Hugh Laurie Biography

James Hugh Laurie was born in 1959 in Oxford and was educated at the prestigious Eton College. While attending Selwyn College in Cambridge, Hugh met the actress Emma Thompson and the comedian Stephen Fry, both of whom would go on to become lifelong friends of Laurie’s and influence his career greatly. Hugh’s fascination with acting began around this time, and the trio joined a number of acting clubs and took their performances to festivals and competitions, which eventually led to the television show Alfresco, a sketch comedy which ran for a few years in the early 1980’s.

For the remainder of the decade and into the next, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry worked together on a number of projects, and slowly Hugh’s acting career began to take off. Hugh Laurie became a highly recognizable figure in British television and film, branching into such features as Sense and Sensibility, alongside his friend Emma Thompson, in 1995. Hugh’s biggest breakthrough, and his expansion into the American market, came when he was cast in the title role of the television series House in 2004, for which he has earned multiple awards and nominations. Hugh quickly became a household name also in America, and in the last few seasons of the series House (which concluded in 2012), Laurie began to explore his other great artistic love, music.

Those who have watched the series House have seen the title character often playing piano, although few may have realized that Hugh Laurie is an extremely accomplished musician. Hugh began studying music when he was only six years old, and over the years he learned to play the guitar, sax, drums, and harmonica in addition to the piano. Towards the end of House’s lengthy run, in 2010, Hugh Laurie signed with Warner Bros. Records as a solo artist and released his debut, Let Them Talk, in 2011. Didn’t It Rain followed in 2013, and Hugh now looks forward to a career in music as well as film.

In addition to his career in music, television, and film, Hugh Laurie also published a thriller, The Gun Seller, in 1996.