Laurie gets star on Walk of Fame – Famously humble and self-effacing actor

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LOS ANGELES, Oct 26, (Agencies): Hugh Laurie, the British comedian and star of “The Night Manager,” “House” and numerous movies, cemented his place among entertainment’s elite Tuesday with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

The famously humble, self-effacing actor shifted uncomfortably as he was lavished with praise by longtime collaborator Stephen Fry, “House” creator David Shore and Diane Farr, his co-star in Hulu series “Chance.”

“It isn’t a fair world, and my confession is that I’m 57 now and I’ve lived a life of extraordinary good fortune from start to finish, so much so that almost every day I’m anticipating the piano falling on my head to redress the balance,” he said.

He praised the United States for inventing jeans and pizza, which he described as “a sonnet in a glass.”

While numerous Hollywood stars have spoken out against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Laurie used the opportunity for a joke at the expense of 2012 GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

“The rest of the world craves and covets and consumes these things largely because they’ve seen them in entertainment… I enjoy pizza because Louis C.K. eats pizza at the beginning of every show, every week,” he said.

Laurie won consecutive Golden Globes in 2006 and 2007 for “House” and has seven Emmy nominations, although he has never won.

Credits

At one time the highest paid actor on television, Laurie, a father of three grown up children, has credits for producing and directing, as well as a novel under his belt, and a flourishing career as a blues and jazz musician.

Born in Oxford, England, he began performing comedy at Cambridge University alongside Fry, Emma Thompson and Tilda Swinton after a bout of glandular fever cut short his ambitions to follow his father into the Olympic rowing squad.

Laurie and Fry wrote the 1981 Cambridge Footlights annual revue, “The Cellar Tapes,” which propelled them to London’s West End, and the duo went on to star in a number of groundbreaking British television shows including “A Bit of Fry and Laurie,” “Blackadder,” and “Jeeves and Wooster.”

Fry paid tribute to his “repulsively handsome” friend, describing him as “preposterously talented” in multiple fields. “He’s slightly knock-kneed, but he’s otherwise almost perfect,” Fry told fans gathered outside the Pig’n Whistle British pub on Hollywood Boulevard.

Laurie’s big break in the United States came with his role as the acerbic Dr Gregory House on the 2004-2012 Fox drama “House,” which brought him six Emmy nominations.

Laurie also received a nod for his work in the AMC miniseries, “The Night Manager,” while his film credits include “Tomorrowland,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “The Man in the Iron Mask” and “Stuart Little.”

He is an accomplished singer and musician, having released two of the highest-selling blues albums of all time, and touring extensively with his group “The Copper Bottom Band.”

Laurie, sporting a business suit and socks patterned with Britain’s Union flag, spoke of the privilege he felt to be part of an industry which, while at times trivial, could touch and even shape people’s lives across the world.

“I have lost count of the number of young people I have met who are either studying or practicing medicine because they saw ‘House,’” he said.

Ideas

“There are physicians today saving lives, delivering babies and lancing boils because their imagination was ignited by stories and ideas and possibilities that they might not otherwise have considered,” he said.

Laurie currently stars in Hulu’s thriller TV series ‘Chance’, playing a forensic neuropsychiatrist.

Fry, who met Laurie while studying at the University of Cambridge in England, poked fun at his friend during the ceremony.

“It is the tradition in this marvelous town to reward stars by bringing them down to earth, so far down to earth that now Hugh will spend eternity having chewing gum and dog poo trodden into him and very likely worse,” Fry told the crowd.

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Olga Kurylenko will star as the title character in the independent crime thriller “Jane Millen,” with production set for April.

13 Films is structuring the finance and packaging the film as well as handling worldwide sales. The company will introduce “Jane Millen” to buyers at the American Film Market, which opens Nov 2.

Producers are 13 Films President Tannaz Anisi, Karen Kehela Sherwood (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Blue Crush”) and former Endgame executive Greg Schenz. “Jane Millen” is written and directed Cynthia Mort, whose credits include the biopic “Nina,” starring Zoe Saldana, and Jodie Foster’s “The Brave One.”

The story centers on a seasoned police detective battling her own demons as her family life spins out of control. She is put on a suspicious murder case of an affluent couple who got mixed up with the wrong man — sending her down a rabbit hole, as affairs, jealousies and dark secrets emerge that threaten to involve her own private life.

Jai Khanna of Brillstein Entertainment Partners is executive producing.

“Olga’s experience in portraying strong, complicated characters, as well as the depth of her talent, not only inspires tremendous confidence, but also great excitement about what she will bring to this role,” Mort said.

 

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