Hugh Laurie Has Done More Than Fox Television Show "House, M.D."

Hugh Laurie has become an American icon over the past three years playing disgruntled doc Greg House on the Fox television show "House, M.D. It's a tortured genius story written by people who have probably watched a lot of M*A*S*H reruns. You can tell because of the snappy dialog. Of course, it's all the same snappy dialog, which is decidedly un-M*A*S*H-like, but at least someone in TVLand knows how to write. Or is being allowed to write, which is probably more the case.

Hugh Laurie portrays a man who simply does not play well with others. He's a brilliant doctor who saves a lot of people other doctors simply do not know how to treat, but that's because he is addicted to human puzzles. Some people think this makes him cold. House is of the opinion that it is better to have one's life saved by an ass than to have a nice guy hold your hand while you die.

When Istarted watching "House, M.D.," I didn't know anything about Hugh Laurie. I didn't know that he was British, or that his background was in comedy. How in the world could someone with the ability to pull off such an intense, complex character not have been doing that his entire life? And just what had Hugh Laurie been doing all this time? Specifically, I mean.

The answer? Lots.

James Hugh Calum Laurie comes from a family of long names. He was born June 11, 1959 in Oxford, England, to Patricia and Dr. William George Ranald Mundell Laurie, and attended Cambridge University. He was a good rower, and joined the Cambridge team, but illness in his first year forced him to drop out of the competitions. It was while recovering that he joined the Footlights Club, a comedy troupe that launched the careers of many British actors, including Emma Thompson.

The Footlights Club was actually quite well-known, as it took its act on the road at year's end. While traveling one year, Laurie and Thompson met Stephen Fry, who has acted in such movies as "Wilde" and "V for Vendetta," but was writing plays at the time. The three, along with two others, created a television sketch program called "Alfresco," which led to Hugh Laurie joining the "Black Adder" program, in which Rowan Atkinson (better known in the U.S. as Mr. Bean) was the head actor. Then it was on to films in the 1990s, when he acted in projects like "The Man in the Iron Mask," "Sense and Sensibility," the "Stuart Little" movies and "101 Dalmations." He did "Flight of the Phoenix" just before starting up with "House, M.D."

In addition to all that, he plays keyboards for not one, but two, rock bands - Poor White Trash and the Little Big Horns, and Band From TV - and he has a novel, titled "The Gun Seller."

Hugh Laurie has been a busy, busy boy. Don't expect anything additional from him while he's doing "House, M.D.," though, because American television habitually takes over the entire lives of its actors. There simply isn't time for anything else.

Hugh Laurie has been playing Dr. Greg House of "House, M.D." since 2004. If the show's current popularity keeps up, he'll be doing it for several years to come. ###