Christopher Cornelius "Kit" Culkin (born December 6 1944) is an American former Broadway performer.

Biography

Culkin was born in New York, New York, the son of Marian Ethel (née Wagner), a writer and editor, and Philip Harley Culkin, a journalist.^[1] He spent his youth in New York City, working on Broadway in theatre productions with legendary stars of the day such as Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, and Anthony Quinn. His brother, Terry, and sisters Bonnie and Candace, also worked in theatre and television, with Bonnie Bedelia Culkin going on to star in films such as Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Presumed Innocent, Heart Like a Wheel, Salem?s Lot, and Gypsy Moths. Culkin credits his mother, who was their manager, for these early successes.

At the time of his mother's death (in 1964), Bonnie Bedelia was working on a soap opera and had plans to go out to Hollywood. Kit took his mother's death very hard and settled in their apartment alone with his father. He continued doing some Broadway productions, then went on to college, started his first family (which ended sadly) and then he went traveling America studying historical sites.

Culkin is the father of Macaulay, Kieran, Rory, Christian, Shane, Quinn, and Dakota Culkin; three of his sons (Macaulay, Rory, and Kieran) have taken up acting. Culkin was the sole manager of his acting children from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. In just a few years the Culkin family went from extreme poverty to wealth. Macaulay became the first child in Hollywood to receive a million dollar salary for My Girl (1991). From 1995 to 1997 Kit was part of a child custody trial, and received a lot of negative press as a result.^[2][3]

Culkin now lives in Oregon with his long time friend and partner, Jeanette Krylowski.

Stage career

New York City stage. Including Broadway and Lincoln Center.

• Hamlet (1964)

• With: Richard Burton, Hume Cronyn, Alfred Drake.

• Director: John Gielgud.

• Role: Player Queen.

• Location: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

• The Physicists

• With: Robert Shaw, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn.

• Director: Peter Brook.

• Role: Adolph-Friedrich.

• Location: Martin Beck Theatre.

• Becket

• With: Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Quinn.

• Director: Peter Glenville.

• Role: Prince Richard.

• Location: St. James Theatre, Royale Theatre and Hudson Theatre.

• The Nutcracker

• With: the New York City Ballet Company.

• Choreographed by George Balanchine.

• Role: Nutcracker prince.

• Location: State Theatre.

• Street Scene

• With: the New York City Opera Company.

• Director: Julius Rudel.

• Role: Charles Hilderbrand.

• Location: State Theatre.

• The Ballad of Baby Doe

• With: Beverly Sills and the NY City Opera Company.

• Director: Julius Rudel.

• Role: Cousin Jake.

• Location: State Theatre.

Off and Off Off Broadway Plays

• The Cup Of Fury

• Director: Stanley Brechner.

• Role: Soviet Procurator.

• Location: American Jewish Theatre.

• Peril At End House

• Director: Jude Schanzer.

• Role: Terry Ord.

• Location: Impossible Ragtime Theatre.

• Ready For Teddy

• Director: William McComb.

• Role: Senator Edward Kennedy.

• Location: Quaigh Theatre.

• The Man Who Never Died

• Director: Robert Mayberry.

• Role: Martin Henderson.

• Location: :* Jan Hus Playhouse.

• Ethan Frome

• Director: Alan Coleridge.

• Role: The Traveller.

• Location: Theatre at St. Clements.

• Caligula

• Director: Alan Gabor.

• Role: The First Patrician.

• Location: Fourth Street Theatre.

• Romeo And Juliet

• Director: Lawrence Philips.

• Role: Lord Capulet.

• Location: Bond Street Theatre.

• Sleepwalkers

• Director: Charlotte Durham.

• Role: The Rapist.

• Location: Waverly Showcase Theatre.

• Carousel

• Director: Jerome Mayer.

• Role: Enoch Snow, Jr.

• Location:

• Johnny On The Spot

• Director: Alvin Ross.

• Role: Joe.

• Location: East Side Settlement House.

The Early Years

• • Big Show Tonite

• Location: East Side Settlement House - Variety Review.

• High Time

• Location: East Side Settlement House - Variety Review.

• Looking Up

• Location: East Side Settlement House - Variety Review.

Source: Kit Culkin.com

Writings

Over the last years Kit has released a collection of 3 writings:

• "Lost Boy: Michael Jackson By Kit Culkin"
• "I Don't Think So: Confessions Of The Stage Father From Hell"

• "Early Stages: A Memoir".

"Lost Boy" is a story about Michael Jackson, based on Kit's own experiences being a guest at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. "I Don't Think So" tells the story of the Culkin family's rise to stardom and his analysis of the problems that ultimately broke the family apart. "Early Stages" is about his own acting career on Broadway in the early 1960s, with Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Richard Burton and many another thespian fellow. All of these are available for free.^[4][5]

References

External links

• Kit Culkin Official Site