Cast Bios

Hugh Laurie Dr. Gregory House

Actor Bio
Character Bio

Hugh Laurie was born in Oxford, England, and educated at Eton College and Cambridge University, where he took a degree in anthropology. He rowed in the Cambridge and Oxford Boat Race of 1980 and was elected president of the venerable Footlights Revue. Along with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson, Laurie produced "The Cellar Tapes," which won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe of 1981 and propelled the trio into a number of groundbreaking British television shows, including four seasons of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie," which Laurie co-wrote for the BBC with Stephen Fry; three seasons of "Blackadder"; and three seasons of "Saturday Live." In addition, four seasons of "Jeeves and Wooster," basedÂ on the novels of P.G. Wodehouse, aired on "Masterpiece Theatre" from 1990-1995.

On the big screen, Laurie's credits include the upcoming holiday animated release "Arthur Christmas" opposite James McAvoy and Jim Broadbent and the upcoming film "The Oranges" opposite Catherine Keener and Leighton Meester. He recently completed production in Papua New Guinea on the upcoming film "Mister Pip."

Previous feature credits include the animated films "Hop," opposite Russell Brand and James Marsden and "Monsters vs. Aliens" opposite Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rogen; "Street Kings" opposite Forest Whitaker and Keanu Reeves; "Flight of the Phoenix" opposite Dennis Quaid; "Peter's Friends" directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh; "Sense and Sensibility" with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet; "Cousin Bette" with Jessica Lange; "The Man in the Iron Mask"; "101 Dalmatians"; and the "Stuart Little" movies with Geena Davis.

On American television, Laurie portrayed "Vincente Minnelli" opposite Judy Davis in the network telefilm "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows." He also appeared in "Tracey Takes On..." and "Friends." His voiceover credits include FAMILY GUY and THE SIMPSONS "Treehouse of Horror XXI" episode.

Laurie has directed television programs and commercials, including the HOUSE Season Six episode "Lockdown," composed and recorded numerous original songs and written articles for London's The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Four volumes of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" scripts have been published by Mandarin, and his first novel "The Gun Seller" was published in both the U.K. and the U.S. to critical acclaim and has been adapted into a screenplay.

Laurie's performance as "Dr. Gregory House" has garnered him two Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, six Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. He has twice been honored by the Television Critics Association with TCA Awards for Individual Achievement in Drama.

After signing a record deal with Warner Bros. records, Laurie recorded the New Orleans blues album "Let Them Talk" which has been released in the U.S. and internationally. Recorded at sessions in Los Angeles and New Orleans, the musical and vocal collaboration is produced by two-time Grammy Award winner Joe Henry.

Laurie is a spokesperson for L'Oreal Paris Men.

While filming HOUSE, Laurie lives in Los Angeles.

Dr. Gregory House is the world-renowned head of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's diagnostic department. He's brilliant at solving medical mysteries but unconcerned with social niceties. Rarely speaking to patients, he's misanthropic and apt to disregard any rules he deems unreasonable.

A leg infarction suffered years ago left House walking with a cane and in chronic pain, which he managed by abusing Vicodin. Though he knew he was addicted, he felt he didn't need treatment to get sober. But House's drug use, coupled with a string of deaths, contributed to a psychotic break and a forced detox in a psychiatric hospital.

He and Dr. James Wilson are close friends, though House's behavior has frequently strained that friendship. House has also tried the patience of his boss, hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy. Though he harbored feelings for Cuddy for years, it wasn't until she was unavailable that House became most vocal about his desire for her. Following a deadly accident that left House shaken, Cuddy came to him and revealed that she was actually in love with him.

Their romance was rocky from the start. At work, House struggled to lead the team with his usual outside-the-rules approach for fear of conflict with Cuddy. And as a boyfriend, he was unsure if he could, or even wanted to, make the changes needed to build a successful relationship. But it was Cuddy who ended things; when House disappeared and then relapsed during a health scare, she became convinced he could never be the man she needed.

House abandoned sobriety altogether after their breakup and embraced hedonism, while milking Cuddy's guilt as much as possible. A desperate and dangerous attempt to relieve his terrible leg pain left him bleeding and in agony in a bathtub. Cuddy believed his destructive behavior to be a manifestation of his grief over their split and his unwillingness to discuss it with her.

Both she and Wilson prodded House to open up about his feelings, particularly his anger at Cuddy. When he did unleash his rage, however, it was from behind the wheel of a car crashing through Cuddy's front window. The devastation he wreaked left Cuddy shocked and infuriated . . . but House was long gone when the police arrived, sipping drinks on a sunny beach on an island far away.