the United States and Russia, a position described as similar to being a UN goodwill ambassador. Steven continued strengthening his ties to the region by traveling to various Balkan states, obtaining his Serbian citizenship along the way. Naturally, countries like Estonia, who hold an uneasy history with the Russian Federation, have since banned Steven from entering.

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Steven’s escapades with world leaders have persisted into 2021, being warmly received by the disputed president of Venezuela Nicolas Madeiro, and even gifting the leader a katana. He also advocates for environmentalism in Russia, joining a political party over there to continue his advocacy in May 2021. Though his film career has noticeably been quiet in the last few years, Steven’s name still appears in the media as more women speak out about his alleged misconduct throughout his career, whether any dutiful action will ever be brought against Steven remains to be seen.

You may have noticed that throughout this anomaly, we’ve been careful to point out when stories about Steven Seagal aren’t totally verifiable. Though it’s clear Steven Seagal fancies himself as a larger-than-life figure with stories that sound far-fetched, the media has been all too happy to lap this up for articles and news bites whenever they deem it profitable. This is evident by the numerous claims and stories about Steven which aren’t backed up by more than Hollywood gossip and ambiguous hearsay. Of course, this isn’t to say that Steven Seagal is by any means a totally reliable source about himself. Rather, it’s a reminder to always independently confirm what we see and hear, especially if it’s ridiculously comedic. As Steven himself once noted, the media’s tendency to make something out of nothing is self-serving by design, and usually by the time the truth comes out there’s no vested interest in correcting the record. It’s therefore up to us as the audience to be accountable for what truths we decide to believe in.

Steven Seagal (Actor, Screenwriter & Martial Artist):

There’s an old zen story of two monks that were walking across the bridge and the junior monk said to his teacher, he said, what is the Buddha nature and the other monk picked him up and threw him in the water, you know.