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Hugh Laurie

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Hugh Laurie
CBE
Laurie in 2012
Born
James Hugh Calum Laurie

(1959-06-11) 11 June 1959 (age 65)
Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire, England
EducationEton College
Alma materSelwyn College, Cambridge (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • author
  • comedian
  • director
  • musician
  • producer
  • singer
Years active1981–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
Jo Green
​
(m. 1989)​
Children3
FatherRan Laurie
Musical career
GenresBlues
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
  • harmonica
  • drums
  • saxophone
LabelsWarner Records
Hugh Laurie's voice
Recorded June 2013 from the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs
Websitehughlaurieblues.com

James Hugh Calum Laurie CBE (/ˈlɒri/; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry.

Fry and Laurie acted together in a number of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the BBC sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie and the P. G. Wodehouse adaptation Jeeves and Wooster. From 1986 to 1989 he appeared in three series of the period comedy Blackadder, first as a recurring guest star in the last two episodes of Blackadder II, before joining the main cast in Blackadder the Third, and going on to appear in Blackadder Goes Forth and many related specials.

From 2004 to 2012, Laurie starred as Dr. Gregory House on the Fox medical drama series House. He received two Golden Globe Awards and many other accolades for the role. He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama at the time, earning $409,000 (£250,000) per episode.[1][2] By the end of the series, he was earning $700,000 an episode.[3] His other television credits include starring as arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, the main antagonist in the miniseries The Night Manager (2016), for which he won his third Golden Globe, and playing Senator Tom James in the HBO sitcom Veep (2015–2019), for which he received his 10th Emmy Award nomination.

Laurie has appeared in the films Peter's Friends (1992), Sense and Sensibility (1995), 101 Dalmatians (1996), The Borrowers (1997), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Stuart Little (1999), Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Tomorrowland (2015), Arthur Christmas (2011) in which he voiced Steven Claus, and The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020).[4] Outside acting, he released the blues albums Let Them Talk (2011) and Didn't It Rain (2013), both to favourable reviews. Laurie wrote the novel The Gun Seller (1996). He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours and CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours, both for services to drama.[5]

Early life

[edit]

Laurie was born on 11 June 1959, in the Blackbird Leys area of Oxford,[6][7] the youngest of four children of Patricia (née Laidlaw) and William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, who was a physician and winner of an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs (rowing) at the 1948 London Games.[7][8] He has an older brother, Charles Alexander Lyon Mundell Laurie,[7] and two older sisters, Susan and Janet.[9][10] He had a strained relationship with his mother,[7][11] whom he noted as "Presbyterian by character, by mood".[7] He later said, "I was frustration to her. She didn't like me."[7] His mother died from motor neurone disease in 1989, at the age of 73. According to Laurie, she endured the disease for two years and suffered "painful, plodding paralysis" while being cared for by Laurie's father, whom he has called "the sweetest man in the whole world".[10]

Laurie's parents, who were both of Scottish descent, attended St Columba's Presbyterian Church (now United Reformed Church)[12] in Oxford.[13][14] He notes that "belief in God didn't play a large role" in his home, but "a certain attitude to life and the living of it did".[7] He followed this by stating, "Pleasure was something that was treated with great suspicion, pleasure was something that... I was going to say it had to be earned but even the earning of it didn't really work. It was something to this day, I mean, I carry that with me. I find pleasure a difficult thing; I don't know what you do with it, I don't know where to put it."[7] He later stated, "I don't believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted, he'd take it away."[15]

Laurie was brought up in Oxford and attended the Dragon School from ages seven to 13, later stating, "I was, in truth, a horrible child. Not much given to things of a 'bookey' nature, I spent a large part of my youth smoking Number Six and cheating in French vocabulary tests."[16] He went on to Eton College, which he described as "the most private of private schools".[7] He arrived at Selwyn College, Cambridge, in 1978,[17] which he says he attended "as a result of family tradition" since his father went there.[7] Laurie notes that his father was a successful rower at Cambridge and that he was "trying to follow in [his] father's footsteps".[7] He studied archaeology and anthropology, specialising in social anthropology,[18] and graduated with third-class honours in 1981.[19]

