Despite being highly intelligent and Cambridge-educated, actor, author and wit Laurie made his name in his native England playing a series of dimwits on the TV series
Blackadder and
Jeeves and Wooster. His turn as a surly doctor on
House, however, is what made him a star stateside. With fierce blue eyes, scruffy facial hair and an acid tongue, Laurie finds the humor — as well as the pathos — in this pill-popping egotist, and has even managed to become an unlikely fortysomething sex symbol, earning two Golden Globes, a SAG Award and an Emmy nod in the process. Off-screen, Laurie is much more stable than his small-screen alter ego, making his home in London with his wife and three children.
Hugh Laurie Fast Facts:
- Represented Cambridge as an oarsman in the University Boat Race of 1980 against Oxford.
- Member of the Cambridge Footlights Revue theatre group with Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry; president in 1981.
- Dated Emma Thompson while at Cambridge and later appeared in Sense and Sensibility with her.
- British TV debut was Footlights special The Cellar Tapes, which won the Perrier "Pick of the Fringe" Award at the Edinburgh Festival of 1981.
- Starred in numerous British comedy series, often with college friend Stephen Fry: A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Blackadder, and Jeeves and Wooster.
- Has played keyboards in the group Poor White Trash and the Little Big Horns since the '90s.
- First novel, The Gun Seller, was published in both the UK and the U.S. to critical acclaim and adapted into a screenplay for MGM.
- Appeared in Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass" video, opposite John Malkovich.
- Named one of TV's Sexiest Men by TV GUIDE in 2005.
- Named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in December 2006.
- Hugh Laurie Relationships:
- Bill - Son
- Charlie - Son
- Emma Thompson - Ex-significant Other
- Jo Green - Wife
- Patricia Laurie - Mother
- Rebecca - Daughter
- W.G.R.M. Laurie - Father
- Hugh Laurie Awards:
- 2007 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2008 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 2008 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2009 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 2006 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Winner
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Winner
- 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- Attended Eton College, Berkshire, England; University of Cambridge, Selwyn College, Cambridge, England (BS in Anthropology)
