For the British car company, see Vauxhall Motors.

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Coordinates: 51°29′25″N 0°07′09″W / 51.4903°N 0.1193°W / 51.4903; -0.1193

Vauxhall
Vauxhall  Vauxhall shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ305785
London borough	Lambeth
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	SW8
Postcode district	SE1, SE11
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Vauxhall
London Assembly	Lambeth and Southwark
List of places: UK • England • London

Vauxhall ( /ˈvɒks.ɔːl/) is an inner city area of Central London in the London Borough of Lambeth. It was once in the historic county of Surrey.

It has also given its name to the Vauxhall Parliamentary Constituency, which also includes parts of Brixton and Clapham, and to the Vauxhall Motors car manufacturer, which originated in the area, as well as to the Russian word for a large railroad station (see below).

In 1998, Vauxhall became part of the borough's North Lambeth town centre, for local government administrative purposes.

History[link]

Etymology[link]

It is generally accepted that the etymology of Vauxhall is from the name of Falkes de Breauté, the head of King John's mercenaries, who owned a large house in the area which was referred to as Faulke's Hall, later Foxhall, and eventually Vauxhall.^[1] The area only became generally known by this name when the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens opened as a public attraction. Initially most visitors would have approached by river, but crowds of Londoners of all classes came to know the area after the construction of Westminster Bridge in the 1740s.

There are competing theories as to why the Russian word for a central railway station is вокзал (vokzal), which coincides with the canonical 19th century transliteration of "Vauxhall". It has long been suggested that a Russian delegation visited the area to inspect the construction of the London and South Western Railway in 1840, and mistook the name of the station for the generic name of the building type. This was further embellished into a story that the Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, visiting London in 1844, was taken to see the trains at Vauxhall and made the same mistake. The L&SWR's original railway terminus was shown boldly and simply as "Vauxhall" in the 1841 Bradshaw timetable.^[2] Another likely explanation is that the first Russian railway, constructed in 1837, ran from Saint Petersburg via Tsarskoye Selo to Pavlovsk Palace, where extensive Pleasure Gardens had earlier been established. In 1838 a music and entertainment pavilion was constructed at the railway terminus. This pavilion was called the Vokzal in homage to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in London. The name soon came to be applied to the station itself, which was the gateway that most visitors used to enter the gardens. It later came to mean any substantial railway station building (a different Russian word, stantsiya, is used for minor stations).The word "voksal" (воксал) had been known in the Russian language with the meaning of "amusement park" long before the 1840s and may be found, e.g., in the poetry of Aleksandr Pushkin: На гуляньях иль в воксалах / Легким зефиром летал (To Natalie (1813): "At fêtes and in voksals, /I've been flitting like a gentle Zephyrus" [here "Zephyrus" is an allegory of a gentle, warm and pleasant wind ]) According to Vasmer, the word is first attested in the Saint Petersburg Vedomosti for 1777 in the form фоксал, which may reflect an earlier English spelling, Faukeshall. Englishman Michael Maddox established a Vauxhall Gardens in the Moscow suburbs in 1783, with pleasure gardens, a small theatre/concert hall and places for refreshment. Archdeacon William Coxe describes the place as a 'sort of Vauxhall' in that year, in his 'Travels into Russia'.

Early history[link]

There is no mention of Vauxhall in the 1086 Domesday Book. The area originally formed part of the extensive Manor of South Lambeth, which was held by the de Redvers family.^[3] Falkes de Breauté acquired it in 1216 when he married Margaret, widow of Baldwin de Redvers; de Breauté’s lands reverted to the de Redvers family after his death in 1226.^[3] In 1293 South Lambeth Manor and the Manor of “la Sale Faukes” passed, probably by trickery, to Edward I.^[3] In 1317 King Edward II granted the manor of Vauxhall, Surrey, to Sir Roger d'Amory for his "good services" at the Battle of Bannockburn.

From various accounts, three local roads – the South Lambeth Road, Clapham Road (previously Merton Road) and Wandsworth Road (previously Kingston Road) – were ancient and well-known routes to and from London.

