Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal spent his early adult years teaching aikido in Japan, becoming the first American to run a dojo there before moving to Los Angeles. His 1988 debut Above the Law introduced aikido to American action cinema, and by 1991 he'd banked three commercial hits. Under Siege in 1992 made him a franchise name as Navy SEAL Casey Ryback, a role he reprised in 1995. He directed himself in On Deadly Ground in 1994, but by the late '90s his career had shifted to direct-to-video, punctuated by a villain turn in Rodriguez's Machete and a reality show playing reserve deputy. He's released two albums, sold therapeutic oils and energy drinks, and been inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum. Since 1991, multiple women have accused him of sexual harassment or assault. A vocal Putin supporter, he backed the annexations of Crimea and Ukraine, accepted Russian and Serbian citizenship in 2016, and became Russia's special envoy to the U.S. in 2018.