"Now as an ex-Communist Jewish intellectual, I thought his pronouncement of the first noble truth, that existence was suffering, was some sort of insult to my left-wing background, since I was a progressive looking forward to the universal improvement of matters, if only through spiritual advancement."
-Ginsberg on Kerouac from "The Vomit of A Mad Tiger"
Considered the Father of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac followed in his friend Gary Snyder's footsteps and got sucked into the world of Buddhism. He was also turned onto Buddhism by the works of former writers, more specifically Henry David Thoreau. In his attempt at leading a Buddhist life he went off into seclusion as to remove himself from the desires of women, drinking, etc. He also practiced meditation. He wrote many books and works that have Buddhist influences such as the Dharma Bums.
Thoughts on Steven Seagal by his teacher Penor Rinpoche: In the case of my student Steven Seagal, I initiated the decision to recognize him as a tulku based on my own feelings about him. Neither I nor any of my monasteries have received or sought any sort of substantial donation from him. What is important to me are the qualities I have seen in my student. For this reason I feel confident that recognizing him as a tulku will be of benefit to others as well as to the Buddha dharma.
"Pretty Woman" star Richard Gere is a Buddhist. He has even started a foundation to collect donations for Tibet and the tragedy that has overtaken the country for years. This is referring to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet. "So the Buddhist path, particularly the Tibetan approach, was obviously drawing me, but the first tradition that I became involved in was Zen. My first teacher was Sasaki Roshi" -Gere in interview over Buddhism http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1882 http://www.gerefoundation.org/
Tiger Woods
After his scandalous media frenzy recently over his ability to be monogamous in his marriage, he announced his intent to return to the practice of Buddhism. Tiger Woods was apparently raised Buddhist as given by this quote in a CBS interview, "People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/19/sportsline/main6223844.shtml
Sharon Stone
Actress Sharon Stone is one of the first celebrities to come up in a Google search of Celebrity Buddhists. However, she is not familiar enough with Buddhist terminology to convince people as such as seen by her misuse of the word "karma" in a comment made to a reporter on the earthquake that happened in 2008 in China. http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,6568,0,0,1,0
According to Japanese-Buddhism.com, the singer of What's love got to do with it is a follower of Nichiren and Sokka Gakkai, a controversial Buddhist sect from Japan. To see her chanting with talk show host Larry King go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOsr_ZOi-Jo&feature=player_embedded http://www.japanese-buddhism.com/tina-turner-buddhist.html