Hugh Laurie is one of those people who can seemingly do anything he puts his mind to, and it’s no wonder he played a genius so convincingly on House: Laurie himself is brilliant. A talented pianist and guitar player as well as an actor, Laurie was educated at Cambridge and got his start in acting in the Cambridge Footlights drama club (during his time there he also won a British national rowing title in the Junior World Rowing Championships – see what I mean?). Following his graduation, Laurie moved into television acting, with early roles in shows such as The Young Ones, Blackadder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and Jeeves and Wooster. The 1990s saw Laurie move more into film acting, and he appeared in films including The Borrowers, Spice World, The Man in the Iron Mask, Stuart Little, Stuart Little 2, and Flight of the Phoenix. But in recent years, he’s been known mainly for his starring role on the series House, and man, he does such a convincing American accent. Hugh Laurie, the man, the legend, turns 54 today.