NCIS: Los Angeles honored Michele Poulik at the end of the Season 13 premiere episode.
It has become a common thing for the NCIS family of shows to honor anyone who passes away if they had an impact on the show(s).
It was just last season that NCIS honored Shannon Soucie for the make-up and hair work she did on the show before she passed away.
And prior to that, NCIS: New Orleans honored Marta Goldstein. She was a script supervisor for quite a few years on the show.
NCIS: Los Angeles pays tribute to Michele Poulik
“In loving memory of Michele Poulik whose smile, presence, and laughter, lit up every day,” read the NCIS: LA title card at the end of the October 10 episode.
Below is what the title card looked like after the episode called Subject 17 came to an end.
Who was Michele Poulik to NCIS: Los Angeles?
Michele Poulik worked on NCIS: Los Angeles as a set decorator for years. In fact, her credits go all the way back to 2009, and she worked on 228 episodes of the show. Her last credit comes from the Season 12 finale, which was called A Tale of Two Igors.
Over the years, Poulik also served as a set decorator for TV shows The Cleaner, Eli Stone, Emily’s Reasons Why Not, Standoff, The Shield, and Hugg. She had been working at the job within the industry since 1988, with quite a few more credits for work in the art departments of other projects.
Her bio on IMDb notes that “Michele Poulik is known for her work on Stargate (1994), Darkman (1990) and Hard Target (1993).”
Those three films saw Poulik working in the art department and/or serving as the set decorator.
Michele Poulik battled cancer
It was reported that Michele Poulik passed away on Tuesday, August 2, 2021, at her home in Los Angeles. She died after a long battle with cancer.
According to the press release of her passing, her sister Janet said that “She was amazingly creative and worked tirelessly on every set she worked on. I will miss her zeal for life and all things beautiful.”
“A longtime member of the Set Decorators Society of America, Michele served on the SDSA Board of Directors, was active on key committees for over two decades and was a positive influence throughout. Her work was profiled several times in SETDECOR magazine, including an early compendium showcasing the range of her work. She consistently brought an extra sense of style to any project and a sense of delight to anyone working with her,” the release also stated.
NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.