Comic actor Hugh Laurie hailed from Oxford, England, but first made a name for himself as a performer with the Footlights Theater at rival Cambridge University in the early 1980s. He quickly rose in British television as a writer and actor, best known for his portrayal of dimwits on wacky British series and sketch shows. Despite years of starring TV roles and film character roles in his homeland, most Americans were unfamiliar with the multi-talented Brit when he was cast in the title role of the CBS medical mystery drama, “House M.D.” (Fox, 2005- ). It was a far cry from his years of goofy