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 the Fox medical drama
House, however, is what made him a star stateside. With scruffy facial hair and an acid tongue, Laurie found the humor---as well as the pathos---in this pill-popping egotist, earning Golden Globes and People's Choice Awards in the process, as well as becoming an unlikely forty-something sex symbol. The versatile actor has also lent his voice to a number of animated films, including
Valiant,
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild and
Monsters vs. Aliens. Off-screen, Laurie is far more stable than his small-screen alter ego, married for more than 20 years to Jo Green, with whom he has three children.
Hugh Laurie Fast Facts:
- Represented Cambridge as an oarsman in the University Boat Race of 1980 against Oxford.
- Was a member of the Cambridge Footlights Revue theatre group with Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry.
- British TV debut was the Footlights special The Cellar Tapes, which won the Perrier "Pick of the Fringe" Award at the 1981 Edinburgh Festival.
- Has played guitar and keyboards in a band called Poor White Trash and the Little Big Horns on and off since the 1990s.
- 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 opposite John Malkovich in the video for Annie Lennox's 1992 hit "Walking on Broken Glass."
- Named one of TV's Sexiest Men by TV GUIDE in 2005.
- Made an Officer of the British Empire in 2007.
- Voiced an animated version of his popular character Dr. Gregory House on a 2009 episode of Family Guy.
- Hugh Laurie Relationships:
- Bill - Son
- Charlie - Son
- W.G.R.M. Laurie - Father
- Jo Green - Wife
- Patricia Laurie - Mother
- Emma Thompson - Ex-significant Other
- Rebecca - Daughter
- Hugh Laurie Awards:
- 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - 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
- 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
- 2009 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2009 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 2009 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Male TV Star - Winner
- 2010 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 2010 People's Choice Awards: Favorite TV Drama Actor - Winner
- 2010 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2008 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2008 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
- 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
- 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2011 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2011 People's Choice Awards: Favorite TV Drama Actor - Winner
- 2011 People's Choice Awards: Favorite TV Doctor - Winner
- 2011 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- University of Cambridge, Selwyn College, Cambridge, England (BS in Anthropology)