Development[link]

The land was flat and parts were marshy and poorly drained by ditches, and only started to be developed in the mid-18th century but remained a village. Prior to this it provided market garden produce for the nearby City of London. Vauxhall Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge Road were opened in 1816. By 1860 the village had been subsumed by the town of Lambeth.^[1] Many of Vauxhall's streets were destroyed during the construction of the railway to Waterloo station, by German bombing in World War II or ravaged through poor city planning.

Geography[link]

Nearest places[link]

Neighbouring areas

	Westminster	Lambeth	Elephant and Castle
	Pimlico		Kennington
		Vauxhall    East
	Nine Elms	Stockwell	Camberwell

Demography[link]

Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing.^[4] There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within Vauxhall are flats, both conversions and purpose built blocks.^[5] Vauxhall is also a popular residential area for Members of Parliament and civil servants due to its proximity to the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall; Kennington is within the area wired for the Commons' Division bell. Some 18th and 19th century property also survives – most famously Bonnington Square, a community which emerged from the 1970s/1980s squat scene in London, and remains as mostly housing co-operatives today.^[6]

Vauxhall is a very ethnically diverse area, with approximately 40% of residents originating from a non-white ethnic group.^[7] There is a significant Portuguese community, some with a connection to Madeira; many Portuguese restaurants and bars are located in South Lambeth Road and the surrounding area. There is also a significant Muslim community, with amost 6% of residents declaring themselves as Muslim in the 2001 census.^[8]

The late 1990s/early first decade of the 21st century explosion in London property prices has led to a boom in riverside construction and property re-developments, such as the large St George Wharf development by Vauxhall Bridge. Residents include John Major and Chelsea Clinton.

The impact of new construction and the rise in land values has created a dramatic change in Vauxhall's demographics.

Economy[link]

Much of the area in Vauxhall contains light industry, offices and government buildings. Many companies and organisations were attracted in the past by Vauxhall's central location and comparatively cheap rent compared to Westminster on the other side of the river. In recent years, Vauxhall's riverside has undergone major redevelopment with the construction of a number of modern residential and office blocks, most notably the distinctive MI6 building at Vauxhall Cross. There are also a number of new commercial businesses moving in to the area including Bathstore, Topps Tiles and Metropolis Motorcycles as well as proposals to redevelop the Sainsburys site.^[9]

Gay Village and "Voho"[link]

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a well-known gay venue

Vauxhall is home to an ever-increasing number of gay bars and nightclubs, such as Area, Barcode, Chariots, Crash, The Eagle, Factory, Fire, The Hoist, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, as well as other venues often holding special events for gay clubbers, such as Club Colosseum, Hidden and Renaissance Rooms. The aforementioned Royal Vauxhall Tavern dates back to at least the late 19th century, and was for many years a traditional English music hall and cabaret venue. In recent years the building has come under constant threat of buyout and demolition from property developers, as it stands alone on a prime piece of grassland adjacent to Vauxhall railway station. However, the pub was bought in 2004 by sympathetic owners who have announced, "business as usual".

Vauxhall was originally the home of the more underground gay clubs with the arrival of Crash in the 1990s.^[10] Over the years, more clubs and gay businesses have followed Crash's lead by opening up in the railway arches underneath the main line out of Waterloo Station. One of the most notable venues to open in the area is Fire Night Club which is located on Parry Street and currently occupies 6 of the arches aforementioned. Fire was the scene of a drugs raid by the Metropolitan Police Service on 28 April 2007 where 9 people were arrested. The tactics used in the raid (namely photographing all the persons leaving the venue) were strongly criticised by the gay press at the time.^[11] The burgeoning club scene and the lure of the more trendy railway arches have made Vauxhall a prime destination for businesses to open up in, including London's only exclusively gay gym, Paris Gym, another branch of Chariots gay sauna, Barcode (sister bar venue of the same name in Soho) and the Sunday Morning Afterhours venue, Beyond hosted at 'Area' club. The area is fast earning the nickname "Vauxhall Gay Village".

