James Hugh Calum Laurie CBE James Hugh Calum Laurie
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12
Awards
Hugh Laurie starred as Dr. Gregory House on the television series House from 2004 to 2012, becoming the most-watched leading man on television according to Guinness World Records in 2012. He won two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Before his acting career, he was a member of the Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe alongside Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson, winning the first Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1981.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Hugh Laurie — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Hugh Laurie by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Hugh Laurie — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Laurie contracted glandular fever at Cambridge University, ending a promising rowing career. He was born in Oxford in 1959 to Patricia Laidlaw and Ran Laurie, an Olympic gold medalist rower. He attended the Dragon School and Eton College, where he served as a house captain and rowed as a wet bob. At Cambridge, he joined the Cambridge Footlights in 1978, meeting Emma Thompson and later Stephen Fry — a move that set him on a path to comedy.
Laurie broke out with the comedy duo Fry and Laurie after his Cambridge Footlights success. In 1981 he won the first Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the Footlights revue. He co-wrote and starred in the BBC sketch show A Bit of Fry & Laurie from 1989 to 1995. His dramatic breakthrough came with his casting as Dr. Gregory House on House in 2004 — a role originally intended for an American actor. Bryan Singer did not know Laurie was British; Laurie’s American accent was so convincing it became iconic. By 2012 the series made him the most-watched leading man on television. He also released two blues albums: Let Them Talk in 2011 and Didn’t it Rain in 2013.
Laurie married Joanne Green in 1989. Stephen Fry, his longtime best friend, served as best man. They have three children: Charles Archibald born in 1988, William Albert born in 1991, and Rebecca Augusta born in 1993. Rebecca appeared in the 2001 film Wit as Emma Thompson’s character aged five. The family lives in London, though Laurie rented a West Hollywood apartment during the filming of House. He is an avid motorcyclist; he bought a black Triumph Bonneville in Los Angeles and values the anonymity a helmet provides. He plays keyboard in the celebrity band Band From TV.
Laurie’s portrayal of Dr. Gregory House redefined the medical drama anti-hero. According to the 2012 Guinness World Records, he was the most-watched leading man on television. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television in 2016 at 6172 Hollywood Boulevard. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2018 for services to drama. His performance on House earned him two Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and he was nominated for an Emmy.
The complete filmography of Hugh Laurie — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Hugh Laurie — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Hugh Laurie — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Grew up with an Impatience with the Anti-scientific. so I’m a Bit Miffed with Our Current Love Affair with All Things Eastern. If I Sneeze on the Set, 40 People Hand Me Echinacea. but I’d No Sooner Take That Than Eat a Pencil. Maybe That’s Why I Took up Boxing. It’s My Response to Men in White Pajamas Feeling Each Other’s Chi.
Obviously You Are in a Very Vulnerable Position When You Give an Interview. You Are Putting Your Testicles on a Chopping Board. I Get Anxious About a Lot of Things, That’s the Trouble. I Get Anxious About Everything. I Just Can’t Stop Thinking About Things All the Time. and Here’s the Really Destructive Part – It’s Always Retrospective. I Waste Time Thinking of What I Should Have Said or Done. I Can’t Bear Going Through the Same F***ing Dance of Despair.
When Asked If Living in America Would Make Him Any Less Pessimistic or Miserable: Oh, I Hope Nothing Would Ever Do That. I Won’t Let Go of My Roots.
I Admit I Can’t Shake the Idea That There Is Virtue in Suffering, That There Is a Sort of Psychic Economy, Whereby If You Embrace Success, Happiness and Comfort, These Things Have to Be Paid For.
Celebrity Is Absolutely Preposterous. Entertainment Seems to Be Inflating. It Used to Be the Punctuation to Your Life, a Film or a Novel or a Play, a Way of Celebrating a Good Week or Month. Now It Feels as If It’s All Punctuation. the People I Admire Are Those Blokes in Fair Isle Sweaters with Pencils Behind Their Ears Who Knew How to Design Mechanical Things Better Than Anybody Else in the World.
Something in Me Says You Shouldn’t Have Toys.
Recalling His Father Winning a Gold Medal in Rowing at the 1948 Olympics in London: He Was in a Coxless Pair with a Man Called Jack Wilson. I’ve Got a Fantastic Picture on My Desk of the Two of Them Getting Their Medals on a Pontoon at Henley. I Imagine They Were Playing the National Anthem and My Dad Is Very Rigid, This Is the Way to Behave, and Jack Wilson Is Loose and Groovy and Looks Like He Should Be Mixing a Martini. I Sometimes Wished My Father Could Take That Pleasure in Himself.
I Used to Worry Much More About the Prospect of Failure. That 200 People Were Going to Be Out of a Job. That Shame and Disgrace Would Attach, and I Would Have My Acting Uniform Stripped from Me.
The Great Trap for Non-American Actors Trying to Play Americans, I Think, Is to Start Thinking of American-ness as a Characteristic. It Isn’t. It Is No More a Character Trait Than Height. It Is Just a Physical Fact, and That’s All There Is to It.
There’s an Undeniable Pleasure in Stepping into an Open-top Sports Car Driven by a Beautiful Woman. It Feels Like You’re Climbing into a Metaphor.
In Books, Day Breaks, and Night Falls. in Life, Night Rises from the Ground. the Day Hangs on for as Long as It Can, Bright and Eager, Absolutely and Positively the Last Guest to Leave the Party, While the Ground Darkens, Oozing Night Around Your Ankles, Swallowing for Ever That Dropped Contact Lens, Making You Miss That Low Catch in the Gully on the Last Ball of the Last Over.
