Christopher Raymond Kreski (July 31, 1962 – May 9, 2005) was an American writer, biographer and screenwriter.

Early life and education

Kreski graduated in 1980, from Butler High School and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2018. He graduated with a BFA from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1984.

Writing

In 1989, during his tenure as the head writer for ''

Remote Control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...

,'' Kreski met actor Barry Williams, who was one of three celebrity contestants during a "Brady Day" episode. When Williams said that he'd thought about writing a biography, Kreski struck up a partnership. The resulting book, '' Growing Up Brady: I Was A Teenage Greg'' sold more than 300,000 copies and established Kreski as an "as told to" celebrity writer. Kreski went on to co-write three best-selling autobiographies with

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

, and one with baseball pitcher

David Wells David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Boomer", Wells was considered on ...

MTV

Kreski was associated with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Networks for over 15 years, and was a writer and consultant for many of its high-profile series and specials, such as ''

'', ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'', ''

Celebrity Deathmatch ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' is an adult stop-motion claymated series created by Eric Fogel and produced by John Worth Lynn Jr. for MTV. A parody of sports entertainment programs, ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' depicted various celebrities engaging ...

,'' and the channel's annual movie and video music awards shows. He was responsible for many of the channel's distinctive in-house promotional spots during the early 1990s. Kreski was also a head writer of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' and ''

The Martin Short Show ''The Martin Short Show'' is a syndicated talk show, based on the late night model, hosted by Martin Short with announcer/sidekick Michael McGrath. The talk show aired for one season from 1999 to 2000. It was produced by King World Productio ...

''.

Bibliography

*Williams, Barry and Kreski, Chris (1992) ''Growing Up Brady'' *Shatner, William and Kreski, Chris (1993) ''Star Trek Memories'' *Shatner, William and Kreski, Chris (1994) ''Star Trek Movie Memories'' *Kreski, Chris (1998) ''Life Lessons from Xena, Warrior Princess'' *Shatner, William and Kreski, Chris (1999) ''Get A Life!'' * Wells, David and Kreski, Chris (2004) ''Perfect I'm Not''

Professional wrestling

Following the departures of

Vince Russo Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling writer, booker and pundit. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop ...

and

Ed Ferrara Edward Ferrara (born November 22, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler, writer and agent for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), often co-working alongside Vince Russo. He is most ...

, Kreski became the head writer of the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF, now WWE) in 1999 during the

Attitude Era The Attitude Era was a major era of professional wrestling within the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The term "WWF Attitude" was used to describe its programming from November 9, 1997 to May 6, 2002. It began during the Monday Ni ...

. He is widely credited with writing captivating and layered storylines, and was the helm of WWF creative in some of its all-time peak years of both ratings and

profitability In economics, profit is the difference between revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and total costs of its inputs, also known as surplus value. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both Explicit co ...

. Kreski was replaced as head writer by

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Vince and Lind ...

following the No Mercy PPV event in October 2000, but remained on the creative team until 2002, when he left to pursue other opportunities.

Death

Kreski died of lung and brain

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on May 9, 2005.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreski, Chris 1962 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American biographers American male screenwriters Screenwriters from New Jersey American television writers Butler High School (New Jersey) alumni Deaths from cancer in Connecticut American male television writers Professional wrestling writers American male biographers WWE executives