Michael Joseph Stephen Dudikoff was born on October 8, 1954 in Redondo Beach, California. He later graduated from Redondo Union High School. He was a student at Harbor College studying child psychology when he was discovered as a model. He began his acting career with small roles, and it wasn't until 1985-86, when he got big parts in Avenging Force (1986), American Ninja (1985), and Radioactive Dreams (1985) that he made a big-screen impact. He then went on to make a lot of action movies of varying quality, but never became quite the household name he could have been.

His father is Russian.

He studied Child Psychology.

Graduated from West Torrance High School.

Has a daughter, Nancy.

Plays tennis.

Has a beautiful retriever named Shooter.