Like his father, Laurie rowed at school and university.[7] In 1977, he was a member of the junior coxed pair that won the British national title before representing Britain's Youth Team at the 1977 Junior World Rowing Championships. In 1980, Laurie and his rowing partner, J.S. Palmer, were runners-up in the Silver Goblets[20] coxless pairs for Eton Vikings rowing club. He also achieved a Blue while taking part in the 1980 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.[21] Cambridge lost that year by five feet.[22] During this time, Laurie was training for up to eight hours a day and was on course to become an Olympic-standard rower.[23] He is a member of the Leander Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and was a member of the Hermes Club and Hawks' Club.[7]

Career

[edit]

Acting

[edit]
Laurie in 2005

Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of glandular fever, Laurie joined the Cambridge Footlights,[24] a university dramatic club that has produced many well-known actors and comedians including members of the popular British surreal comedy group, Monty Python. There he met Emma Thompson, with whom he had a romantic relationship; the two remain good friends.[7] She introduced him to his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry. Laurie, Fry and Thompson later parodied themselves as the University Challenge representatives of "Footlights College, Oxbridge" in "Bambi", an episode of The Young Ones, with the series' co-writer Ben Elton completing their team.[25]

In 1980–81, his final year at university, besides rowing Laurie was president of the Footlights, with Thompson as vice-president. They took their annual revue, The Cellar Tapes, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won the first Perrier Comedy Award which was presented to them by Rowan Atkinson. The revue was written principally by Laurie and Fry, and the cast also included Thompson, Tony Slattery, Paul Shearer and Penny Dwyer. The Perrier Award led to a West End transfer for The Cellar Tapes and a television version of the revue, broadcast in May 1982. It resulted in Laurie, Fry and Thompson being selected, along with Ben Elton, Robbie Coltrane and Siobhan Redmond to write and appear in a new sketch comedy show for Granada Television, Alfresco, which ran for two series.

Fry and Laurie worked together on various projects throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Among them were the Blackadder series, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, starring Rowan Atkinson, with Laurie in various roles, including two roles in Blackadder II which marked his debut appearance in the series, first as drunk Simon Partridge in "Beer" and then as the villainous Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in the Blackadder II final episode, "Chains" and then Prince George in Blackadder the Third and Lieutenant George in Blackadder Goes Forth.[7] Other projects followed, of which one was their BBC sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie; another project was Jeeves and Wooster,[7] an adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's stories, in which Laurie played Jeeves's employer, the amiable twit Bertie Wooster. He and Fry participated in charity stage events, such as Hysteria! 1, 2 & 3 and Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Third Ball, Comic Relief TV shows and the variety show Fry and Laurie Host a Christmas Night with the Stars. They collaborated again on the film Peter's Friends (1992) and came together for a retrospective show in 2010 titled Fry and Laurie Reunited.

Laurie starred in the Thames Television film Letters from a Bomber Pilot (1985) directed by David Hodgson. This was a serious acting role, the film being dramatised from the letters home of Pilot Officer J.R.A. "Bob" Hodgson, a pilot in RAF Bomber Command, who was killed in action in 1943.[26]

Laurie appeared in the music videos for the 1986 single "Experiment IV" by Kate Bush, and the 1992 Annie Lennox single "Walking on Broken Glass" in British Regency period costume alongside John Malkovich.[27] Laurie appeared in the Spice Girls' film Spice World (1997) and had a brief guest-starring role on Friends in "The One with Ross's Wedding" (1998).

Laurie's later film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), adapted by and starring Emma Thompson; the Disney live-action film 101 Dalmatians (1996), where he played Jasper, one of the bumbling criminals hired to kidnap the puppies; Elton's adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, Maybe Baby (2000); Girl from Rio; the 2004 adaptation of The Flight of the Phoenix, and Stuart Little.

Since 2002, Laurie has appeared in a range of British television dramas, guest-starring that year in two 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 (in one episode of which Stephen Fry appears). In 2001, he voiced the character of a bar patron in the Family Guy episode "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea". Laurie voiced the character of Mr. Wolf in the cartoon Preston Pig. He was a panellist on the first episode of QI, alongside Fry as host. In 2004, Laurie guest-starred as a professor in charge of a space probe called Beagle, on The Lenny Henry Show.

