Christopher Lukas

Christopher Lukas (born March 6, 1935) is an American writer, stage actor, television producer and director who, for the past forty-five years, has worked primarily for public television. From 1963 to 1971 he produced for WNET in New York City, making over 200 hours of programming for the educational station. In 1969 he was promoted to director of programming.

Christopher "Kit" Lukas was born to Elizabeth and Edwin Lukas in White Plains, New York. His mother was an actress, and his uncle Paul Lukas was an Academy Award–winning actor. After his mother's death by suicide and his father's illness after her death, he was at the age of six enrolled in the coeducational Putney School boarding school in Vermont. He was graduated with high honors from Swarthmore and married Susan Ries in 1962. His older brother was J. Anthony Lukas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer.

Television

After his work with public television, Lukas moved into the freelance world in 1971, working for public TV stations in San Francisco and Chicago, among others. His works for PBS include: The Mystery of Love, The World of Abnormal Psychology, Music From Aspen, Whose Death is It, Anyway?, Moyers: Report from Philadelphia, The Do It Yourself Messiah, and The Talking Walls of Pompeii. His non-television works include videos for non-profit organizations.

Acting

While continuing to work in video and television, Lukas returned in 2002 to the field of acting. He has appeared off-Broadway and in regional theaters, playing a wide variety of roles in plays by Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Stoppard.

Writing

As a writer of books, he has concentrated on end-of-life matters. These works include:

• Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss & Survival (Doubleday) 2008 (ISBN 978-0-385-52520-6).
• Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide (Scribners, Bantam Books) 1987 (ISBN 978-1-84310-847-4). Also published in Brazil, Russia, and China.
• Staying in Charge: Practical Plans for the End of Your Life (John Wiley & Son) 2004 (ISBN 978-0-471-27424-7).
• The First Year: Prostate Cancer (Marlowe Books.) 2005 (ISBN 978-1-56924-352-7).