Everything about Hugh Laurie totally explained
James Hugh Calum Laurie,
OBE (born
June 11,
1959) is an
English actor,
comedian,
writer and
musician. Laurie first reached fame as one half of the
Fry and Laurie double act, with his friend and comedy partner,
Stephen Fry. Since 2004 he's starred as
Dr. Gregory House,
protagonist in the American television drama
House.
Biography
Early life and education
Laurie was born in
Oxford, England. The youngest of four children, Hugh has a brother (elder by 6 years) and two sisters. His mother, Patricia (
née Laidlaw), died from
motor neurone disease when Laurie was 29. According to Laurie, it took her two years to die, and she suffered "painful, plodding paralysis" while being cared for by Laurie's father, whom he called "the sweetest man in the whole world". He had a somewhat strained relationship with his mother.
Laurie was raised in the
Scottish Presbyterian church. He was brought up in Oxford and attended the
Dragon School, a prestigious
preparatory school. His US accent was so convincing that executive producer
Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he'd been looking for. Laurie also adopts the voice between takes on the set of
House, as well as during script read-throughs.
In July 2005, Laurie was nominated for an
Emmy Award for his role in
House. Although he didn't win, he did receive a
Golden Globe in both 2006 and 2007 for his work on the series (one of very few to have received the award in consecutive years) and the Screen Actors Guild award in 2007. Laurie has also been awarded a large increase in salary, from what was rumoured to be a mid-range five-figure sum to $350,000 per episode. His
House contract was also extended for an additional year, allowing for at least a fifth season to be produced. Laurie wasn't nominated for the 2006 Emmys, apparently to the "outrage" of Fox executives, but he still appeared in a scripted, pre-taped intro, where he parodied his
House character by rapidly diagnosing host
Conan O'Brien and then proceeded to grope him as the latter asked him for help to get to the Emmys on time. He would later go on to speak in
French whilst presenting an award with
Dame Helen Mirren on stage.
Laurie was initially cast as
Perry White, the editor of the
Daily Planet, in the film
Superman Returns but had to bow out of the project because of his involvement in
House (the series is produced by Bad Hat Harry Productions, which is owned by Bryan Singer, who directed
Superman Returns). In July 2006, Laurie appeared on
Bravo!'s
Inside the Actors Studio, where he also performed one of his own comic songs, "Mystery", on the piano with vocal accompaniment. The group is tight-knit professionally as well; as mentioned, Laurie acted in Thompson's film script of
Sense and Sensibility, and Leonard has appeared with Thompson in a film of
Much Ado About Nothing directed by Thompson's then-husband,
Kenneth Branagh. Laurie also acted with Thompson and Branagh in the film
Peter's Friends, in which Stephen Fry played the
title role.
Laurie stated on
BBC Radio 2 in an interview with
Steve Wright in January 2006 that he's currently living in an apartment in
West Hollywood while he's in the United States working on
House. Laurie can play the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone. He has displayed his musical talents in episodes of several series, most notably
A Bit of Fry and Laurie,
Jeeves and Wooster,
House and when he hosted
Saturday Night Live on
28 October 2006. He is a vocalist and keyboard player for the Los Angeles charity rock group "
Band From TV".
Laurie was awarded an
OBE in the
2007 New Year Honours List for his services to drama. On
23 May 2007, he was given the honour by
Queen Elizabeth II.
Laurie has periodically struggled with severe
clinical depression,
Awards
Emmy Awards
- 2005 - Nominated - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- 2007 - Nominated - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Golden Globe Awards
2005 - Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
2006 - Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
2007 - Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Satellite Awards
2005 - Winner - Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama
2006 - Winner - Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2006 - Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
2007 - Winner - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Television Critics Association
2005 - Winner - Individual Achievement in Drama
2006 - Winner - Individual Achievement in Drama
2007 - Nominated - Individual Achievement in Drama
Teen Choice Award
2007 - Winner - TV Actor: Drama
Filmography
Cambridge Footlights Revue (1982) ... various characters
Alfresco (1983–1984) ... writer/various characters
The Crystal Cube (1983) ... Max Belhaven/various characters
The Young Ones (1984) ... Lord Monty
Plenty (1985) ... Michael
Mrs. Capper's Birthday (1985) ... Bobby
Happy Families (1985) ... Jim
Blackadder II (1986) ... Simon Partridge (also known as Mr Ostrich & Farters Parters), Prince Ludwig the Indestructible
Filthy Rich & Catflap (1986) ... N'Bend
Blackadder the Third (1987) ... George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent
Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) ... Prince George and Lord Pigmot (future)
A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1989–1995) ... writer/various characters
Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) ... Lt the Honourable George Colhurst St Barleigh
Strapless (1989) ... Colin
The New Statesman (1989) ... Waiter
Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993) ... Bertie Wooster
Peter's Friends (1992) ... Roger Charleston
Sense and Sensibility (1995) ... Mr Palmer
Tracey Takes On... (1996) ... Timothy Bugge (Season 1)
101 Dalmatians (1996) ... Jasper
Spiceworld (1997) ... Poirot
The Borrowers (1997) ... Police Officer Steady
Friends (1998) ... The One with Ross's Wedding
The Bill (1998)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) ... Pierre, The King's Advisor
Cousin Bette (1998) ... Baron Hector Hulot
(1999) ... Viscount George Bufton-Tufton/Georgius
Stuart Little (1999) ... Mr Fredrick Little
Maybe Baby (2000) ... Sam Bell
Chica de Río aka Girl from Rio (2001) ... Raymond Woods
(2001) ... Vincente Minnelli
Stuart Little 2 (2002) ... Mr. Frederick Little
Spooks (2002) ... Jools Siviter
Fortysomething ... Paul Slippery
... Mr. Frederick Little
House (2004–present) ... Dr Gregory House
Fire Engine Fred (2004)
Flight of the Phoenix (2004) ... Ian
Valiant (2005) ... Wing Commander Gutsy (voice)
(2006) ... Mr. Frederick Little (voice)
Street Kings (2008) ... Captain Biggs
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) ... Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. (voice)
Books
Hugh Laurie has written one full-length novel — The Gun Seller — which has undergone multiple printings from several publishers. His second novel, The Paper Soldier, is tentatively (re-)scheduled for September, 2009.
The Gun Seller UK (HB) (William Heinemann Ltd (May 1996)) ISBN 0-434-00297-6 (PB) (William Heinemann Ltd (May 1996)) ISBN 0-434-00375-1
- (PB) (Arrow Books Ltd (Nov 2000); New Ed (Oct 2004)) ISBN 0-099-41927-0 & ISBN 0-099-46939-1
The Gun Seller US (HB) (Soho Press (May 1997)) ISBN 1-569-47087-1 (PB) (Mandarin (Mar 1997)) ISBN 0-749-32385-X
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hugh Laurie'.
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