James Hugh Calum Laurie was born on 11 June 1959 in Oxford, UK. He is an English actor, comedian and writer.

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.

On film, Laurie appeared with Thompson in Peter's Friends (1992) and Ang Lee's version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995). Once in Hollywood, Laurie became familiar to filmgoers for his roles in children's movies, especially the live-action version of 101 Dalmations (1996) and Stuart Little (1999).

In 2004 he appeared in the feature film remake Flight of the Phoenix and then won the lead role in the medical series House, with Laurie playing a sarcastic and antisocial but mystery-solving doc.

Laurie married Jo Green, a theatre administrator, in June 1989. He was awarded an OBE in the 2007 New Year Honours List for his services to drama. On May 23, 2007, he was given the honour by Queen Elizabeth II.

Filmography

• Street Kings (2008)
• The Night Watchman (2008)
• "House M.D." (72 episodes, 2004-2007)
• The Big Empty (2005)
• Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005)
• Valiant (2005)
• The Tale of Jack Frost (2004)
• Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
• The Young Visiters (2003)
• "Fortysomething" (3 episodes, 2003)
• "Stuart Little" (2003)
• Lost in the Snow (2002)
• Stuart Little 2 (2002)
• "Spooks" (2 episodes, 2002)
• Dragans of New York (2002)
• Second Star to the Left (2001)
• "Family Guy" (1 episode, 2001)
• Chica de Río (2001)
• The Piano Tuner (2001)
• Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001)
• "Preston Pig" (2000)
• "Dominion" (2000)
• Maybe Baby (2000)
• "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" (1 episode, 2000)
• Carnivale (2000)
• "Little Grey Rabbit" (2000)
• Lounge Act (2000)
• The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999)
• Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)
• Stuart Little (1999)
• Santa's Last Christmas (1999)
• Cousin Bette (1998)
• "Friends" (1 episode, 1998)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
• "The Bill" (1 episode, 1998)
• Spice World (1997)
• The Borrowers (1997)
• "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends" (1 episode 1997)
• The Place of Lions (1997)
• The Ugly Duckling (1997)
• 101 Dalmatians (1996)
• "Murder Most Horrid" (1 episode, 1996)
• "Tracey Takes On..." (1 episode, 1996)
• The Snow Queen's Revenge (1996)
• The Best of Tracey Takes On... (1996)
• Sense and Sensibility (1995)
• "Look at the State We're In!" (1995)
• "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" (26 episodes, 1987-1995)
• The Snow Queen (1995)
• The Adventures of Mole (1995)
• A Pin for the Butterfly (1994)
• All or Nothing at All (1993)
• "The Legends of Treasure Island" (2 episodes, 1993)
• "Jeeves and Wooster" (23 episodes, 1990-1993)
• Peter's Friends (1992)
• "Blackadder Goes Forth" (6 episodes, 1989)
• Strapless (1989)
• "The New Statesman" (1 episode, 1989)
• "Les Girls" (1988)
• Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988)
• Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988)
• "Blackadder the Third" (6 episodes, 1987)
• The Laughing Prisoner (1987)
• "Filthy Rich & Catflap" (1 episode, 1987)
• Up Line (1987)
• "Girls on Top" (1 episode, 1986)
• "Blackadder II" (2 episodes, 1986)
• "Happy Families" (2 episodes, 1985)
• Mrs. Capper's Birthday (1985)
• Plenty (1985)
• "The Young Ones" (1 episode, 1984)
• The Crystal Cube (1983)
• "Alfresco" (1983)
• Cambridge Footlights Revue (1982)
• Who Sold You This, Then? (1975)

Awards

• Golden Globe Best Actor in a Drama Series "House" 2007
• Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series "House" 2007
• Golden Globe Best Actor in a Drama Series "House" 2006