By Cordillia Marvine
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Steven Frederic Seagal (/sɪˈɡɑːl/ sig-AHL; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences. He has appeared in over 50 films.
By 1991, he had starred in three commercially successful films, and would go on to achieve greater fame in Under Siege (1992), where he played Navy SEALs counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback, a role he reprised in the sequel Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995). In 1994, he starred in his directorial debut film On Deadly Ground. During the latter half of the 1990s, Seagal starred in three more feature films and the direct-to-video film The Patriot. Subsequently, his career shifted to mostly direct-to-video productions. He has since appeared in films and reality shows, most notably as the main villain in Robert Rodriguez‘s Machete (2010), and Steven Seagal: Lawman, which depicted Seagal performing duties as a reserve deputy sheriff.
Seagal is a guitarist and has released two studio albums, Songs from the Crystal Cave and Mojo Priest, and performed on the scores of several of his films. He has worked with Stevie Wonder and Tony Rebel, who both performed on his debut album. He has been involved in a line of “therapeutic oil” products and energy drinks. Seagal is an environmentalist, animal rights activist, and supporter of 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. In 2004, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.
Seagal has been the subject of controversy during his career. Since 1991, multiple women have accused Seagal of sexual harassment or assault. A supporter of Vladimir Putin, he backed the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He was granted both Russian and Serbian citizenship in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed Russia’s special envoy to the U.S.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Joseph Pulitzer (newspaper publisher & founder of Pulitzer Prize) –
- Jack Miner (Canadian naturalist ) –
- Frances Perkins (first woman to hold a cabinet position in the U.S.) –
- Dolores Huerta (American civil rights activist) –
- Omar Sharif (actor) –
- Steven Seagal (actor and martial artist) –
- Mandy Moore (singer & actress) –
- Haley Joel Osment (actor) –
- AJ Michalka (actress) –
Died
- Marjorie Main (actress) –
- Natalie Schafer (actress) –
- Sam Kinison (comedian) –
- Dixie Carter (actress) –
Events
- Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt –
- The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated –
- First Arbor Day celebration held in Nebraska –
- Trans-Canada Air Lines created by Parliament –
- Feature length, full color, 3-D movie premiered in NYC: House of Wax starring Vincent Price –
- Gidget premiered –
- A 5-pound white crappie was caught in the Bibb County pond in Georgia –
- The comic strip FoxTrot debuted –
- Charles Osgood became host of CBS’s Sunday Morning”“ –
- Danny Willett won the Masters golf tournament –
Weather
- Portland, Maine, had 15 inches of snow –
- Dust storms became severe in Kansas and Iowa, closing schools and highways –
- A 253 mph gust of wind was recorded on Barrow Island, Australia, during Cyclone Olivia. It was the fastest wind gust ever recorded on Earth. –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
