Luka Kovač
Fictional physician on television show ER / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luka Kovač is a fictional character from the NBC television series ER. The role was portrayed by Goran Višnjić from the sixth season episode, "Leave It to Weaver", which aired on September 30, 1999 until the thirteenth season episode, "The Honeymoon Is Over", which aired on May 17, 2007.
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Luka Kovač | |
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First appearance | September 30, 1999 (6x01, "Leave It to Weaver") |
Last appearance | October 16, 2008 (15x03, "The Book of Abby") |
Portrayed by | Goran Visnjic |
Duration | 1999–2008 |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Title | Locum Tenens (1999) Attending Physician (1999–2007) Chief of Emergency Medicine (2005–2007) Hospice Physician (2007–2008) |
Occupation | Physician |
Family | Josip Kovač (father, deceased) Niko Kovač (younger brother) |
Spouse | Abby Lockhart (wife) Danijela Kovač (wife, deceased) |
Children | Jasna Kovač (daughter with Danijela, deceased) Marko Kovač (son with Danijela, deceased) Josip "Joe" Kovač (son with Abby) |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Nationality | Croatian |
Višnjić appeared as a guest in seven episodes during the fourteenth season of the show, beginning with "Under the Influence" on October 25, 2007 and concluding with "The Chicago Way" on May 15, 2008. He returned to the show's fifteenth and final season for another guest appearance in "The Book of Abby", which aired on October 16, 2008.
Luka Kovač is an emergency room attending physician from Croatia. He speaks of having a joyful, though financially modest, childhood, with at least one brother, and he keeps in contact with his father, who is an amateur painter and engineer working in Croatian Railways in Zagreb. Luka served in the Yugoslav army (at the time of Luka's potential conscription, no Croatian army existed), and saw combat.[1] He was a family man, with a wife (Danijela), son (Marko), and daughter (Jasna). Jasna was his older child, and from a birthday photo we know she was at least four.
When the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995) breaks out, Luka is living in Vukovar, and is at first hesitant to move away, as he wants to finish his internship. He ends up waiting too long, and it becomes unsafe to leave. While he is out on a morning, a bombardment occurs, and his apartment building is hit by a mortar shell. His son dies instantly. His wife and daughter die a few hours later. He carries guilt from the incident because he could have carried his wife to a hospital and saved her, but instead he chose to stay and perform CPR on his daughter (which failed), while his wife bled to death.[2]
He moves to the United States of America some time after that for a fresh start, but evidence he suffered from both survivor's guilt and PTSD soon emerge, largely in terms of his personal relationships. Although initially reluctant to settle in one place, preferring to travel between Chicago and an unnamed southern city in his boat, a job offer from Kerry Weaver leads him to take a permanent position at County General. This becomes the first of several significant decisions Luka makes that are in part influenced by the relationships in his life.