Lucas Cruikshank
Lucas Cruikshank | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lucas Alan Cruikshank August 29, 1993 |
| Citizenship |  American |
| Occupation | student |
| Years active | June, 2006 — present |
| Known for | Comedy |
| Notable work | Fred |
| Relatives | Jon Smet (cousin) Katie Smet (cousin) |
| Template:Infobox person/Internet info | |
| Website | FredFigglehorn.com |
Lucas Cruikshank (born August 29, 1993) is a teenage American comedic actor. Living in Columbus, Nebraska, he created the character Fred Figglehorn for his channel, simply named "Fred", on the video-sharing website YouTube.[1] The videos were centered around Fred Figglehorn, a fictional 6-year-old who has a dysfunctional home life and "anger management issues".[2]
Cruikshank introduced the Fred Figglehorn character in videos on the JKL Productions channel he started on YouTube with his cousins, Jon and Katie Smet. He 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 the most subscribed channel at the time.[3]
In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed Fred: The Movie, which will air on Nickelodeon, later in 2010. Nickelodeon hopes to create a franchise surrounding the character and has committed to a sequel.[4]
Sponsorship and appearances
Cruikshank's "Fred" has been sponsored through the first season by the Zipit Wireless Messenger (Z2), which had several cameos in various videos posted to the Fred Channel. Although the collaboration had originally been kept low-key, Fred now has a separate website promoting the Zipit and has starred in television ads for the device on Nickelodeon.
He made a cameo appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which originally aired on February 16, 2009.[5]
Walden Media also hired Cruikshank to promote the film City of Ember, along with the sci-fi novel it was based on, and cameos from the film's star Tim Robbins in Fred episodes and a mock movie trailer.[6] Cruikshank recently launched a website to promote the Fred series and sell Fred T-shirts and other merchandise. The merchandise is also available at Hot Topic, Justice and Five Below stores. Cruikshank has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show, as well as the Hannah Montana episode "Come Fail Away", which aired December 6, 2009.[7]
He appeared at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards as well as the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards presenting awards to winners off-stage.
Filmography
| Years | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-2011 | Emo Boy | Emo boy | In production |
| 2010 | Fred: The Movie | Himself/Fred Figglehorn | In production |
| 2010 | 2010 Kids' Choice Awards | Himself | Presenter of awards |
| 2009 | Hannah Montana | Kyle McIntyre | Guest star in "Come Fail Away" |
| 2009 | iCarly | Himself/Fred Figglehorn | Guest star in "iMeet Fred" |
| 2009 | 2009 Teen Choice Awards | Fred Figglehorn | Backstage clips |
| 2008–present | Fred | Fred Figglehorn/various voices | Web-based series |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Category | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Favorite User Generated Video | People's Choice Awards | Nominated[8] |
| 2009 | Other Stuff Web Star | Teen Choice Award | Won |
Other channels
Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions,[9] a group comprising twins Jon and Katie Smet and Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin. Although Cruikshank formally left the group, JKL prefers to keep Lucas' "L" in its name. Cruikshank deleted all of his individual videos when he left JKL Productions, but he can still be seen in a few of their videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called Lucas, in which he appears as himself.
References
- ^ Andrew Keen (2008-07-28). "Andrew Keen on New Media: Kids with cameras lead the way in giving web users their daily Fred". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^ Stephen Hutcheon, with Tom Burton (2008-06-20). "Fast-talking Fred is the toast of YouTube". Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^ Editorial Team (2008-11-13). "BB Suggests: The Best of Web TV". Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ ‘Fred: The Movie’ Lands on Nickelodeon - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com
- ^ Albrecht, Chris (November 18, 2008). "'Fred' Cranks Up the YouTube Views and Ad Dollars". Business Week. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
- ^ Sanders, Pete (September 18, 2008). "Studios Hope YouTube Tie Sells Movie". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ IMDb page for "Hannah Montana" Come Fail Away (2009)
- ^ People's Choice Awards Nominees & Winners:2009 - PeoplesChoice.com
- ^ YouTube - jklproduction's Channel