Before Vauxhall earned its reputation as a gay village, it was regarded among the underground gay club scene as the place to go to avoid the more commercial nights elsewhere in central London. However, the market has become more and more lucrative with the arrival of more venues and more nights, and Vauxhall has been criticised as becoming increasingly commercial, diluting its once underground appeal. But the demise of other club venues in London, such as Turnmills, the Astoria and The Fridge, have led to the gay club scene to become more centralised in Vauxhall, turning it into an alternative destination from Soho for gay people to socialise. Vauxhall has also become colloquially known as "Voho"^[12] (a consolidation of the names Vauxhall and Soho) within the gay community, due to the emergence of Vauxhall as a gay village after Soho.

Entertainment in the Vauxhall area is not exclusively aimed at gay clientele; the oldest strip pub in London (the Queen Anne) sitting at Vauxhall Walk has now closed to be replaced with The Tea Theatre, a 1940s themed tea room.

Landmarks[link]

SIS Headquarters

By Vauxhall Bridge is the central headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service (more commonly referred to as MI6), which occupies offices built between 1989 and 1992 and commonly referred to as Vauxhall Cross. More recently, a large complex of apartments and offices has been built to the south of Vauxhall Bridge at St George Wharf. Part of this development includes the planned St George Wharf Tower, which upon completion will be the tallest residential building in the UK.

The MI6 building has featured in several James Bond films, initially filmed without permission but then condoned by then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook with his memorable "After all James Bond has done for Britain..." quip. It is seen in GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough (wherein it suffers a fictional terrorist attack that prefigured a genuine incident) and Die Another Day. The latter featured a fictional London Underground station, Vauxhall Cross, a supposedly closed stop on the Piccadilly Line now employed by MI6 as an extension to its HQ. In fact, the Piccadilly Line does not come south of the river at all; only the Victoria Line passes anywhere nearby, and the secret entrance to the station shown in the film is on the east side of Westminster Bridge some considerable distance down river.

Vauxhall is also home to Brunswick House, a listed Georgian mansion and former home to the Dukes of Brunswick. Built in 1758, it once stood in three acres of riverside parkland – now it sits in the middle of Vauxhall Cross overshadowed by the massive St George Wharf complex. The building was in a state of disrepair and was on the English Heritage 'Buildings at Risk' list until it was acquired by LASSCO (The London Architectural Salvage and Supply Company), which also has a branch in Oxford, in 2004. After the squatters were removed, the building was restored and it's now used by LASSCO as a premises from which to sell architectural salvage. Members of the public are welcome to visit the restored building for a glimpse of Vauxhall's elegant past.

St Peter's Church in Kennington Lane^[13] was designed by John Loughborough Pearson who was also the architect of the Rochester, Bristol, Peterborough, Lincoln, Truro (Cornwall) and Brisbane (Australia) Cathedrals. Today the church is a community centre and arts venue as well as a church. Next to the St Peter's is Vauxhall City Farm.

Transport[link]

Vauxhall is extraordinarily connected even by central London standards. London Underground, National Rail trains, and London buses are all available at Vauxhall station. The tube stop is on the boundary of zones 1 and 2 of the London Travelcard area on the Victoria line, and Northern Line stations are within walking distance from many parts of Vauxhall. The rail station is served by South West Trains to and from London Waterloo, which is one stop away. The bus station has 14 routes serving southwest and central London.

The availability of underground, trains, and buses has given Vauxhall a PTAL rating of 6b at its centre.^[14]

In addition to public transport, Vauxhall is accessible by major roads and the Thames Path pedestrian and bicycle trail. Vauxhall also has two 17 space Barclays Cycle Hire docking stations and Cycle Superhighway 7 runs through the area.

Vauxhall Cross[link]

The Vauxhall Cross transport interchange, 2005. The solar panels supply energy for 60% of the bus station's lighting.

