Karateka, musician and almost Mongol: 6 interesting facts about Steven Seagal

On April 10, Steven Seagal - the star of the cult fighters of the 90s, a director, a film producer, and first of all a martial arts master — turns 68 years old. And we decided to collect interesting facts from the biography of the actor.

The origin of the actor is vague

According to one version, his father was Jewish, and his mother was Irish. As Stephen said, his grandfather (on his father's side) was a "Mongol". He used to live in a Buddhist area in Russia, at the beginning of the XX century he moved with his family to America when he was still a child. According to Segal's memoirs, as a child he was told about his grandfather, but it is impossible to determine exactly who he was — Mongol, Buryat or Kalmyk. Those people who had such information have already died.

In the photos, the grandfather of his family has slanted eyes and they are wearing Mongolian hats. And the fact that the mother is Irish, again, is just an assumption. As Steven Seagal says, his mother was a foundling, she was found in a shoe box thrown up to the porch of someone else's house, so "it remains a big question who she was." Who her parents are is a mystery.

The actor claims that his grandmother is from Vladivostok, and he also has roots in St. Petersburg and Ukraine.

Steven Seagal speaks fluent Japanese

Which, in general, is not surprising, because he lived in Japan for ten years, received the 7th dan of Aikido and became the first foreigner in the history of Japan to open a dojo (martial arts school) in this country. He called him "Tenshin", which means "Heavenly Soul" in Japanese.

In addition, the actor was married to Japanese Miyako Fujitani. The couple had two children - son Kentaro Segal and daughter Aako Fujitani.

In total, Steven Seagal has been married four times and has seven children. He is currently married to Batsuhiin Erdenetuya, a professional dancer, a native of Mongolia. In 2009, the couple had a son, Kunzan.

Steven Seagal is a recognized bluesman

Segal periodically gets distracted from the big movie to jump on stage with a guitar. But he positions himself primarily as a musician, and then as an actor, believing that cinema is a hobby, and music is the main occupation: "Filming takes up all my time, but music is my first love."

In 2005, Segal released his first album Songs from the Crystal Cave. A year later, the second one was released — Mojo Priest ("The Sorcerer"), recognized as one of the best blues albums. Big City Blues magazine called Segal's guitar playing "exceptional", and he himself was "an original and talented musician".

Steven Seagal loves guns and collects them

At the moment, his collection has more than 1,000 weapons. There is also a semi-automatic Colt M1911A1 - a pistol that sooner or later appears in the hand of every hero of Segal. Rumor has it that the actor has a custom-made tuxedo in which you can hide two pistols at once.

Steven Seagal once broke Sean Connery's wrist

During the filming of the movie "Never Say Never", Sean Connery, who plays James Bond, decided to take a couple of Aikido lessons. Steven Seagal acted as an instructor. At some point, he miscalculated the blow and broke his student's wrist. Connery, thinking that it was just a sprain, spent several days with a broken arm, until finally the director forcibly took him to the doctor.

In his spare time, Steven Seagal grows a silkworm and sells it at the eBay online auction

And Segal has his own company that produces energy drinks.