Hugh Laurie

Actor Hugh Laurie attends the 2009 FOX All-Star Party held at the Langham Hotel on Aug. 6, 2009, in Pasadena, Calif. Laurie is nominated again for a Primetime Emmy for his work as Dr. Gregory House on FOX's "House" in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category. It's his sixth nomination for the role (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).

Hugh Laurie arrives at the premiere of the feature film "Hop" in Universal City, Calif., on March 27, 2011.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Actor Dennis Quaid (L) and actor Hugh Laurie arrive at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on January 30, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dennis Quaid;Hugh Laurie

Actress Emma Thompson, center, poses with actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and actor Hugh Laurie at her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during her star presentation ceremony in front of the historic Pig 'n Whistle British Pub, Aug. 6, 2010, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

Actors Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein attend the 2010 FOX Upfront after party at Wollman Rink, Central Park on May 17, 2010, in New York.

Actor Hugh Laurie signs the Chrysler 300 Eco Style car for Stars for a Cause during the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

"House" star Hugh Laurie arrives at the premiere of the animated feature film "Monsters vs. Aliens" in Universal City, Calif., on Sunday, March 22, 2009.

From left, Jennifer Morrison, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Wilde pose backstage with the favorite TV drama award for "House" at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009 in Los Angeles.

"House" star Hugh Laurie performs with the celebrity cover band "Band From TV" at the "Netflix Live! on Location" concert and screening series at Griffith Park in Los Angeles on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008.

Hugh Laurie plays House, a doctor much more comfortable solving the mystery of a patient's unusual disease than actually meeting the patient. He is cynical, sarcastic, scruffy, anti-social, addicted to painkillers, and, not so surprisingly, single.

But is Laurie, now nominated five times for an Emmy for the role, anything like the character he plays?

In "House M.D." the doctor devotes much energy to confronting his colleagues, superiors, subordinates, and even patients (when he doesn't anger them so much that they confront him).

"Everybody Lies" is one of Dr. House's mottos. Here Hugh Laurie wears a T-shirt with this "House-ism." But he's doing it for charity. The shirts were created exclusively to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Laurie is also well-known as a pianist and singer, often using his talents for light comedy. Here he is performing with Bonnie Somerville in "Band From TV" at the Orange County Flyers game at Cal State Fullerton. The actor is also a published novelist.

Hugh Laurie is so much unlike Dr. House that he is not even American. Born James Hugh Calum Laurie in Oxford, England, he was a popular British comedian before Americans became acquainted with him as the star of "House M.D." on Fox starting in 2004. Here he is at the FOX 2007 All-Star party.

House uses a cane, and in any case shuns exercise; Laurie was part of a world championship rowing team in college. Laurie is also married with three children, and can look very unscruffy, such as at the Pioneer British Academy Television Awards in 2006, pictured here. Indeed, Laurie is practically royalty. In May, 2007, Queen Elizabeth bestowed on him membership in the Order of the British Empire.

From left, actors Omar Epps, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison, Hugh Laurie and Jesse Spencer attend the "House" TCA Cocktail Party at Fox Studios on Jan. 15, 2006, in Los Angeles.