Lynne Luckinbill was an accomplished nurse and painter, of Irish, German, English, small amounts of Dutch and Scottish, and remote Swiss-German, descent. She was the mother of acclaimed film and television directors, writers, and producers Lana and Lilly Wachowski, collectively known as The Wachowskis or The Wachowski Sisters. She was also the sister of actor, playwright, director, and producer Laurence Luckinbill. Sadly, Lynne and her husband, Ron Wachowski, passed away in 2019.
Her Daughters, the Wachowski sisters
Lana and Lilly Wachowski are two sisters whose lives have been intertwined since their births in Chicago in 1965 and 1967. They were raised together by their parents, Lynne and Ron Wachowski. Both girls attended Kellogg Elementary School as well as Whitney Young High School, where they participated in the school’s theater and TV program. After high school, Lana attended Bard College and Lilly attended Emerson College. However, both dropped out before graduating and instead ran a house painting and construction business in Chicago. During this time, they wrote several issues of Ectokid for Marvel Comics’ Razorline imprint and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Clive Barker’s Nightbreed for Epic Comics imprint. Lana and Lilly are also joined by two other sisters, Julie and Laura, the former of whom is a novelist and screenwriter.
The Wachowskis have spanned more than two decades and have seen them become some of the most influential and successful filmmakers of the modern era. From their debut in the mid-1990s with the script for Assassins to their most recent project, the Matrix franchise, the Wachowskis have produced some of the most iconic and critically acclaimed films of all time. Their work has been praised for its visual effects, action sequences, and its exploration of themes of identity, self-image and transformation.
They both publicly revealed their transition, with Lana being the first major Hollywood director to do so. Since then, they have become vocal advocates for LGBTQ rights and have highlighted the importance of transgender representation in the entertainment industry. Their 2006 film V for Vendetta, for example, was praised for its portrayal of a same-sex relationship without it being the focus of the plot. Their 2012 film Cloud Atlas was noted as the most expensive independent movie to that date and the first attempt at a German blockbuster. Moreover, their 2015 space opera Jupiter Ascending was seen as an ambitious and visually stunning production.
In addition to movies, the Wachowskis also wrote and directed the Netflix science fiction drama series Sense8, which was praised for its presentation of diverse and LGBT characters and themes, and led to the series being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Furthermore, Lilly has co-written and co-show run the drama-comedy series Work in Progress for Showtime, for which she was praised for her writing and directing efforts.
Her Brother, Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence Luckinbill is an American actor, playwright, and director known for his one-man shows and his role as Spock’s half-brother Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas and studied acting in New York City, he has had a successful career in television, film, and theatre. He has starred in plays and television series, as well as films such as The Boys in the Band, The Promise, and Cocktail, and narrated the documentary Moonwalk One.
