Age: 67
male
James Hugh Calum Laurie CBE (born June 11, 1959), known professionally as Hugh Laurie, is an English actor, director, singer, musician, comedian, and author. He is known for portraying the title character on the Fox medical drama series House (2004–2012), for which he received two Golden Globe Awards and nominations for numerous other awards. He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode of House. His other television credits include arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper in the miniseries The Night Manager (2016), for which he won his third Golden Globe Award, and Senator Tom James in the HBO sitcom Veep (2012–2019), for which he received his 10th Emmy Award nomination. Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of glandular fever, he joined the Cambridge Footlights, a university dramatic club that has produced many well-known actors and comedians. There he met Emma Thompson, with whom he had a romantic relationship, which later ended yet they remain good friends. 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.
So how do you introduce young thespians and audiences to Shakespeare without turning them off? This one-act no-set romp takes that snooty, sophisticated aura off Bill once and for all by poking fun while at the same time demonstrating his relevance to today’s modern world. What if Juliet went on “The Dating Game?” What if “Titus Andronicus” had been written as a gentle comedy of manners? What if something went wrong every time someone mentioned the word “Macbeth?” What if Othello, Iago and Desdemona appeared on “The Jerry Springer Show?” What if zombies tried to stage “Richard III?” What if the Immortal Bard of Avon married Mr. Drysedale’s secretary from “The Beverly Hillbillies?” What if a cow threw a pie at the director? With actual Shakespearean lines added into the mix, the play painlessly eases audiences and performers alike into the world of the world’s greatest playwright. On tour or in the classroom, “I Hate Shakespeare!” can be staged in a mere hour by as few as 5 performers or as many as 25, with a cast of adults or kids. Don’t forget to have a nub ready if you go blank!