Vauxhall Cross is immediately to the south-east of Vauxhall Bridge where six major roads converge, including the Albert Embankment which exits the Cross to the north, and which is the southernmost point of entry into the London congestion charge area. Vauxhall Cross was described as "one of the most unpleasant road junctions in South London" in Nikolaus Pevsner's architectural guide to London. Through 2002 to 2004 the Cross underwent a gradual redesign to accommodate a bus interchange linked to the Vauxhall mainline railway and tube stations, both of which are located to the south-eastern end of the cross. Work has involved design changes to traffic lanes, improved pedestrian and cycle crossings, refurbishment of walkways beneath the mainline railway viaduct, and the construction of a bus station, completed in December 2004 featuring an undulating steel-frame canopy and ribbed steel walls. An interesting feature of the canopy is a series of photoelectric cells generating electricity to offset the energy used by the bus station.

Nearest tube stations[link]

• Vauxhall
• Kennington
• Oval
• Pimlico
• Stockwell

Community facilities[link]

Vauxhall Park^[15] contains an area of miniature model houses (also in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne) as well as tennis courts, day care in the "one o'clock club", and children's playground. It is open daily for recreation and has an "open day" once a year.

Notable people[link]

Owing to its proximity to the Houses of Parliament, many famous politicians have or have had their London homes in the Vauxhall/Kennington area. Famous present and past residents include:

• Kenneth Clarke
• Geoff Hoon
• Ed Balls
• Yvette Cooper
• Alistair Darling
• Jack Straw
• Charles Kennedy
• Sir John Major
• Lee Ryan
• Brian Paddick
• Jeffrey Archer
• Charlie Brooker

See also[link]

• Afterhours clubs

References[link]

• Vauxhall Pleasures. Published November 2006 in hidden europe magazine Issue 11, pp. 30–34. ISSN 1860-6318. (Article explores the pleasure gardens and Vauxhall's Russian connections)
• Vauxhall Gardens Revisit'd Michael Carter (Short essay which, like the preceding reference, provides useful further reading on this topic)

External links[link]

• The Vauxhall Civic Society – News, history and information about Vauxhall's civic consultative group

v t e London Borough of Lambeth Districts Brixton Clapham Crystal Palace Gipsy Hill Herne Hill Kennington Lambeth Oval Stockwell Streatham Streatham Hill Tulse Hill Vauxhall Waterloo West Dulwich West Norwood Attractions Imperial War Museum Lambeth Archives Lambeth Palace London Eye Lower Marsh Market Oval Cricket Ground Southbank Centre Royal National Theatre BFI Southbank Royal Festival Hall Queen Elizabeth Hall Purcell Room Hayward Bridges Waterloo Hungerford Lambeth Westminster Vauxhall Parks and open spaces Brockwell Park Jubilee Gardens Kennington Park Norwood Park Constituencies Streatham Vauxhall Dulwich and West Norwood Other topics People Public art Schools The Lambeth Walk

Hugh Laurie OBE
Hugh Laurie during the House session of the 2009 Fox Winter TCA
Born	James Hugh Calum Laurie (1959-06-11) 11 June 1959 (age 53) Oxford, England, UK
Alma mater	Cambridge University Eton College
Occupation	Actor, comedian, musician, singer, writer, director
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Jo Green (m. 1989) «start: (1989)»"Marriage: Jo Green to Hugh Laurie" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Hugh_Laurie)
Children	2 sons, 1 daughter
Website
hughlaurieblues.com

James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959), known as Hugh Laurie (/ˈhjuː ˈlɒri/), is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director. He first became known as one half of the Fry and Laurie double act, along with his friend and comedy partner Stephen Fry, whom he joined in the cast of Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster from 1987 to 1999.

