Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie is an actor, comedian and musician from Oxford, United Kingdom. Born in 1959, he first comes to prominence through Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, before building a career in British television comedy and later in film, theatre and music.

Comedy and acting

Laurie gains wide recognition for his roles in Blackadder and for the sketch series A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which he makes with Stephen Fry, another Cambridge contemporary. He also appears in films including Maybe Baby, Girl from Rio, Flight of the Phoenix and Stuart Little, and works in television and on stage in London’s West End. He is linked with the role of Doctor Who in public discussion before David Tennant takes the part, but instead he is cast as Dr Gregory House in the medical drama House, MD.

Music

Laurie is a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone, and he also makes trumpet-like sounds with his mouth. He uses these musical skills on episodes of House and earlier on A Bit of Fry & Laurie. He performs piano on the 2010 track “If I Can’t Have You” by Meat Loaf. Under contract with Warner Bros, he releases the blues album Let Them Talk, and his music is associated with blues and jazz blues. He is also a member of Band from TV.

Writing

Laurie writes a novel, The Gun Seller, and another novel, The Paper Soldier, is also mentioned in connection with his writing.