Thomas Edmond Lucas

Thomas (“Tom”) Edmond Lucas, a makeup artist for television and film, died at Kaiser Permanente hospital on January 30, 2025, after a long battle with esophageal cancer. A gifted artist with an unforgettable personality, Tom was born March 8, 1935 in Waterbury, Connecticut to Carmine DeLuca/Lucas and Marguerite Gueble, but he moved with his parents and older sister, Marlene, to Los Angeles when he was just a young child. 

Carmine, also  known as "Tommy", was a mechanic and a true jack-of-all-trades. His wife, Marguerite, a homemaker,  was known for her lifelong love of See’s chocolates, which began when her son, Tommy smuggled them home after his shifts at the See’s Candy factory. Years later, Tom took on work as a laborer on the soundstages at Universal, where a friend suggested he take the hair and makeup test, the latter of which he passed, opening the door to a long, successful Hollywood career as a and lifelong member of the Local 706 Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild. Tom went on to become the personal makeup artist for many leading actors and his credits include the films “The American President,” “The Game,” and “The Godfather III,”  among many others. He was known for his storytelling–on and off set–entertaining colleagues and family with tales of his innumerable misadventures and his misspent youth. 

Tom met his first wife, Susan Saint James, on set as her makeup artist on the television series “McMillan and Wife.” They had two children, Sunshine and Harmony. He later met and married Rebecca Hoff, then a couture stylist at Neiman Marcus, and had a daughter, Jesse. When it came time for retirement, they moved to Ojai, California. A proud vegetarian and animal rights advocate, Tom surrounded himself with a menagerie of rescued animals—turtles and tortoises, donkeys, a pot-bellied pig, rabbits, beloved dogs and more. While he briefly lived near his grandchildren in Connecticut with his third wife, Dora Miteva, Tom ultimately returned to Los Angeles to live out his days.  

Tom is survived by his beloved wife, Dora Lucas, his three children (daughter Sunshine Lucas, son Harmony Lucas, and daughter Jesse Collier), his three grandchildren (Rowena, Vivian, and Fielding Sawyer), and his dog and constant companion, Pierre.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Tom’s name to the Humane Society of Ventura County, where he adopted Pierre: www.hsvc.org/special