Hugh Laurie's Real Name: James Hugh Calum Laurie

Quick answer: Hugh Laurie's full name is James Hugh Calum Laurie. He was born on June 11, 1959, in Oxford, England. James is his first name, but he goes by his middle name, Hugh. He is best known as Dr. Gregory House on House (2004–12) and for his comedy partnership with Stephen Fry (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica lists him as James Hugh Calum Laurie. The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Laurie, Hugh, 1959-," with a citation recording his birth on June 11, 1959, in Oxford, Oxfordshire.

According to Britannica, Laurie was educated at Eton College and Selwyn College, Cambridge. His father won a gold medal in rowing for Britain at the 1948 London Olympics, and Laurie took up the sport at Eton. He and his partner won the 1977 national junior coxed pairs title and finished fourth at the world junior championships. He joined the Cambridge rowing team, but illness forced him to withdraw. He then joined the Footlights comedy revue, eventually becoming its president.

Career highlights

On a Footlights tour Laurie met Stephen Fry. Their revue The Cellar Tapes won the Perrier award at the 1981 Edinburgh Fringe. With Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, and Ben Elton they wrote and performed the sketch show Alfresco (1983–84). Laurie then joined Rowan Atkinson in Blackadder II and later Blackadder series, beginning in 1986. He and Fry made 26 episodes of A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987–95) and starred in Jeeves and Wooster (1990–93).

In 2004 he took the role of the brilliant, abrasive Dr. Gregory House in the American drama House. Britannica says his American accent was so convincing that people sometimes thought he was joking when he spoke in his natural British voice. He won Golden Globes for the role in 2006 and 2007. He won a third Golden Globe as an arms dealer in The Night Manager (2016).

His films include Peter's Friends (1992), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Stuart Little (1999), and Tomorrowland (2015). On TV he had a recurring role on Veep, starred in Chance and Roadkill, and captained a space cruise ship in Avenue 5. He has released two blues albums, Let Them Talk (2011) and Didn't It Rain (2013). He also wrote the novels The Gun Seller (1996) and The Paper Soldier (2007). He was made an OBE in 2007 and a CBE in 2018.

Name notes for searchers

Laurie has been credited by his middle name, Hugh, throughout his career. James is his legal first name, and Calum is a second middle name.