Hugh Laurie is a British comedian,
actor, and author best known for his television work,
especially his double act, A Bit of Fry and Laurie,
with Stephen Fry.
He was born and raised in Oxford, where he attended
the Dragon School (a famous prep school), before going
on to Eton and then to Selwyn College, Cambridge, where
he read Archaeology and Anthropology. His father had
won an Olympic gold medal in rowing, and he himself
was a rower at school and university taking part in
the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race of 1980.
During his first year at university, Laurie went
out for a while with Emma Thompson, now a well-known
actress. He also joined the famous Cambridge Footlights,
which has been the starting point for many successful
British comedians. In his final year, he was the President
of the Club, while Emma Thompson was the Vice-president.
It was when Footlights took their end-of-year revue
to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1980 that Laurie
met Stephen Fry.
Fry and Laurie had several series of their own as
a double act, as well as starring in the television
series Jeeves and Wooster, an adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's
Jeeves stories. Laurie played Bertie Wooster, a role
for which his talent as a pianist and singer came in
handy.
However, like Fry, Laurie has branched out into a
solo career as an actor in both comic roles (such as
the Blackadder series with Rowan Atkinson as Prince
George and Lieutenant George) and also had more serious
roles, such as his parts in the films, Peter's Friends
and Sense and Sensibility. Other film appearances include
Maybe Baby and Stuart Little. In 1996, his book The
Gun Seller, a humorous novel of suspense, was published.
Since 2002 he has been a familiar face in a range
of television dramas, guest starring that year in several
episodes of the first season of the spy thriller series
Spooks on BBC One. In 2003 he starred in and also directed
ITV's comedy-drama series Fortysomething. Laurie is
currently starring as Dr. Gregory House in the Fox
Broadcasting medical drama, House, M.D.
He married the former Jo Green in June 1989, and
they live in north London with their two sons and daughter. |
