Sasha Mitchell

{{Infobox person

| name = Sasha Mitchell

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_name = Sasha Sergei Mitchell

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|07|27}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Actor, martial artist

| years_active = 1986–present

| children = 4

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Jeanette Robbins|1990|1997|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Rachel Mitchell|2010|2015|reason=divorced}}

}}

Sasha Sergei Mitchell (born July 27, 1967) is an American actor and martial artist best known for his television roles as Cody Lambert on Step by Step and James Beaumont on Dallas. He also played the role of David Sloane in three of the five installments of the original Kickboxer film franchise. Mitchell has a black belt in taekwondo.[https://abcnews.go.com/widgets/mediaViewer/image?id=4775449 Cody Lambert (Sasha Mitchell) - Step by Step], ABC News

Personal life

Mitchell was born on July 27, 1967, in Los Angeles, California, the son of a garment manufacturer.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/61/Sasha-Mitchell.html|title=Sasha Mitchell Biography (1967-)|work=filmreference.com}} He is of Ukrainian Jewish descent. His ancestors came to the United States from Ukraine, Kyiv. His real family name is Muchnik. In 1990, he married Jeannette Robbins. The two had four children together before divorcing in 1997.

During Mitchell's marriage to Robbins, police were called to the couple's home to investigate reports of domestic abuse. In 1996, Mitchell was convicted of misdemeanor battery, spousal abuse and child endangerment stemming from an altercation with his wife. He was given three years’ probation and ordered to perform community service and attend counseling classes for spousal abusers. After violating his probation, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail.{{Cite news|first=Gali|last=Kronenberg|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-03-me-65444-story.html|title = Actor to Return to Jail for 60 Days in Spouse Abuse Case|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|date = May 3, 1996}} In 2002, Mitchell spoke of the incident on Entertainment Tonight, claiming that he was protecting his children from his ex-wife, who was addicted to drugs at the time of the arrests. Mitchell ended up getting custody of their four children, with his ex-wife given limited visitation.

In December 2010, Mitchell married his second wife Rachel, also known as Sharmaine Rayner. He filed for divorce in spring 2015.{{cite web|url=http://registry.weddingchannel.com/coupledir/201012/M/R318350446/SASHA_MITCHELL_AND_SHARMAINE_RAYNER.htm|title=Wedding Registry Search – Find Couples Wedding Registries|work=weddingchannel.com|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424230836/http://registry.weddingchannel.com/coupledir/201012/M/R318350446/SASHA_MITCHELL_AND_SHARMAINE_RAYNER.htm|archivedate=2012-04-24}}

Career

Prior to acting, Mitchell was often used as a model for Bruce Weber's fashion photography.{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800055196/bio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522120241/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800055196/bio |archive-date=2006-05-22 |title=Sasha Mitchell Biography - Yahoo! Movies}}

From 1989 to 1991, Mitchell appeared on the hit CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, as James Beaumont, the illegitimate first-born son of J. R. Ewing and his long-ago girlfriend Vanessa Beaumont. He made guest appearances on other series, including Rags to Riches.

He had the title role in the 1988 film Spike of Bensonhurst and in 1994's Class of 1999 II: The Substitute. He starred in Kickboxer 2: The Road Back and the third and fourth installments of the film series. He also appeared in a 3 Musketeers commercial in 1989.

His best-known role came on the ABC sitcom Step by Step, where he played Cody Lambert, the nephew of actor Patrick Duffy's character Frank Lambert. Duffy had also played the uncle of Mitchell's character on Dallas. Mitchell's character Cody was based on his personal life experiences.

In the early 2000s, Mitchell acted in several films and made guest appearances on JAG, NYPD Blue, and ER.