In May 2007, Lucas was placed 8th in the list of the UK's 100 most influential gays and lesbians, in fields as diverse as entertainment, business, politics, and science, by the British newspapers The Independent and the Daily Mail.
Personal life
Born in Paddington, Lucas comes from a Jewish[1] family and grew up in Stanmore, Greater London. He has had alopecia since his childhood, which in interviews he has inconsistently attributed to various events, including a delayed reaction to a road accident when he was four.[2] He lost all of his hair at the age of six.
He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, alongside other well known personalities, including David Baddiel and Sacha Baron Cohen. He went on to study drama at Bristol University[3] between 1993 and 1995.
Lucas worked for Chelsea F.C. as a sales assistant in the old club shop, though he is a high profile Arsenal fan.
Lucas is a patron of the 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.
In December 2006 Lucas entered into a Civil Partnership with partner 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.[4]
Early career
Lucas's association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. In 1994, 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 and Hopkirk (Deceased), and Catterick in a variety of roles.
Lucas has written for Ali G and Borat 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" 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, but was felt by Bowery's family and friends to be only a cartoon version of the original.
Little Britain
Walliams and Lucas in character as Lou and Andy at Live 8, July 2005
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. 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 show 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.[5] 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.
In September 2008 whilst on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross Lucas stated that he would play Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland,[6] alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway.
On April 9, 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, featuring Matt Lucas as a regular, premiered on Comedy Central, the first major comedy series Lucas has done since Little Britain.
