British Person of the Day: Matt Lucas

Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor. He is perhaps best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain and spoof interview series Rock Profile, as well as for his portrayal of the surreal scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the Reeves and Mortimer comedy panel game Shooting Stars. Lucas plays Chancellor Donold David Dongalor, on the BBC/Comedy Central series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. More recently, Lucas and Walliams have written and starred in another spoof show, Come Fly with Me.

In May 2007, he was placed eighth in the list of the UK's 100 most influential gays and lesbians, in fields as diverse as entertainment, business, politics, and science, by British newspapers The Independent and The Daily Mail.

Early life

Lucas was born in Paddington, London, the son of Diana (née Williams) and John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996), who ran a chauffeuring business. Lucas is Jewish, with some of his British-born mother's family fleeing Nazi Germany. His family were members of Edgware and District Reform Synagogue and he retains links with the community. Lucas grew up in Stanmore, Greater London; he has an older brother, Howard. He has had alopecia since his childhood, which in interviews he has inconsistently attributed to various events, including a delayed reaction to a car accident at the age of four. He lost all of his hair when he was six years old. Lucas' father died of a heart attack aged 52, in Brent, Greater London.

Lucas was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, the same school as attended by comic actors David Baddiel and Sacha Baron Cohen. He went on to study drama in the Faculty of Arts at Bristol University between 1993 and 1995.

Early career

Lucas's association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. In 1995, Lucas appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. The second series of the show featured Lucas in several sketches. He went on to star with them in Shooting Stars. He quickly rose to fame as George Dawes, the giant baby, who would deliver a string of meaningless gags (often in character) and insults before delivering the score, while sitting at and playing a drum kit. Many of these parts were introduced not in the style of a baby, but of a grown man — indeed, often, he would come on dressed as a specific adult such as Elton John. He also appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes, George's mother, who also appears in Little Britain. He also appeared in the Reeves & Mortimer BBC series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and Catterick in a variety of roles. In 1999, Lucas paired up with David Walliams, with whom he had already worked with on television in both Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, to create Rock Profile, a comedy show that spoofed famous musicians and musical personalities. It is notable for being one of their first comedic collaborations, which fueled their inspiration to then create the well-known show, Little Britain. Lucas has also written for actor Sacha Baron Cohen.

His music video appearances include; the Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur's "Country House" (as a psychoanalyst) in 1995, "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, "I'm with Stupid" by the Pet Shop Boys and "Vindaloo" and "Naughty Christmas" by Fat Les.

Lucas ventured into the world of stage musicals in 2002, when he took one of the main roles in Boy George's musical Taboo, at The Venue, London. He played the part of infamous performance artist Leigh Bowery, which required him to wear some outrageous and spectacular outfits and make-up.

Lucas also appeared in a Big Finish audio play based on the long-running BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who. The play he featured in was called The One Doctor and was a light-hearted Christmas panto-style play.

Little Britain

Little Britain is commercially Lucas's most successful work. Originally a radio show on BBC Radio 4, it later became a TV series. Little Britain has won numerous TV awards, spawning large DVD sales and merchandising. It plays heavily on memorable catchphrases which have become ingrained in playgrounds and offices around the UK. Lucas plays, among many others, four of the most popular characters in the series, which he writes and acts in along with David Walliams: apparently disabled Andy Pipkin, teenage Bristol chav Vicky Pollard, homophobic homosexual Daffyd Thomas and insensitive slimming club organiser Marjorie Dawes. Lucas has also played many other popular characters including the morbidly obese Bubbles DeVere and Orville The Duck in one sketch.

After Little Britain

In 2005, he took his first role in a television drama, a supporting part as a Venetian duke in the BBC historical serial Casanova, written by Russell T Davies. Also in 2005, he did voice work in the BBC children's program, King Arthur's Disasters. Since 2006, Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al, devised as part of a public information campaign on digital switchover. On 26 November 2006 he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. He made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne.

In 2007, he released "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", originally by The Proclaimers, with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief. He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter. After being available for less than 48 hours on iTunes alone, the track entered the UK Top 40 at number 3. On 25 March, it went to number one, where it stayed for three weeks, selling over 400,000 copies. He also starred as the irrepressible Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel.

He has made appearances in Kath & Kim and Neighbours (the latter alongside David Walliams as Little Britain stalwarts Lou and Andy, as well as a cameo role, playing 'Chris' or 'Jammy' at the wedding fayre, in the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Lucas has co written (with Walliams) and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO. The pair are also writing a movie for Dreamworks.

Lucas was the first celebrity to make an appearance in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on E4, working alongside Big Brother in a series containing housemates aged 18–21 with various talents.

On 9 April 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, featuring Matt Lucas as a regular performer, premièred on Comedy Central, the first major comedy series Lucas has done since Little Britain. In 2010, Lucas played Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, alongside Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway.

On 3 October 2010, he played the role of Thénardier in a special one-off performance celebrating the 25th anniversary of Les Misérables, held at the O2 Arena in London, which he will reprise at The Queen's Theatre, London from June 23rd 2011 to September 10th 2011.  In 2011, Lucas will perform his vocal talents in the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet. Lucas will work with James McAvoy, from Gnomeo and Juliet also, again in the upcoming Christmas film Arthur Christmas as Santa's #1 elf, Jemaine.

The BBC has just finished showing Matt Lucas and David Walliams new series, Come Fly With Me. In an interview shown on BBC 3 on 9th February, it was stated that they considered bringing Carol Beer from Little Britain to the new series, but decided against it, as they didn't want viewers to see it as a Little Britain spinoff. Instead, new characters were introduced to the series based in an airport. Matt's characters include Precious, Taaj, Tommy, Mickey, Fearghal, Simon and Peter, amongst others. Some of the characters only appeared once.

Television

Lucas' appearances on television include Big Brother's Little Brother, Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, Little Britain, Rock Profile, Little Britain Abroad, Little Britain USA, Come Fly With Me, and Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire.

Personal life

Lucas is a patron of The Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families. In April 2004 he appeared on Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and won £62,500 for the charity.

He is an avid supporter of Arsenal F.C.

In December 2006, Lucas entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee, in a lavish ceremony in London. On 22 October 2008, it was announced that Lucas had been granted a dissolution of this partnership, citing unreasonable behaviour by McGee. Lucas pulled out of the lead role in a London production of "Prick Up Your Ears", following the death of McGee in October 2009 and Lucas' part was played by Con O'Neill. The production had to be wrapped up on 15 November 2009, earlier than expected, due to poor ticket sales. McGee, who hanged himself, had left a suicide note on his Facebook page.

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