Most people will know Hugh Laurie best for his leading role on House, but he has had a long-standing career in the UK before that. The English actor turns 67 today, June 11, 2026.
James Hugh Calum Laurie dropped the names James and Calum when he took on a professional stage name. Since then, those names have mostly been forgotten about by the fans, as he’s grown his career from his Fry and Lauriedays with Stephen Fry.
Born on June 11, 1959, Laurie initially started out with Fry as a comedy duo, and the two continued to work together on TV projects after that, including three seasons of Blackadder, a period comedy series that was set in different time periods during each season. One of his most memorable characters throughout the three seasons is George, the Prince Regent, proving that Laurie wasn’t afraid to have fun with his roles.
However, it’s likely House that the majority of people remember him for, which premiered in 2004 and became a medical drama staple for eight seasons. Just recently, Laurie had clapped back at those who believed the series was too repetitive, as the titular character would repeatedly make wrong diagnoses each episode until finally getting it right. He made it clear that the creative team tried other options but either NBC or the audience weren’t happy.
He did later apologize for his comments, noting that he was upset about something that didn’t involve her.
He won two Golden Globes for the medical drama, but his award-winning days wouldn’t end there. He has also won a Golden glove for The Night Manager, where he starred as arms dealer RIchard Onslow Roper, the main antagonist during the first season. Since then, he has gone on to appear in Veep, Avenue 5, and Tehran.
What many people don’t know is that Laurie is not just an actor. From the age of six, he learned the piano, and over time, he has learned to play the guitar, drums, saxophone, and harmonica as well. He has shown off some of his musical talents throughout his time as an actor, but many may be surprised to hear that he is the vocalist and keyboard play for the charity rock group, Band From TV, which is based in Los Angeles, and he has a blues album, among other musical achievements.
In fact, his music career started after House, when he took time off acting to create two studio albums. He made it clear that, “I was not born in Alabama in the 1890s… let this record show that I am a white, middle-class Englishman, openly trespassing on the music and myth of the American South,” as he connected to all the stories and myths of the past about hellhounds and gypsy curses.
That’s still not all, as he is also an author, with The Gun Seller published in 1996. It quickly became a best-seller, offering both a thrilling story with Wodehouseian humor, as the Wodehouse novels had previous “saved his life.”
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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