Queen Makes Hugh Laurie Member of Order of British Empire (OBE)

On Wednesday, May 23^rd, Hugh Laurie (best known by those in the States as TV's Dr. Gregory House) was named a member of the Order of the British Empire. Queen Elizabeth presented Laurie with this honor at Buckingham Palace.

Although only recently rising to stardom in America as cranky, vicodin-addicted Dr. House, Laurie has been a comedic force in the U.K. for over twenty years. He's appeared in such television programs as Blackadder (alongside Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson) and A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster, which were both collaborations with longtime friend Stephen Fry. Laurie met Fry while they were both students at Cambridge and members of the Cambridge Footlights.

The character Laurie protrays on the FOX Network's sensationally successful House is quite a departure from the silly, yet witty characters he'd been famous for before. Dr. Gregory House is brilliant, yet tortured by both personal matters (loss of full function of his right leg due to an infarction, his subsequent drug dependency, failed romantic relationship with Stacy Warner, poor relationship with his father, etc.) and his impatience with those who aren't on his intellectual plane (almost everyone). House's penchant for monster trucks, rumpled t-shirts, sneakers, soap operas, and, most recently, a cane decorated with flames ("Makes it look like I'm going fast.") seemingly contradicts his angry, sardonic persona, but actually only adds to the complexity of this unpredictable character.

House's tightly guarded unhappiness might perhaps mirror Laurie's own struggles with clinical depression. Laurie's personal experience no doubt adds a substantial amount of depth to his performance as House, which has been critically applauded. He was the recipient of two Golden Globes in 2006 and 2007 for Best Actor in a Television Drama and the 2007 Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Male Actor in a Drama Series. Laurie was also nominated for an Emmy in 2005 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.