From 2004 to 2012, he played Dr Gregory House, the protagonist of House, for which he received two Golden Globe awards, two Screen Actors Guild awards, and six Emmy nominations. As of August 2010, Laurie is the highest paid actor in a drama series on US television.^[1] He has been listed in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid actor ever in a TV Drama—earning US$ 700,000^[2] per episode in House—and for being the most watched leading man on television.^[3][4]

Early life and education[link]

Laurie was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.^[5] The youngest of four children, Laurie has an older brother named Charles and two older sisters named Susan and Janet.^[6] He had a somewhat strained relationship with his mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw).^[5][7] His father, Ran Laurie, was a medical doctor who also won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs (rowing) at the 1948 London Games.^[5][8]

Although Laurie was brought up in the Presbyterian church as a child,^[5][9] he has declared: "I don't believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted he'd take it away."^[10] He was brought up in Oxford and attended the Dragon School. He later went on to Eton and then to Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he studied for a degree in Archaeology and Social Anthropology. While at Cambridge he was a member of Footlights, the university dramatic club that has produced many well-known actors and comedians, and he was club president in 1981. He was also a member of the Hermes Club and the Hawks' Club.^[5]

Like his father, Laurie was an oarsman at school and university;^[5] in 1977, he was a member of the junior coxed pair that won the British national title before representing Britain's Youth Team at the 1977 Junior World Rowing Championships. In 1980, Laurie and his rowing partner, J. S. Palmer, were runners-up in the Silver Goblets^[11] coxless pairs for Eton Vikings rowing club. Later, he also achieved a Blue while taking part in the 1980 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.^[12] Cambridge lost that year by 5 feet.^[13] During this time Laurie was training for up to 8 hours a day and was on course to become an Olympic standard rower.^[14] Laurie is a member of Leander Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world.

Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of glandular fever (mononucleosis), he joined the Cambridge Footlights, which has been the starting point for many successful British comedians. There he met Emma Thompson, with whom he had a romantic relationship; the two remain good friends.^[5] She introduced him to his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry. Laurie, Fry and Thompson later parodied themselves as the University Challenge representatives of "Footlights College, Oxbridge" in "Bambi", an episode of The Young Ones, with the series' co-writer Ben Elton completing their team. In 1980–81, his final year at university, besides rowing, Laurie was also president of the Footlights, with Thompson as vice-president. They took their annual revue, The Cellar Tapes, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won the first Perrier Comedy Award. The revue was written principally by Laurie and Fry, and the cast also included Thompson, Tony Slattery, Paul Shearer and Penny Dwyer.

Acting career[link]

The Perrier Award led to a West End transfer for The Cellar Tapes and a television version of the revue, broadcast in May 1982. It resulted in Laurie, Fry and Thompson being selected, along with Ben Elton, Robbie Coltrane and Siobhan Redmond to write and appear in a new sketch comedy show for Granada Television, Alfresco, which ran for two series.

Fry and Laurie went on to work together on various projects throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Among them were the Blackadder series, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, starring Rowan Atkinson, with Laurie in various roles, but most notably Prince George and Lieutenant George.^[5] Other projects followed, of which one was their BBC sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie; another project was Jeeves and Wooster,^[5] an adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse’s stories, in which Laurie played Jeeves’s employer, the amiable twit Bertie Wooster. He and Fry worked together at various charity stage events, such as Hysteria! 1, 2 & 3 and Amnesty International’s The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball, Comic Relief TV shows and the variety show Fry and Laurie Host a Christmas Night with the Stars. They collaborated again on the film Peter's Friends and came together for a retrospective show in 2010 titled Fry and Laurie Reunited.

Laurie starred in the Thames Television film "Letters from a Bomber Pilot" (1985) directed by David Hodgson. This was a serious acting role, the film being dramatised from the letters home of Pilot Officer J.R.A. "Bob" Hodgson, a pilot in RAF Bomber Command, who was killed in action in 1943.^[15]

Laurie appeared in the music videos for the 1986 single "Experiment IV" by Kate Bush, and the 1992 single "Walking on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox, in full Georgian-period costume, a toned-down version of his Prince George character from Blackadder the Third, opposite John Malkovich, similarly reprising his role of the Vicomte Valmont from Dangerous Liaisons.^[16]

Laurie’s later film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), adapted by and starring Emma Thompson; the Disney live-action film 101 Dalmatians (1996), where he played Jasper, one of the bumbling criminals hired to kidnap the puppies; Elton’s adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, Maybe Baby (2000); Girl From Rio; the 2004 remake of The Flight of the Phoenix; and the three Stuart Little films.