Laurie with House, MD executive producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore in 2009

Between 2004 and 2012, Laurie starred as an acerbic physician specialising in diagnostic medicine, Dr. Gregory House, in the Fox medical drama House. For his portrayal, he assumed an American accent.[7] He was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix and recorded his audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, as it was the only place he could get enough light.[28] Jacob Vargas operated the camera for the audition tape. Laurie's American accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie was British, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of "compelling American actor" he had been looking for.[28] Laurie also adopted the accent between takes on the set of House,[29] as well as during script read-throughs, although he used his native accent when directing the episode "Lockdown".[29] He also served as director for the episode "The C-Word".[30]

Laurie was nominated for an Emmy Award[31] for his role in House in 2005. Although he did not win, he did receive a Golden Globe in both 2006 and 2007 for his work on the series and the Screen Actors Guild award in 2007 and 2009. Laurie was also awarded a large increase in salary, from what was rumoured to be a mid-range five-figure sum to $350,000 per episode. Laurie was not nominated for the 2006 Emmys, apparently to the outrage of Fox executives,[32] 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 proceeding 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 while presenting an Emmy with Dame Helen Mirren, and was since nominated in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Laurie was initially cast as Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet, in Singer's film Superman Returns but had to bow out of the project because of his commitment to House.[33] In July 2006, Laurie appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, where he also performed one of his own comic songs, "Mystery", accompanying himself on the piano.[7] He hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live, in which he appeared in drag in a sketch about a man (Kenan Thompson) with a broken leg who accuses his doctor of being dishonest. Laurie played the man's wife.

Hugh Laurie at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2007

In August 2007, Laurie appeared on BBC Four's documentary Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out, filmed in celebration of Fry's 50th birthday. In 2008, he took part in Blackadder Rides Again which saw him reuniting with former Blackadder producer, John Lloyd who had travelled to the set of House MD in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California to interview Laurie who recalled his time working on the Blackadder series. Laurie also appeared as Captain James Biggs in Street Kings, opposite Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, and then in 2009 as the eccentric Dr. Herbert Cockroach, PhD in DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens. He also hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time on the Christmas show in which he sang a medley of three-second Christmas songs to close his monologue. In 2009, Laurie returned to guest star in another Family Guy episode, "Business Guy", parodying Gregory House. In 2010, Laurie guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XXI" as Roger, a castaway who is planning a murder scheme on a ship during Homer and Marge's second honeymoon.[34]

On 8 February 2012 Fox announced that season eight of House would be the last. On 13 June 2012 the media announced that Laurie was in negotiations to play the villain in RoboCop, a remake of the original RoboCop film.[35] These negotiations ultimately fell through and Laurie passed on the project.[36] In 2012, Laurie starred in an independent feature called The Oranges that had a limited release. The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey thought that he was "particularly good".[37] After the end of House Laurie took a three-year hiatus from film and TV work.

Laurie in 2012

Laurie was in negotiations to be cast in the role of Blackbeard for the 2014 series Crossbones. However, the role went to John Malkovich.[38] In 2015 he returned to TV work with a recurring role on Veep as Tom James, a role written specifically for him after showrunner Armando Iannucci heard he was a fan of the show.[39] Laurie continued to recur on the show until the final season in 2019. The same year he played the villain David Nix in Brad Bird's 2015 film Tomorrowland.[40][41]

Laurie played arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper in the BBC 1 mini-series The Night Manager. The series started filming in spring 2015 and aired first on the BBC.[42] He was nominated for two Emmys for his work on the miniseries and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. In addition to being an Executive Producer on the show alongside Tom Hiddleston, it was also Laurie's first role on British TV in thirteen years.

Laurie starred as Dr Eldon Chance, a San Francisco-based forensic neuropsychiatrist in the Hulu thriller series Chance which lasted for two seasons from 2016 to 2017.[43][44] In 2018 Laurie had a small role in the critically panned film Holmes & Watson.

In 2019 Laurie appeared in Veep creator Armando Iannucci's film The Personal History of David Copperfield, an adaptation of the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. That same year it was announced he would also work with Iannucci on the upcoming space comedy Avenue 5 for HBO.[45] Season 2 of Avenue 5 was released on 10 October 2022, with Laurie reprising his role as Captain Ryan.[46]

It was reported in February 2023 that Laurie would be the feature guest star for the third season of Tehran.[47][48]

Music

[edit]
Hugh Laurie playing with his jazz band at Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2014

Laurie took piano lessons from the age of six.[49] He sings and plays the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica, and saxophone. He has displayed his musical talents throughout his acting career, such as on A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, House and when he hosted Saturday Night Live in October 2006. He is a vocalist and keyboard player for the Los Angeles charity rock group Band From TV.

Following Meat Loaf's appearance in the House episode "Simple Explanation", Laurie played piano as a special guest on the song "If I Can't Have You" from Meat Loaf's 2010 album Hang Cool Teddy Bear. Laurie co-wrote and performed the humorous blues song, "Sperm Test in the Morning", in the film Maybe Baby.[50]

On House Laurie played several classic rock 'n roll instruments including Gibson Flying V and Les Paul guitars. His character has a Hammond B-3 organ in his home and on one episode performed the introduction to Procol Harum's classic "Whiter Shade of Pale".[51]

On 26 July 2010 it was announced that Laurie would be releasing a blues album after signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records.[52] The album, called Let Them Talk, was released in France on 18 April 2011 and in Germany on 29 April. The album features collaborations from well-known artists such as Tom Jones, Irma Thomas and Dr. John.

On 1 May 2011 Laurie and a jazz quintet closed the 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival to great acclaim.[53] He followed that up as the subject of the 15 May 2011 episode of ITV's series Perspectives, explaining his love for the music of New Orleans and playing music, from his album Let Them Talk, at studios and live venues in the city itself.[49] He was the subject of PBS Great Performances Let them Talk, also about New Orleans jazz, first broadcast on 30 September 2011.[54]

His second album, Didn't It Rain, was released in the UK on 6 May 2013.[55] In the same year he played at the RMS Queen Mary together with his band. This concert was filmed and later released as Live on the Queen Mary on DVD and Blu-ray.

Writing

[edit]

In 1996 Laurie's first novel, The Gun Seller, an intricate thriller laced with Wodehouseian humour, was published and became a best-seller.[7] He has since been working on the screenplay for a film version. His second novel, The Paper Soldier, was scheduled for September 2009 but has yet to appear.

Personal life

[edit]

Laurie married theatre administrator Jo Green on 16 June 1989 in the Camden area of London.[56] They have three children, Charlie, Bill, and Rebecca.[57] Laurie's elder son Charlie played a small role as baby William in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, during a sketch titled "Special Squad". His daughter Rebecca had a role in the film Wit as five-year-old Vivian Bearing. Stephen Fry, Laurie's best friend and long-time comedy partner, was the best man at his wedding and is the godfather of his children.[58]

While appearing on Inside the Actors Studio in 2006 he discussed his struggles with severe clinical depression.[7] He told host James Lipton that he first concluded he had a problem while driving in a charity demolition derby, during which he realised that seeing two cars collide and explode made him feel bored rather than excited or frightened; he quipped that "boredom is not an appropriate response to exploding cars".[7] As of 2006 he was having regular sessions with a psychotherapist.[7][11]

Laurie admires the writings of P. G. Wodehouse, explaining in a 27 May 1999 article in The Daily Telegraph how reading Wodehouse novels had saved his life.[59] In an interview also in The Daily Telegraph, he confirmed that he is an atheist.[60] He is an avid motorcycle enthusiast and has two motorbikes, one at his London home and one at his Los Angeles home. His bike in the U.S. is a Triumph Bonneville, his self-proclaimed "feeble attempt to fly the British flag".[61]

In June 2013 Laurie was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where he chose tracks from Joe Cocker, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Randy Newman, Professor Longhair, Son House, Nina Simone, Lester Young–Buddy Rich Trio, and Van Morrison as his eight favourite discs.[62] This was his second appearance on the show, having previously been on a 1996 episode, where he chose tracks by Muddy Waters, Max Bruch, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra with Count Basie, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Van Morrison.[63]

Laurie is a supporter of Arsenal FC.[64]

Recognition

[edit]

Laurie has won three Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and has been nominated for 10 Primetime Emmy Awards.[65][66]

On 23 May 2007 Laurie was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in the 2007 New Year Honours.[67][68][69][70] He was promoted to Commander of the same Order (CBE) for his services to drama in the 2018 New Year Honours.[71]

In March 2012 Laurie was made an Honorary Fellow of his alma mater Selwyn College, Cambridge.[72][73]

In October 2016 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[74]

Filmography

[edit]
Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released

Live-action performances

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1985 Plenty Michael
1989 Strapless Colin
1992 Peter's Friends Roger Charleston
1994 A Pin for the Butterfly Uncle
1995 Sense and Sensibility Mr. Palmer
1996 101 Dalmatians Jasper Badun
1997 Spice World Hercule Poirot
The Borrowers Police Officer Steady
The Place of Lions Steve Harris
1998 The Man in the Iron Mask Pierre
Cousin Bette Baron Hector Hulot
1999 Blackadder: Back & Forth Viscount George Bufton-Tufton / Georgius
Stuart Little Mr. Frederick Little
2000 Maybe Baby Sam Bell
2001 Girl from Rio Raymond Woods
2002 Stuart Little 2 Mr. Frederick Little
2003 The Young Visiter Lord Bernard Clark
2004 Flight of the Phoenix Ian
2005 The Big Empty Doctor
2008 Street Kings Captain James Biggs
2011 The Oranges David Walling
2012 Mr. Pip Mr. Watts[75]
2015 Tomorrowland David Nix
2018 Holmes & Watson Mycroft Holmes
2019 The Personal History of David Copperfield Mr. Dick

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1981 The Cellar Tapes Various characters Writer
1982 There's Nothing to Worry About!
1983 Alfresco
The Crystal Cube
1984 The Young Ones Lord Monty Episode: "Bambi"
1985 Letters from a Bomber Pilot Pilot Officer Bob Hodgson
Mrs. Capper's Birthday Bobby
Happy Families Jim
1986 Blackadder II Simon Partridge Episode: "Beer"
Prince Ludwig the Indestructible Episode: "Chains"
1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap N'Bend
Blackadder the Third George, Prince of Wales, The Prince Regent
1988 Blackadder's Christmas Carol Prince George
1989 Blackadder Goes Forth Lt. the Honourable George Colhurst St. Barleigh
The New Statesman Waiter
1989–1995 A Bit of Fry & Laurie Various Characters Writer
1990–1993 Jeeves and Wooster Bertie Wooster
1993 All or Nothing at All Leo Hopkins 3 episodes
1996 Tracey Takes On... Timothy Bugge 3 episodes
1998 Friends Gentleman on the Plane Episode: "The One with Ross's Wedding (Part 2)"
The Bill Defence Counsel Episode: "Good Faith: Part 1"
1999 The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything French Ambassador Sketch: Treaty of Westphalia
2000 Randall & Hopkirk Dr. Lawyer Episode: "Mental Apparition Disorder"
2001 Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows Vincente Minnelli
2002 The Strange Case of Penny Allison Various Characters
Spooks Jools Siviter
2003 Fortysomething Paul Slippery Also directed three episodes
2004 Fire Engine Fred Narrator
2004–2012 House Dr. Gregory House Lead role, also directed episodes "Lockdown" and "The C-Word"
2006, 2008 Saturday Night Live Host Episodes: "Hugh Laurie/Beck" and
"Hugh Laurie/Kanye West"
2011 Later... with Jools Holland Himself Guest performance/interview
2015–2019 Veep[76] Sen. Tom James 20 episodes
2016 The Night Manager Richard Onslow Roper Miniseries
2016–2017 Chance[77] Dr. Eldon Chance 20 episodes
2019 Catch-22 Major de Coverley Miniseries; 6 episodes
2020–2022 Avenue 5 Ryan Clark Main cast
2020 Roadkill[78] Peter Laurence[79] Miniseries; 4 episodes
2022 Why Didn't They Ask Evans?[80] Dr. James Nicholson Main cast, also writer and director
2023 All the Light We Cannot See Etienne LeBlanc Miniseries; 4 episodes

Voice performances

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1993–1995 The Legends of Treasure Island Squire Trelawney
1995 The Snow Queen Peeps [81]
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends Johnny Town-Mouse Episode: "The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town-Mouse"[81]
1996 The Snow Queen's Revenge Peeps
1997 The Ugly Duckling Tarquin [81]
2000 Preston Pig Mr. Wolf
Carnivale Cenzo
2001 Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter Narrator
Second Star to the Left Archie
2001, 2010 Family Guy Bar Patron, Dr. Gregory House, Himself Episodes: "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea", "Business Guy"
2003 Stuart Little Frederick Little
2005 Valiant Wing Commander Gutsy [81]
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild Frederick Little Direct-to-video[81]
2009 Monsters vs. Aliens[81] Dr. Herbert Cockroach Nominated – Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
B.O.B's Big Break Short film
Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space[81]
2010 The Simpsons Roger Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XXI"
2011 Hop Mr. Bunny [81]
Arthur Christmas Steve [81]
2022 The Amazing Maurice Maurice
2023 The Canterville Ghost The Grim Reaper
People Who Knew Me N/A Podcast series[82]

Documentaries

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Fry and Laurie Reunited Himself Documentary
2011 Down by the River Himself Documentary
2013 Copper Bottom Blues Himself Documentary

Video games

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2014 LittleBigPlanet 3 Newton [81][83]

Discography

[edit]

Albums

[edit]
List of albums with selected details, chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[84] 		AUS
[85] 		AUT
[86] 		FRA
[87] 		GER
[88] 		IRE
[89] 		NL
[90][91] 		NZ
[92] 		SWI
[93] 		US
[94]
Let Them Talk 2 37 1 2 8 14 25 26 4 16
Didn't It Rain
  • Released: 6 May 2013
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
  • Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download
 3 35 10 3 41 21 32 22 3 21

Singles

[edit]
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart
positions 		Album
UK
[98] 		AUT
[86] 		BEL
(WA)
[99][100]
"You Don't Know My Mind" 2011 164 47 20 Let Them Talk
"Winin' Boy Blues" — — —
"Wild Honey"[101] 2013 — — 36 Didn't It Rain
[edit]
List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart
positions 		Album
UK
[84] 		NL Top 40
[102]
"Stick It Out" (Right Said Fred and Friends)[103] 1993 4 48 —
"If I Can't Have You" (Meat Loaf, featuring Kara DioGuardi & Hugh Laurie)[104] 2010 — — Hang Cool Teddy Bear

Other charting songs

[edit]
List of other charting songs, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
CAN
[105] 		FRA
[87] 		US
[94]
"St James' Infirmary" 2011 — 92 — Let Them Talk
"Police Dog Blues" 39 — 58
"Guess I'm a Fool" — 67 —
"Unchain My Heart" 2013 — 86 — Didn't It Rain
"Louisiana Blues" — 96 —
"The St. Louis Blues" — 133 —

Music videos

[edit]
List of music video appearances
Year Artist Song Album
1986 Kate Bush Video for "Experiment IV" The Whole Story
1992 Annie Lennox Video for "Walking on Broken Glass" Diva

DVDs/Blu-ray

[edit]
List of DVD/Blu-ray releases
Year DVD/Blu-ray Notes
2013 Live on the Queen Mary Recorded live 2013 on the RMS Queen Mary together with band

Awards and honours

[edit]
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Hugh Laurie

Commonwealth honours

[edit]
Commonwealth honours
Date Appointment Post-nominal letters
2007–2018 Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE
2018–present Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE

Scholastic

[edit]
University degrees
Date School Degree
1982 Selwyn College, Cambridge Third Class Honours Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Archaeology and Anthropology
Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships
Date School Position
July 2018–present Royal Academy of Music Honorary Member[106]
11 July 2020–present Selwyn College, Cambridge Honorary Fellow[107]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Guinness Book of Records: Hugh Laurie is most watched man on television". The Daily Telegraph. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  2. ^ Kaplan, Don. "Ashton Kutcher tops Forbes' highest-paid TV actor list, followed by Hugh Laurie and Ray Romano". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Hugh Laurie bids farewell to 'House' (and $700K salary) in April". TheStar.com. 9 February 2012.
  4. ^ "Hugh Laurie". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  5. ^ Entertainment & Arts team (29 December 2017). "In pictures: Entertainment stars recognised in New Year Honours". BBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Hugh Laurie: Because he's worth it". The Independent. 9 July 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Host: James Lipton (31 July 2006). "Hugh Laurie". Inside the Actors Studio. Season 12. Episode 18. Bravo.
  8. ^ "Hugh Laurie Biography (1959–)". Film Reference. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  9. ^ "House Star Hugh Laurie Supports 'Save the Children'". Save the Children. Retrieved 4 June 2012.[dead link]
  10. ^ a b "Interview". GQ magazine: 105. December 1992.
  11. ^ a b "Faces of the week". BBC. 20 January 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  12. ^ "Our History". St Columba's United Reformed Church, Oxford.
  13. ^ Strauss, Neil (5 April 2007). "Dr. Feelbad". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  14. ^ Husband, Stuart (3 June 2009). "Hugh Laurie interview". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  15. ^ Man about the House, The Daily Telegraph, 28 October 2007.
  16. ^ "Hugh Laurie: Wodehouse Saved my Life". The Daily Telegraph. 25 May 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
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  18. ^ "Welcome back to Selwyn!" (PDF). Selwyn College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
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