ABC’s medical drama series The Good Doctor paid tribute to Paul Lukaitis in its season 7 premiere. For most Good Doctor audiences, Paul Lukaitis is an unfamiliar name. However, to the cast, crew, and the entire production, Lukaitis was more than a colleague; he was family.
Paul Lukaitis worked tirelessly behind the scenes for six years to ensure The Good Doctor’s production ran smoothly. Sadly, Paul Lukaitis died of cancer on October 26, 2023, at age 64. In honor of the illustrious production manager, here’s everything to know about The Good Doctor’s Paul Lukaitis.
Paul Lukaitis’ Early Life & Career
Paul Lukaitis was born in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, on July 10, 1959. He was raised alongside his three siblings—a sister and two brothers. He was born to Martin Lukaitis and Ellen Lukaitis (née Jensen). Paul Lukaitis had a normal upbringing, spending all his growing years in British Columbia. As a young man, Lukaitis was influenced to work as a logger, which was one of the prevailing jobs on Vancouver Island. He later moved to the city to work in construction.
He worked in several high-rise construction projects in Vancouver. At age 32, Paul Lukaitis decided to change careers by enrolling at the Vancouver Film School. VFS is a notable private entertainment arts school that offers one-year, hands-on production programs. Paul Lukaitis studied Film Production at VFS. Lukaitis’s interest in film production quickly grew into a passion. This became the start of a career in which he spent the remaining 32 years of his life dedicatedly working.
Paul Lukaitis began his career as a production assistant. While this included parking cars and other extra responsibilities, Lukaitis did it with much joy, easily showing he loved his job. His first IMDb credit has him working as a location manager in the 1998 American-Canadian movie Summer of the Monkeys. The movie’s production took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Lukaitis worked as a location manager for the next five years in several low-budget films and a few episodes of the Los Luchadores TV series.
Paul Lukaitis’ Career & Legacy As A Production Manager
Paul Lukaitis’ first credit as a production manager was in 2003 when he worked on all
22 episodes of the Canadian science fiction series Alienated. The two-season show ended in 2004. Lukaitis spent the next decade working on several film and television projects. A few of his credits include Severed (2005), They Wait (2007), and American Venus (2007).
Lukaitis worked in 13 and 15 episodes of About a Girl (2007–2008) and The Guard (2008–2009), respectively. By the mid-2010s, Paul Lukaitis was hired as production manager on Lifetime’s fantasy horror-drama series Witches of East End. He was also a production manager in Second Chance (2016), Wayward Pines (2016), Timeless (2016–2017), Haters Back Off! (2016–2017), and in a 2018 episode of Charmed.
However, The Good Doctor was Paul Lukaitis’ biggest career project. The Good Doctor’s pilot was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Lukaitis was hired as the production manager. He joined the show in the first season in 2017 and worked as a production manager throughout the first six seasons. He’s credited with working on 104 episodes of the show.
Paul Lukaitis’ Personal Life & Death
Paul Lukaitis was married to Margaret Yaworski. The couple met during Lukaitis’ early career in film. Their marriage produced a daughter, Eva Lukaitis. Sometime in 2022, Paul Lukaitis was diagnosed with cancer. Although the type of cancer wasn’t made public, Lukaitis fought courageously to beat it. However, he succumbed to it on October 26, 2023. Lukaitis was 64 years old at the time of his death. Paul Lukaitis was survived by his wife, daughter, mother, sister (Anita Lukaitis), and brothers David Lukaitis and Mike Lukaitis. However, he was preceded by his father, Martin Lukaitis.
The Good Doctor’s Tribute to Paul Lukaitis
In honor of his life and contribution to The Good Doctor, the show paid additional tribute to Paul Lukaitis. A new character, Charlie Lukaitis (Kayla Cromer, was introduced in episode 2 (“Skin in the Game”) of season 7. Charlie Lukaitis was introduced as an autistic med student who, although idolized Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), rubbed Shaun the wrong way because of her mistakes. It wasn’t until episode 6 (“M.C.E.”) that Shaun finally began to appreciate Charlie’s brilliance as a doctor. As The Good Doctor honored Paul Lukaitis, Netflix’s Baby Reindeer miniseries also honored the late Llewellyn Harrison.
Follow Us
