45 Facts About Matt Lucas

1.

Matthew Richard Lucas was born on 5 March 1974 and is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter.

2.

Matt Lucas is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain and Come Fly with Me.

3.

Matt Lucas presented The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023.

4.

Matthew Richard Lucas was born on 5 March 1974 in the Paddington area of London, the son of Diana and chauffeuring business owner John Stanley Lucas.

5.

Matt Lucas's family is Jewish; some of his mother's family fled Nazi Germany just before the Second World War.

6.

Matt Lucas was raised in a Reform Jewish household although his parents came from Orthodox Jewish families.

7.

Matt Lucas has had alopecia since childhood, before he lost all of his hair at the age of 6 in 1980.

8.

When Matt Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 52.

9.

Matt Lucas was educated at Aylward Primary School and Haberdashers' Boys' School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

10.

Matt Lucas studied drama at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 1995, although he did not complete his degree.

11.

Matt Lucas spent time with the National Youth Theatre, where he met his future collaborator David Walliams.

12.

Matt Lucas appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, and went on to star with them in Shooting Stars.

13.

Matt Lucas quickly rose to fame as George Dawes, a giant baby who would deliver a string of meaningless gags and insults before delivering the teams' scores, while sitting at and playing a drum kit.

14.

Matt Lucas appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes, George's mother, who appears in Little Britain.

15.

In 1999, Matt Lucas paired with David Walliams, with whom he had already worked in Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, to create Rock Profile, a comedy show spoofing famous musical personalities.

16.

Matt Lucas ventured into stage musicals in 2002, when he took a role in Boy George's musical Taboo at The Venue in London.

17.

Since 2006, Matt Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al, devised as part of a public information campaign on digital switchover.

18.

Matt Lucas made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as Tom, the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne.

19.

Matt Lucas performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter.

20.

Matt Lucas starred as Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows, a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel.

21.

Matt Lucas has co-written and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO.

22.

Matt Lucas was the first celebrity to appear in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on E4.

23.

In 2010, Matt Lucas played Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

24.

On 3 October 2010, Matt Lucas played Thenardier in the 25th Anniversary Concerts of Les Miserables, at the O2 Arena in London.

25.

Matt Lucas has since collaborated with Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album.

26.

Also in 2011, Matt Lucas lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet and he played a small role as the roommate of Kristen Wiig in the comedy Bridesmaids.

27.

Matt Lucas starred in the dark comedy Small Apartments released in February 2013 alongside James Caan, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, and Juno Temple with other cameo performances by notable actors.

28.

On 21 February 2013, Matt Lucas appeared on the NBC series Community as Toby, an English friend of Abed Nadir.

29.

In 2014, Matt Lucas played Ray Thomas in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.

30.

Matt Lucas launched a new comedy series called Pompidou for BBC Two.

31.

Matt Lucas joined the BBC series Doctor Who for its tenth series, reprising the character Nardole, which he had previously played in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials, "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" respectively.

32.

On 16 February 2017, Matt Lucas was awarded an Honorary Degree "Doctor of Letters" by the University of Bristol, where he had studied for two years in the 1990s but had left before completing his degree course.

33.

On 3 October 2017, Matt Lucas released his autobiography titled Little Me, published by Canongate Books in hardback.

34.

From 2 July to 25 August 2018, Matt Lucas played Bill Snibson in a revival of Me and My Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre.

35.

In 2019, Matt Lucas was the bank holiday cover host for the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

36.

In 2021, Matt Lucas continues to sit in for Zoe Ball and host the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

37.

From 10 August to 30 November 2019, Matt Lucas appeared in Les Miserables at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, playing the role of Monsieur Thenardier in a fully staged concert adaptation of the musical.

38.

On 20 December 2019, Matt Lucas returned to the role at the Sondheim Theatre, after actor Gerard Carey contracted vocal damage through pneumonia and was forced to pull out.

39.

On 10 January 2020, Matt Lucas himself was forced to withdraw from the show following a back injury.

40.

On 3 April 2020, Matt Lucas released a reworked version of his "Baked Potato Song" from Shooting Stars titled "Thank You Baked Potato", with all proceeds from the track going towards the Feed NHS campaign, which aims to provide meals for NHS workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.

41.

Matt Lucas wrote a children's picture book based on "Thank You, Baked Potato", published by Egmont and all proceeds again go to Feed NHS.

42.

Matt Lucas is a patron of the Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families.

43.

Matt Lucas was raised as Jewish but has variously described himself as an atheist and a "fairly secular Jew".

44.

In 2021,83 years after his grandmother fled Berlin, Matt Lucas obtained German citizenship and collected a Certificate of Naturalisation from the German embassy.

45.

From 2012 to 2015, Matt Lucas lived with his Bridesmaids co-star Rebel Wilson in West Hollywood.