In 1996, Laurie’s first novel, The Gun Seller, an intricate thriller laced with Wodehouseian humour, was published and became a best-seller.^[5] He has since been working on the screenplay for a movie version and on a second novel, The Paper Soldier. In 1998, Laurie had a brief guest-starring role on Friends in "The One with Ross's Wedding, Part Two".

Since 2002, Laurie has appeared in a range of British television dramas, guest-starring that year in two episodes of the first season of the spy thriller series Spooks on BBC One. In 2003, he starred in and also directed ITV's comedy-drama series fortysomething (in one episode of which Stephen Fry appears). In 2001, he voiced the character of a bar patron in the Family Guy episode "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea". Laurie voiced the character of Mr. Wolf in the cartoon Preston Pig. He was a panellist on the first episode of QI, alongside Fry as host. In 2004, Laurie guest-starred as a professor in charge of a space probe called Beagle, on The Lenny Henry Show.

Laurie's fame expanded to the American public in 2004, when he first starred as the acerbic physician specialising in diagnostic medicine, Dr Gregory House in the popular Fox medical drama House. For his portrayal, Laurie assumes an American accent.^[5] Laurie was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix and recorded the audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, the only place he could get enough light.^[17] While working on Flight of the Phoenix, Jacob Vargas operated the camera to shoot Laurie's audition tape for House. Laurie's US accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for.^[17] Laurie also adopts the accent between takes on the set of House,^[18] as well as during script read-throughs, although he used his native accent when directing the House episode "Lockdown".^[18]

Laurie was nominated for an Emmy Award^[19] for his role in House in 2005. Although he did not win, he did receive a Golden Globe in both 2006 and 2007 for his work on the series and the Screen Actors Guild award in 2007 and 2009. Laurie was also awarded a large increase in salary, from what was rumoured to be a mid-range five-figure sum to $350,000 per episode.^[20] Laurie was not nominated for the 2006 Emmys, apparently to the outrage of Fox executives,^[21] but he still appeared in a scripted, pre-taped intro, where he parodied his House character by rapidly diagnosing host Conan O'Brien and then proceeded to grope him as the latter asked him for help to get to the Emmys on time. He would later go on to speak in French while presenting an Emmy with Dame Helen Mirren, and has since been nominated in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Laurie's success on the show extends to the financial, earning over $700,000 per episode.^[2]

Laurie was initially cast as Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet, in Singer's film Superman Returns but had to bow out of the project because of his involvement in House. In July 2006, Laurie appeared on Bravo!'s Inside the Actors Studio, where he also performed one of his own comic songs, "Mystery", accompanying himself on the piano.^[5] He hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live, in which he appeared in drag in a sketch about a man (Kenan Thompson) with a broken leg who accuses his doctor of being dishonest. Laurie played the man’s wife.

In August 2007, Laurie appeared on BBC Four's documentary Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out, filmed in celebration of Fry’s 50th birthday. In 2008, Laurie appeared as Captain James Biggs in Street Kings, opposite Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, and then in 2009 as the eccentric Dr. Cockroach, PhD in DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens. He also hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time on the Christmas show in which he sang a medley of three-second Christmas songs to close his monologue.

In 2009, Laurie returned to guest star in another Family Guy episode, "Business Guy", parodying Gregory House and himself assuming an American accent. In 2010, Laurie filmed an independent feature called The Oranges. In 2010, Laurie guest starred in The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XXI" as Roger, a castaway who is planning a murder scheme on a ship during Homer and Marge's second honeymoon.^{[citation needed]} On 8 February 2012, Fox announced that season 8 of House will be the last.

