Sean Kanan Biography

Sean Kanan (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, best known for his portrayals of A. J. Quartermaine on General Hospital, Deacon Sharpe on The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless, and Mike Barnes in The Karate Kid, Part III.

Biography

Early life

Kanan was born as Sean Perelman to Dale and Michele Perelman in Cleveland, Ohio. His family later relocated to New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, Boston University and UCLA where he earned a degree in political science.

His family owns and operates Kings Jewelry.

Career

Kanan received his big break working for Academy Award-winning director John Avildsen in the 1989 film The Karate Kid, Part III. The following year, he starred on the Fox television series The Outsiders. In 1993, Kanan joined the ABC soap opera General Hospital as A. J. Quartermaine and was nominated for an award in the Outstanding Newcomer category by Soap Opera Digest. He left the series in 1997.

In 1999, Kanan joined the cast of the NBC soap opera Sunset Beach as Jude Cavanaugh and remained with the show until its cancellation later that year. He wrote and executive-produced Chasing Holden, distributed by Lionsgate, which starred DJ Qualls. In November 2000, he joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful as Deacon Sharpe, appearing until February 2005. Upon his departure from The Bold and the Beautiful, Kanan starred in several feature films and competed in the third season of the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006. On July 10, 2009, Kanan reprised his role as Deacon Sharpe on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless.

While appearing on The Young and the Restless, he starred in the 2009 Indie film Abracadabra, which was directed by Julie Pacino (Al Pacino's daughter) and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In May 2010, Kanan appeared in My Trip to the Dark Side, written and directed by Shane Stanley. He later starred in the 2011 sequel My Trip Back to the Dark Side. That same year, Kanan wrote "The Modern Gentleman; Cooking and Entertaining with Sean Kanan", published by Dunham Books. Upon leaving The Young and the Restless in January 2012, Kanan reprised his role as Deacon Sharpe on The Bold and the Beautiful. He appeared on and off from May until September 2012.

On October 26, 2012, Kanan returned to the role of A. J. Quartermaine on General Hospital after a 15-year absence.

Personal life

As a teenager, years prior to his role in The Karate Kid, Part III, Kanan trained in boxing before switching to Shotokan Karate and kickboxing at age 13. During the filming of the movie he trained in Shit?-ry? at a school run by Karate master Fumio Demura, and with stunt coordinator and Tang Soo Do master Pat E. Johnson.

Steve Burton, who played Jason (AJ's brother) on General Hospital, is Kanan's distant cousin.

Sean Kanan and wife Michele, who married in July 2012, are expecting a baby this spring. He has an 11-year-old daughter, Simone, with ex Gladis Jimenez, and Michele has four children of her own (13-year-old twins Annie and Julie, 17-year-old Gigi, and 20-year-old Peter).

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role
1988	Hide and Go Shriek	John Robbins
1989	The Karate Kid, Part III	Mike Barnes
1991	Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster	Jeff Sorrento
	Rich Girl	Jeffrey
1993	Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss	Mark Stratton
1991	Extreme Limits	Don Spengler
	The Chaos Factor	Jay
2001	10 Attitudes	Craig
	March	Julian March
	Chasing Holden	Alex Patterson
2005	Carpool Guy	Tom
2006	Sons of Italy	Michele Morri
2007	Hack!	Vincent King
2008	Jack Rio	Adam McNeil
2010	My Trip to the Dark Side	David Prince
2011	My Trip Back to the Dark Side	David Prince
Television
Year	Title	Role
1989	Baby Boom	Scott
1990	Who's the Boss?	Charlie
	The Outsiders	Gregg Parker
1993	Wild Palms	Jacob (uncredited)
	Step by Step	Michael
1993"97, 2012"?	General Hospital	A. J. Quartermaine
1994	Dead at 21
1995	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Steve Law
1996	The Nanny	Mike McMullen
1998	Walker, Texas Ranger	Brad Alt
1999	V.I.P.	Stu Solomon
	Sunset Beach	Jude Cavanaugh
2000"05, 2012	The Bold and the Beautiful	Deacon Sharpe
2002	Rendez-View
2006	Freddie	Steve Mulroy
2009"12	The Young and the Restless	Deacon Sharpe
2012	Desperate Housewives	Jason
	Happily Divorced	Keith