Lucas Alan Cruikshank (born August 29, 1993) is an American YouTuber and actor who created the character Fred Figglehorn and the associated Fred series for his channel on the video-hosting website YouTube in late 2006.
Early life
Lucas Alan Cruikshank was born on August 29, 1993,
and raised in Columbus, Nebraska, where he attended Lakeview High School. He is the son of Molly Jeanne (née Duffy) and Dave Alan Cruikshank.
[Freeman, Eric. (September 23, 2010) Fred a hit in TV movie . Columbustelegram.com. Retrieved August 20, 2012.][ See today's new hot trend. Feedagg.com (May 23, 2009). Retrieved August 20, 2012.] He has five sisters and two brothers.
[ Columbus' 'Fred' becomes an Internet star : The (402)/411 . Journalstar.com (October 6, 2008). Retrieved August 20, 2012.]
Career
Fred
Cruikshank, while testing character ideas, created the Fred character in a Halloween video, and uploaded it to a YouTube channel that he had started with his two cousins. Upon the success of Fred, he started a video series, and set up the Fred channel in April 2008.
By April 2009, the channel had over one million subscribers, making it the first YouTube channel to do so, and was the most-subscribed YouTube channel for a 318-day period from October 2008 to August 2009.
In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed
, which aired on Nickelodeon in September 2010. Nickelodeon created a franchise surrounding the character, and began producing the sequel in March 2011. aired on October 22, 2011, also on Nickelodeon. In 2012,
, consisting of twenty-four 22-minute episodes, and a third movie called aired on Nickelodeon.
Sponsorship and appearances
In the
Fred series, Cruikshank promotes various products and movies. He is seen using a Zipit,
as well as his own products
and T-shirts.
In addition to promoting his own movies and albums, Cruikshank has also promoted the movies
City of Ember,
,
and
Adventures of Power,
and the artist Kev Blaze, by featuring in his song "Watch How I Do This".
He made a guest appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which first aired on February 16, 2009.
Cruikshank appeared in the Hannah Montana episode "Come Fail Away", which aired December 6, 2009.
Other YouTube work
Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions, a group comprising twins
Jon and
Katie Smet and
Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin.
Cruikshank formally left the group and deleted his individual videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called "lucas", in which he appeared as himself. Between 2013 and 2014, Cruikshank partnered with
Jennifer Veal to produce a series of videos on the channel, which was renamed "Lucas and Jenny," adding to the duo's popularity. After Jenny left the channel in November 2014,
Cruikshank reverted the channel name back to "lucas" and continued to release
.
In April 2019, Cruikshank's channel name was changed to "Lucas", and currently sees over 3 million subscribers as of 2020.
Cruikshank made an appearance on Brandon Rogers' Four Million Subscriber Freakout video after the latter gained four million subscribers as of June 2018.
Personal life
Cruikshank came out publicly as
Homosexuality in a YouTube video released August 20, 2013, saying, "I'm gay. I feel so weird saying it on camera. But my family and friends have known for like three years.
I just haven't felt the need to announce it on the Internet."
Cruikshank met his current boyfriend, Australian model Matthew Fawcus, "from afar" at a
gay club, and the two were introduced by fellow YouTuber Kingsley. The pair began dating on March 18, 2013.
They are now married.
Filmography
Internet
|
| 2006–2014, 2020–2021 | Fred | Fred Figglehorn | |
| 2010 | Annoying Orange | Fred Figglehorn | Episode: "Fred" |
| 2012–2018 | YouTubers React | Himself | 13 episodes |
| 2013 | The Flipside | Henry | Episode: "Me, Myself and My Conscience" |
| | Shrek 2 Retold | | |
Television
|
| 2009 | iCarly | Fred Figglehorn | Episode: "iMeet Fred" |
| 2009 | Hannah Montana | Kyle McIntyre | Episode: "Come Fail Away" |
| 2010 | | Fred Figglehorn / Derf Nrohelggif | Television film |
| 2011 | Supah Ninjas | Spencer / Kickbutt | Episode: "Kickbutt" |
| 2011 | | Fred Figglehorn / Derf Nrohelggif / Judy | Television film |
| 2012 | | Fred Figglehorn | Lead role |
| 2012–2013 | Marvin Marvin | Marvin Forman | Lead role |
| 2012 | | Fred Figglehorn | Television film |
| 2013 | Big Time Rush | Himself | Episode: "Big Time Cameo" |
| 2013 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Smarty | Voice; Episode: "Screaming Your Calls" |
|
Discography
Comedy albums
|
|
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Singles
|
|
|
|
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
|
|
| 2009 | Favorite User Generated Video | People's Choice Awards | |
| 2009 | Choice Web Star | Teen Choice Awards | |
| 2010 | Choice Web Star | Teen Choice Awards | |
| 2010 | Iconic Web Star | J-14 Teen Icon Awards | |
| 2013 | Favorite TV Actor | Kids' Choice Awards | |
External links