Music career[link]

From the age of six, Laurie took piano lessons with a Mrs. Hare.^[22] He plays the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone. He has displayed his musical talents in episodes of several television series, most notably A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, House and when he hosted Saturday Night Live in October 2006. He is a vocalist and keyboard player for the Los Angeles charity rock group Band From TV. Additionally, following Meat Loaf's appearance in the House episode "Simple Explanation", Laurie played piano as a special guest on the song "If I Can't Have You" from Meat Loaf's 2010 album Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

On episodes of House he has played several classic rock 'n roll instruments including Gibson Flying V and Les Paul guitars. His character has a Hammond B-3 organ in his home and on one episode performed the introduction to Procol Harum's classic "Whiter Shade of Pale".^[23] Laurie appears as a scientist/doctor in the pop video to accompany Kate Bush's song Experiment IV. On 1 May 2011, Laurie and a jazz quintet closed the 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival to great acclaim.^[24]

On 15 May 2011 Laurie was the subject of the ITV series Perspectives, explaining his love for the music of New Orleans and playing music, from his album Let Them Talk, at studios and live venues in the city itself.^[22] He was the subject of PBS Great Performances Let them Talk, also about New Orleans jazz, first broadcast on 30 September 2011.^[25]

Personal life[link]

Laurie's mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw), died from motor neurone disease in Oxfordshire at the age of 73 in 1989, when Laurie was 30. According to Laurie, it took her two years to die, and she suffered "painful, plodding paralysis" while being cared for by Laurie's father, whom he called "the sweetest man in the whole world".^[6]

Laurie married theatre administrator Jo Green in June 1989 in Camden, London. They live in Belsize Park, London with sons Charlie and Bill and daughter Rebecca.^[26] They had planned to move the whole family to Los Angeles in 2008 due to the strain of being mostly separated for 9 months each year,^[26] but ultimately decided against it.^[27] Charlie had a cameo in A Bit of Fry & Laurie in the last sketch of the episode entitled Special Squad, as baby William (whom Stephen and Hugh begin to "interrogate" about "what he's done with the stuff", calling him a scumbag and telling him that he's been a very naughty boy) during his infancy, while Rebecca had a role in the film Wit as five-year-old Vivian Bearing.

Laurie's best friend is long time comedy partner Stephen Fry, who was best man at his wedding and is godfather to his children.^[28] Laurie is good friends with his House co-star Robert Sean Leonard and continues his friendship with actress Emma Thompson.^[29]

On 23 May 2007 Laurie was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2007 New Year Honours List, for his services to drama, by Queen Elizabeth II.^[30][31][32]

Laurie has struggled with severe clinical depression, and continues to receive regular treatment from a psychotherapist. He stated in an interview that he first concluded he had a problem while driving in a charity demolition derby in 1996, during which he realised that driving around explosive crashes caused him to be neither excited nor frightened, but instead bored.^[5][7] "Boredom," he commented in an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, "is not an appropriate response to exploding cars.".^[5]

Laurie admires the writings of P.G. Wodehouse, explaining in a 27 May 1999 article in The Daily Telegraph how reading Wodehouse novels had saved his life.^[33]

In a further interview in The Daily Telegraph Laurie confirms his atheism.^[34]

Laurie is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. He has two motorcycles, one at his London home and one at his Los Angeles home. His bike in the United States is a Triumph Bonneville, his "feeble attempt to fly the British flag".^[35]

In March 2012 Laurie was made an honorary fellow of his alma mater Selwyn College.^[36][37]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

On 26 July 2010, it was announced that Laurie would be releasing a blues album after signing a contract with Warner Bros. The album, called Let Them Talk, was released in France on 18 April 2011 and in Germany on 29 April. The album features collaborations from well-known artists such as Tom Jones, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John.

Singles[link]

Other charting songs[link]

Appearances[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

All of the following are nominations or wins for Laurie's role on House:

Emmy Awards

• 2005 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• 2007 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• 2008 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• 2009 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• 2010 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• 2011 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Golden Globe Awards

• 2005 – Winner – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama^[54]
• 2006 – Winner – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
• 2007 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
• 2008 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
• 2009 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
• 2010 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama