Biography of Hugh Laurie
The role of Dr. House brought Hugh Laurie fame in the United States. And before that, the comedian created the British sitcoms.
Early years
James Hugh Kalam Laurie was born June 11, 1959 in Oxford, England. Father Laurie, William “Ren” Laurie, worked as a doctor, and also was a gold medalist in rowing at the Olympics. The mother of the comedian was Patricia Lori, a writer whose stories were periodically published in The London Times. In the family, Laurie was the youngest and had two older sisters and an older brother.
In Laurie’s family, they professed Presbyterianism, attended the church, but Laurie, being an atheist, argued that religion did not play a big role in his upbringing. “My mother was a presbyterian by nature and mood, and was treated with suspicion of pleasure in the family,” he said in an interview with James Lipton. This, as well as the fact that Laurie could not match the impossibly high demands on the part of the
“I was disappointed for her, there were times when I thought that I just did not like her,” said Hugh Laurie.
Relations with his father at Hugh Laurie, on the contrary, developed well. Laurie spoke of him as “the best man in the world” and “a respected man who wore tweed suits and who was full of common sense and kindness.” Hugh Laurie got along very well with his father as a child.
He entered the preparatory academy “Dragon School” in Oxford, England. At school he fought depression, smoked and cheated on dictations in French. Not having a tendency to education, Laurie later said that he did not like school, and that he was pitiful and self-centered. Despite the lack of motivation for good study, Laurie showed himself well as an amateur rower. It was sports achievements that enabled him to move to the prestigious private school in Eton, and during the training there Laurie and his partner became the country’s champions in rowing, and also took the fourth place at the World Rowing Championship among juniors in Finland
Carier start
In the last grades of the school, Laurie reflected on the idea of becoming a doctor, like his father. But instead, in 1978, he enrolled at Selwyn College, Cambridge, intending to only row. His specialty was anthropology and archeology, but Laurie was never really interested in any of these subjects and said that anthropology is the best subject for reading if you spend eight hours on the river.
But the rower’s career suddenly ended when Laurie was a freshman – because of the serious case of mononucleosis, he could not perform with the team. To find a job in return, he passed tests and enrolled in the theater “Footlights” – a world-class university drama theater that launched such actors as John Cleese, Douglas Adams and Sacha Baron Cohen. This decision forever changed the life of the actor.
After entering the drama theater, Laurie met a student named Emma Thompson, with whom they soon began to meet.
By 1980, Laurie became president of the theater, and Thompson was vice president. Through relationships with Thompson, Laurie met the actor and playwright Stephen Fry. Laurie liked Fry’s play “Latin!” So much that he convinced Thompson to introduce them to both of them. They became real friends and in 1981 the three wrote a sketch called “Cinema from the Cellar”, which they presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Career comedians
After the release in 1981, a trio of comedians receives for their film the “Perrier” award at the Edinburgh Festival. This allowed them to go on tour in England and Australia, and in 1982 to release a TV version of their film entitled “The Cambridge Drama Theater Review.”
The trio also collaborated with “Grenada Television” and together they created several comedy shows in the early 80’s: “There’s nothing to worry about,” “The Crystal Cube” and “In Nature”. They also performed as guests in the popular British sitcom “Youth.”
In 1986, the guys continued to collaborate – they wrote scripts, and also starred in several TV shows, such as the “Fry and Laurie Show” in 1987. In the show, Fry and Laurie demonstrated their different abilities, including Lori’s ability to play the piano and guitar. The show came out for eight years and made their names known to everyone in the UK.
In 1987, after several episodic appearances in the TV series “Black Viper,” Laurie gave a full-fledged role in the third season of the series. The role of the stupidly smiling idiot George, the Prince Regent, was remembered by the public and created him an image for many years to come. At the same time, Laurie fell in love with the administrator of the theater Joe Greene, whom he took as his wife in 1989.
In 1990, Lori and Frye presented the new series “Jeeves and Worcester” based on the novel by PG Wodehouse about a brainless young man, and his valet, who always helped him out of sensitive situations. The show lasted three years and ended in 1993.
On the big screen
In the mid-1990s, Hugh Laurie also began to study films, music and writing. He played with his friend and ex-girlfriend Emma Thompson in the film “Feeling and Sensibility” in 1995. He also began to voice roles in children’s films, for example, in the cartoon “The Revenge of the Snow Queen” in 1995, “The Ugly Duckling” in 1997. In 1996, he played a clumsy criminal in the Disney hit “101 Dalmatians.”
In 1997, Lori played in the films “Thieves” and “Spice World.” In 1998, Laurie introduced his novel “Weapon Merchant” and played an episodic role in the film “The Man in the Iron Mask.”
In 1999, Laurie starred in the animated film “Stuart Little,” and then – in the sequel to the cartoon in 2002 and 2005.
On TV, Laurie returned in 2003 as a director and actor in the tragicomedy “A Little For Forty”. The show was closed after the first season.
Massive success
In 2004, Hugh Laurie received a role that earned him fame in the US. For her, he specially mastered the American accent. He played the exhausted and strange Dr. Gregory House in the series “Doctor House.” This role earned him the Golden Globe Award in 2006 and 2007. Also in 2007 he was awarded the title of officer of the Order of the British Empire.
2008 was a record year for the actor, as his fame in the US was staggering. He was invited for the second time on the show “Saturday Night Live”, received “Emmy”, was nominated for the Golden Globe in the Screen Actors Guild for his role as Dr. House. In the same year he played in the movie “Kings of the streets.”
Hugh Laurie is married to Joe Greene. The couple brings up three children. Together they live in Los Angeles, California.
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