Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer and musician. His fame expanded to the American public when he participated in the TV Series House, where he played the main character’s role Dr Gregory House, from 2004 to present (knowing that a seventh season will be on Fox networks soon).

Laurie was born in Oxford, England, in June 11th, 1959. His father was a medical doctor and also won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs (rowing) at the 1948 London Games.

He was raised in the Scottish Presbyterian church even though he declared that he didn’t believe in God. Just like his father, Laurie was an oarsman at school and university, but he was force to abandon rowing because of an infectious mononucleosis. Right after that event, he joined the Cambridge Footlights, and met actress Emma Thompson with whom he had a romantic relationship. She introduced him to his future comedy partner Stephen Fry. Laurie and Thompson are still good friends today.

Laurie and friend Stephen Fry worked together on various projects in the 80′s and in the 90′s. Among them were Blackadder series also starring Rowan Atkinson. They both had a BBC sketch comedy series called “A bit of Fry and Laurie”.

In the mid-90′s he appeared in several movies until 2004, when he appeared in he remake of “The Flight of the Phoenix”. It was during the filming of this movie that Laurie recorded the audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, the only place he could get enough light. He convinced the production team of House, and started in the series in November 2004. Laurie was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role in House in 2005, and was awarded a large increase in salary. From the start of season three, he was being paid $275,000 to $300,000 per episode, as much as three times what he had previously been making on the series. By the show’s fifth season, Laurie was earning around $400,000 per episode, making him one of the highest paid actors on network television.