Sandy Cohen

Sandy Cohen
The O.C. character
Peter Gallagher as Sanford Cohen
First appearance	"Premiere" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"The End's Not Near, It's Here" (episode 4.16)
Created by	Josh Schwartz
Portrayed by	Peter Gallagher Max Greenfield (flashbacks)
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Law professor Former: Lawyer Public defender
Title	Former: CEO of the Newport Group Co-owner of The Lighthouse
Family	Sophie Cohen (mother) Unnamed father
Spouse(s)	Kirsten Cohen (wife; 3 children [1 adopted])
Significant other(s)	Rebecca Bloom (ex-fiancée [before pilot])
Children	Seth Cohen (son, with Kirsten) Ryan Atwood (adoptive son, with Kirsten) Sophie Rose Cohen (daughter, with Kirsten)
Relatives	Caleb Nichol (father-in-law; deceased) Rose Nichol (mother-in-law; deceased) Julie Cooper (stepmother-in-law) Hailey Nichol (sister-in-law, via Kirsten) Lindsay Gardner (half-sister-in-law, via Kirsten) Cooper Atwood (stepbrother-in-law, via Kirsten) Marissa Cooper (stepsister-in-law, via Kirsten; deceased) Kaitlin Cooper (stepsister-in-law, via Kirsten) Summer Roberts (daughter-in-law, via Seth)
Residence	Berkeley, California Formerly: Newport Beach, California

Sanford "Sandy" Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX series The O.C., portrayed by Peter Gallagher.

Sandy, son of Sophie Cohen, is married to Kirsten Cohen. Their eldest child, Seth, is something of a social misfit. Sandy's father left his mother when he was young and he has an unnamed brother and sister. Sandy was originally a public defender, which brought him into contact with troubled teen, Ryan Atwood, whom he eventually adopted and took on as his own after his mother abandoned him. He has since then gone into private practice in a law firm, before going to start his own law firm and finally taking over his late father-in-law's company, the Newport Group. After Seth accidentally burned down the Newport Group headquarters, Sandy returns to the public defender's office. He and Kirsten have three children. Sandy supports more liberal politics when compared to his wife Kirsten Cohen. He campaigned for the Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale in 1984, while his wife Kirsten Cohen supported the Republican candidate.

Throughout the series, Sandy serves as a moral center, often guiding and supporting Seth and Ryan, and at times their love interests Marissa Cooper, Summer Roberts and Taylor Townsend, through their problems.

Despite living in Newport and marrying a "Newpsie", it becomes apparent that Sandy does not consider himself to be "one of them". His blue-collar, single-parent upbringing in The Bronx contrasts with that of his wife Kirsten. Like long-time next door neighbor Julie Cooper, he was not raised in the affluent Newport lifestyle but unlike Julie, he generally disassociates himself from his counterparts. He never fails to make known his distaste for the shallow, materialistic and pampered ways of his contemporaries who were born and bred in that lifestyle, even going so far as to describe Harbor School teachers as "preppy little savages" and calling the housewives' social gatherings "Newpsie Conventions".