Hugh Laurie

Overview

Born
June 11, 1959 · Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Birth name
James Hugh Calum Laurie
Height
6′ 2½″ (1.89 m)

Biography

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Fluent American accent from House (2004)
Frequently plays upper-class and dimwitted English characters

Trivia

When Bryan Singer cast Laurie as Gregory House on House (2004), he was unaware that Laurie is British.
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 (2004). Laurie was also the highest-paid television actor, earning a reported $400K per episode as Dr. Gregory House (2011).
Bought an all-black Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, a replica of the 1960s British model, in Los Angeles, upon getting the role on House (2004), but he was always an avid motorcyclist, even in England. He enjoys the anonymity the motorcycle helmet gives him.
Very good friends with House (2004) co-star Robert Sean Leonard.

Quotes

[on Cambridge] I went there to row. I'll be blunt with it. It's been ten years, and I think the admissions tutor can take it now... but that's really what I went for, and anthropology was the most convenient subject to read while spending eight hours a day on the river.
[on the Oxford-vs.-Cambridge Boat Race] The year was 1980, I was #4 in this particular encounter, and the result was a loss by Cambridge by a distance of five feet, which is something which I will carry to my grave... in fact, I shouldn't really say this, because I still to this day wouldn't want to give any pleasure or satisfaction to the opposing crew. But yes, it's true, it was a very bitter defeat.
[on picking up his new hobby] Boxing is fascinating. It's good for the soul to be made to feel clumsy. I swank around during the week thinking I'm a big cheese, but you don't feel like that when you're in the ring with a chap who knows what he's doing. It's ritual humiliation. I'm going to be slugged about and probably killed, but I love it and have to do something to keep fit.
I picked a reverence for medicine because I rather hero-worshiped my father [a former doctor], and because I admire doctors, I admire study, empiricism and rational thought. I don't admire crystals and chewing willow bark and herbal remedies.
[on his late father's reaction to his character Dr. Gregory House] He would be absolutely appalled. He was an endlessly polite, generous and soft-spoken man. He was no pushover, but he would never hurt, shock or outrage people just for the hell of it. At the same time, I hope he would be entertained and see that science and logic are like a religion to House. He'd approve of that.