I Would Cling to Unhappiness Because It Was a Known, Familiar State. When I Was Happier, It Was Because I Knew I Was on My Way Back to Misery. I’ve Never Been Convinced That Happiness Is the Object of the Game. I’m Wary of Happiness.
I Don’t Take off My Helmet a Lot of the Time – That’s One of the Really Good Things About Riding a Bike. I Can Go All Over the Place and No One Knows Who I Am.
It’s a Terrible Thing, I Think, in Life to Wait Until You’re Ready. I Have This Feeling Now That Actually No One Is Ever Ready to Do Anything. There’s Almost No Such Thing as Ready. There’s Only Now. and You May as Well Do It Now. I Mean, I Say That Confidently as If I’m About to Go Bungee Jumping or Something – I’m Not. I’m Not a Crazed Risk Taker. but I Do Think That, Generally Speaking, Now Is as Good a Time as Any.
Little-known facts about Hugh Laurie — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Bryan Singer was unaware that Laurie is British when he cast him as Gregory House on House 2004.
He sings and plays piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2012, Laurie was the most-watched leading man on television due to the worldwide viewership of House; he was also the highest-paid television actor, earning $400K per episode as Dr. Gregory House in 2011.
He is very good friends with House co-star Robert Sean Leonard.
He is a huge fan of Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen.
Stephen Fry is godfather to his three children.
He directed some scenes of the film Maybe Baby 2000 when Ben Elton had to go to hospital for the birth of his children.
He bought an all-black Triumph Bonneville motorcycle in Los Angeles after getting the role on House, but he has always been an avid motorcyclist, enjoying the anonymity the helmet provides.
He plays keyboard in the celebrity band Band From TV with Greg Grunberg, James Denton, Bob Guiney, Jesse Spencer, and other special guests.
He is a published author; his novel The Gun Seller was released in 1996, with a follow-up, The Paper Soldier UK title Paper Soldiers, forthcoming.
In the 1980s he shared a house in London with Stephen Fry, and the plasterers who worked there turned out to be Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, who were inspired by Fry and Laurie to try comedy.
He was initially cast as Perry White in Superman Returns 2006 but had to drop out due to schedule conflicts with House; Frank Langella replaced him.
He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6172 Hollywood Boulevard on October 25, 2016.
His father won an Olympic gold medal for coxless pairs in the 1948 London Games; Hugh also had a promising rowing career but contracted glandular fever while at Cambridge.
He received a Third-Class Honours degree in anthropology and archaeology at Selwyn College, Cambridge University.
He received his first motorcycle at age 16 as a present from his father, and owned his first guitar that same year.
He was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning $409,000 per episode on House 2004.
His daughter Rebecca Laurie appeared in the film Wit 2001 as Emma Thompson’s character aged five.
Longtime best friend Stephen Fry served as best man at Laurie’s marriage to Joanne Green in 1989.
His son William Laurie auditioned for a role in a Harry Potter film but was told he was too young.
He was microwaved to death as House on a Halloween episode of The Simpsons 1989.
Douglas Adams originally wanted him to play Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but the deal fell through after Adams’ death.
He stated on a British chat show that he dislikes doing plays, saying that in the only play he’d ever done Gasping by Ben Elton he felt he was going out of his mind.
He released two blues albums: Let Them Talk 2011 and Didn’t it Rain 2013, both containing covers of famous blues artists, with his band The Copper Bottom Band.
He resided in a West Hollywood apartment rental while working on House but flew home to London to be with his family during breaks; he considered moving his family to America if the second season succeeded.
His three children are Charles Archibald born November 1988, William Albert born January 1991, and Rebecca Augusta born September 10, 1993.
He won the National Junior Championship for rowing coxed pair in 1977 and represented England in the World Junior Championship, finishing fourth.
He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television.
He was awarded the OBE in the 2007 Queen’s New Years Honours List and the CBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Years Honours List for services to drama.
As a member of the Cambridge Footlights Revue, he won the first Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1981 alongside Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery, Emma Thompson, Penny Dwyer, and Paul Shearer.
He is the youngest of four children, with a brother Charles a lawyer/shepherd in Scotland and two sisters, Susan and Janet.
He is a member of the Leander Club, an old rowing club where his father once served as president.
He plays keyboard in the band Poor White Thrash with Lenny Henry and others.
He attended the Dragon School in Oxford, a preparatory school also attended by Emma Watson and Tim Henman.
Both his parents, William George Ranald Mundell Laurie and Patricia Laidlaw, were of Scottish descent.
He is a huge fan of the Fulham Football Club; fellow fans include Elizabeth Hurley, Lily Allen, Pierce Brosnan, and others.
He auditioned for the role of Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf 1988, but the role went to Chris Barrie.
Although his first name is James, he has never been called that; his third name Calum is a short form of Mael Calum Scots Gaelic for Malcolm.
He was a member of Cambridge Footlights for two years 1978-80, serving as president during his last year 1980-81 with Emma Thompson as vice president.
He was a house captain at Eton College, played percussion in the orchestra, and rowed as a wet bob.
He is the great-great-nephew of George Alexander.
He played the husband opposite Imelda Staunton in two films: Peter’s Friends 1992 and Sense and Sensibility 1995.
In 1980 he entered the Silver Goblets and Nicklass Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta with his Eton rowing partner J.S. Palmer, finishing second.
Jacob Vargas operated the camera to shoot Laurie’s audition tape for House while they worked on Flight of the Phoenix 2004.
He took up diving.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Hugh Laurie.
Celebrities similar to Hugh Laurie — same craft, ranked by reach.
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