Dimitri Diatchenko

Diatchenko was a native of San Francisco, California and a first-generation American; his father is Ukrainian and his mother was 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 won several medals in guitar competitions including the Stotsenberg International Classical Guitar Competition or the World Championships of Performing Arts.[2][3] He released four solo guitar CDs.[4]

Diatchenko studied martial arts from the age of seven. He earned black belts in both Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo Karate and 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.

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 a Bachelor of Music degree. After transferring to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Dimitri Diatchenko continued with acting and music studies in the Masters program.[5] In April 1996, as Dimitri Diatchenko was graduating, 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. In Los Angeles, he also taught guitar privately and performed regularly as a soloist and ensemble player.

Dimitri Diatchenko made appearances in several television series. After appearing in the action series Alias, he was in the films Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Get Smart.

For his performance as Ukrainian tour guide Yuri in the film Chernobyl Diaries, Diatchenko received positive reviews from some film critics.[6][7][8]

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

In 2015, Diatchenko plead guilty to animal cruelty after allegedly cooking and eating his ex-girlfriend's female rabbit "Miss. Ella". He was ordered to perform sixty days of community labor and undergo forty-eight hours of counselling. According to CNN, the pet rabbit's death was possibly simulated as the actor had also bought and cooked other rabbits from a pet shop after the quarrel. As the act had been pre-mediated, the actor plead guilty to the charge.[9][10][11]

Diatchenko died in his home in Daytona Beach, Florida, on April 21, 2020, ten days after his 52nd birthday. He was discovered two days later after a wellness check initiated by concerned relatives.[12] According to Diatchenko's agent, the death appeared to be a heart attack or complications from an electric shock Diatchenko had sustained at work a week before his death. .[13] It was later revealed after autopsy that there was a large amount of fentanyl and valium in his system at the time of death. As such his death was ruled an accidental overdose. [14]

• Dimitri Diatchenko at IMDb