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James Hugh Calum Laurie OBE was born on 11 June 1959 and was educated at Eton College and Selwyn College. Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of glandular fever, Laurie joined the Cambridge Footlights, the university dramatic club that has produced many well-known actors and comedians. There he met Emma Thompson, with whom he had a romantic relationship for some time. She introduced him to his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry.

Fry and Laurie went on to work together on various projects throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. Among them were the Blackadder series, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, starring Rowan Atkinson, and the comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie. They also worked together at various charity stage events, such as Hysteria! 1, 2 & 3 and Amnesty International’s The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball and TV shows for Comic Relief.

Laurie appeared in the music video for Kate’s song Experiment IV as the ill-fated technician who worked with Dr. Jerry Coe. In 1992, he appeared in the music video for Annie Lennox’s single ‘Walking On Broken Glass’. In 1997 Laurie appeared in the Spice Girls’ film ‘Spice World’. In 1998, Laurie had a brief guest-starring role on Friends in ‘The One with Ross’s Wedding’.

From 2004 to 2012, Laurie played Dr. Gregory House, the title character of ‘House’, for which he received two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Laurie has portrayed Senator Tom James in the HBO political satire Veep since 2015, as well as Dr. Eldon Chance in the Hulu series Chance since 2016. In 2016, he appeared in the BBC/AMC miniseries The Night Manager, receiving his third Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Laurie’s debut studio album, ‘Let Them Talk’, was released to favorable reviews in May 2011. A follow-up, ‘Didn’t It Rain’, was released in August 2013.

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