After two decades as a popular comedian in the United Kingdom, Hugh Laurie found fame in the United States as percipient churl Dr. Gregory House in TV's House, M.D. Laurie got his start in Cambridge University's Footlights Revue in 1979. There he met actress Emma Thompson and his future partner in comedy, Stephen Fry. Laurie and Fry became familiar faces on British television in the 1980s and '90s , appearing in Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series, as well as A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster (with Laurie as Bertie Wooster). On film, Laurie appeared with Thompson in Peter's Friends (1992) and Ang Lee's version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995, also with Kate Winslet). Once in Hollywood, Laurie became familiar to filmgoers for his roles in children's movies, especially the live-action version of 101 Dalmations (1996, starring Glenn Close) and 1999's Stuart Little and its sequels (opposite Geena Davis). He won the lead role in 2004 in the medical series House (also starring Lisa Edelstein), a role that brought him 4 Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe wins (2006 and 2007).

Extra credit: Laurie published a well-received comic spy novel, The Gun Seller, in 1996.