Dimitri Diatchenko

Dimitri Diatchenko (born April 11, 1968) is an American actor and musician.

Life and career

Diatchenko is a native of San Francisco and a first-generation American; his father is Ukrainian and his mother is of Greek and Swedish descent.^[1] Diatchenko began classical guitar lessons at the age of seven. Two years later he gave his first solo classical guitar recital. During and after his studies, Dimitri Diatchenko has won several medals in guitar competitions like the Stotsenberg International Classical Guitar Competition or the World Championships of Performing Arts.^[2][3] Furthermore, he released four solo guitar CD's.^[4]

Dimitri Diatchenko attended Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts and later Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. There he was a scholarship music student, majored in classical guitar and received the Bachelor of Music. After transferring to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Dimitri Diatchenko continued with his acting and music studies in the Masters program.^[5] In April 1996, as Dimitri Diatchenko was graduating with his master's degree from Florida State University -he received the Master of Music from the university-, he was cast in Ridley Scott's 1997 action film G.I. Jane and landed a small role as trainee; following this, Dimitri Diatchenko relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career further. In Los Angeles, he also teaches guitar privately and performs regularly as a soloist and ensemble player.

Dimitri Diatchenko's acting career began in the late 1990s, as he made appearances on several television series during this time. After appearing on the action television series Alias, some of his most well-known roles to date came in 2008, as he appeared in the motion pictures Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Get Smart. For his performance as Ukrainian tour guide Yuri in the actual film Chernobyl Diaries, Diatchenko received good critics from some film reviewers.^[6][7][8]

In addition to acting, Diatchenko works as voice actor. He lent his voice to a lot of video and computer games. His first work in a video game came in 2005, as he provided additional voices for Medal of Honor: European Assault.

Arrest

On December 10, 2014, Diatchenko was charged with felony counts of cruelty to an animal with use of a knife and "making criminal threats". Diatchenko, 46 at the time and living in North Hollywood, could face up to 4 years and eight months in prison if convicted. He allegedly killed, then ate, the pet rabbit of his ex-girlfriend, sending her photos of each step of the process and threatening to do the same to her. The incident was allegedly sparked by Diatchenko's ex-girlfriend telling him she no longer wanted to live with him.^[9][10][11]

See Statement from Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/pdf/121014_North_Hollywood_Man_Charged_with_Making_Criminal_Threats.pdf

Filmography

Film

Television

Video and computer games

Awards and nominations

Music

• 2003: Instrumental and Acting Grand Champion of the World at the World Championships of Performing Arts^[12]

Trivia

• Dimitri Diatchenko started studying martial arts at the age of 7. He has black belts in both Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo Karate and has studied boxing and arnis. During the early 1990s Dimitri Diatchenko competed as a heavyweight in several national championships, winning many medals in full contact fighting, including the US Olympic Festival, the WTF National Championships and The 1991 World Invitational in Miami, Florida.

References

External links

• Dimitri Diatchenko at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website