On June 11, 1959 actor Hugh Laurie was born in Oxford, England. His father was an Olympic gold medalist in the sport of rowing so for much of his younger life, right up until he was 21 years old, Hugh Laurie also pursued the sport of rowing at a high level. Unfortunately for the sport of rowing the farthest Hugh Laurie ever got was the Oxford Youth Team when he was 21 years old and since there was no Olympic future for him in the sport of rowing Hugh Laurie turned to his next love, the stage and acting. He actually had his first taste of acting when he appeared in a short with Monty Python legend John Cleese called Who Sold You This, Then in 1975. At only 23 minutes it was hardly enough to introduce the world to Hugh Laurie but it started him on a path that would make him one of the more well known actors in British entertainment that would include stage, television, and movies. After many successful years in the British entertainment world Hugh Laurie then branched out to conquer the United States and just like other talented Brits before him Hugh Laurie not only conquered America but he has become one of the most popular actors on American television. That is not a bad career.

For many years after 1980 Hugh Laurie played various roles in television and movies not really achieving a whole lot of recognition but he was catching the eyes of some of the more popular people in British entertainment. At one point in his career Hugh Laurie was supposed to play the lead in the movie version of the classic book Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy along side Jim Carrey as a personal choice of the book’s author Douglass Adams. But Adams died before the project could get off the ground and Hugh Laurie continued to explore his options. He established himself in the Blackadder television series with the recurring role of Prince Ludiwg. The Blackadder series was on and off between 1986 and 1988 and it even got some airtime in the United States which allowed Hugh Laurie his first real exposure to an American audience. They would be seeing him again later in his career but for now no one in America knew who Hugh Laurie was. Then in 1990 Hugh Laurie hit the television big time in Britain with his hit comedy series Jeeves And Wooster. It ran for 3 years and for 23 episodes and he was doing this series at the same time he was doing another series called A Bit Of Fry And Laurie. Hugh Laurie was a television hit in Britain and he rode that wave until 1995 when A Bit Of Fry And Laurie went off the air. He took various jobs most notably in the Stuart Little movie franchise and he even had a role in the Spice Girls’ 1997 flop Spice World. But eventually America came calling and Hugh Laurie was ready.

In 2004 Hugh Laurie was given the lead role on a new American television drama called House and even though it was at first strange to see this very British man speaking with an American accent it did not take American audiences long to fall in love with Hugh Laurie. House is still on today and is an award winning series. Good show old boy! Good show!