What's put a smile on the face of TV's grumpiest man?

11 April 2012
The Weekender

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The flurried activity at the five-storey townhouse in London's salubrious Belsize Park has had the neighbours gossiping for weeks.



Boxes of rubbish are piling up on the tiled steps leading to the front door while squeals of excitement can be heard from inside the house.

And, strangest of all, at the centre of it is the famously grumpy actor Hugh Laurie who - can it really be true? - is smiling.

The tortured House actor is on a rare visit back to his family home.

But, unlike on previous occasions, when he has always been sadly aware that he has just a few days with his wife Jo Green and their three children before he has to return to Los Angeles, this time he will be leaving the house with a spring in his step.

On the move: Hugh Laurie, here with wife Jo, is moving his family permanently to LA after his trans-Atlantic lifestyle took a toll on his marriage

On the move: Hugh Laurie, here with wife Jo, is moving his family permanently to LA after his trans-Atlantic lifestyle took a toll on his marriage

After nearly four years of living a trans-Atlantic life which has done little for the depressive actor's mental state, not to mention his 19-year marriage, the Mail can reveal that Hugh's family are moving to America to be with him.

Until now and despite the unhappiness the nine-month separations have caused, the actor has always refused to uproot his family.

A determined pessimist, he was certain that the moment he moved the family and disrupted his children's schooling, House would be cancelled.

'I'll probably be confident enough to move them in about ten years time,' he semi-joked earlier this year. 'I can never really believe the thing is going to last. The whole of the first year I was in a hotel. I didn't even unpack the suitcase.'

But after a particularly difficult year, during which he was forced to forego his usual two-month summer break with his family thanks to the Hollywood screenwriter's strike, it was clear that his nomadic lifestyle was not doing him any good.

In demand: Laurie has found success in the U.S. as the star of hospital drama, House

In demand: Laurie has found success in the U.S. as the star of hospital drama, House

Sources say it was theatre administrator Jo who finally persuaded him that the family should move.

The couple have always denied rumours that their marriage was on the rocks but it is unlikely that their enforced separations were doing their union any good.

'Jo could not stand seeing Hugh miserable any longer,' said one source. 'They all missed each other so much.'

Neither Hugh's British publicist nor his American one will confirm or deny the story - both said they had no comment. But the move is an open secret among Hugh's friends.

Ron Scott, a Hollywood publicist, who has become close to the star and visited him on the set of House, said: 'Hugh and his wife Jo are moving their kids to LA because it's obvious Hugh has a career here for as long as he'd like. He is a great and talented actor.'

And Hugh's bosses at Fox, which produces House, have bent over backwards to make the move as easy as possible, recognising how important it is to keep their reluctant star happy.

Self doubt: Despite winning Best Actor awards for his role in House, Laurie worries his performance is unconvincing

Self doubt: Despite winning Best Actor awards for his role in House, Laurie worries his performance is unconvincing

They already pay him close to £150,000 an episode, ludicrous money for someone who once struggled to pay the mortgage.

And after this summer's uncomfortable filming schedule, they have offered him a new £10million contract to stick with House for the next three years.

Until now, the actor has been living in modest rented accommodation near the House set, where he often works 15 hour days for six days a week.

But, in preparation for the big move, Hugh has been given three full-time assistants by Fox to help him find the perfect family home.

And, just before leaving for England to help his family pack, Hugh splashed out £2 million on a lavish mansion in the Hollywood Hills.

Described as a 'magical garden paradise', the 3,242 sq ft gated home is in the 'English country house' style, albeit with a state-of-the-art pool, gym and guesthouse.

Laurie has also looked at private schools in the area for his two younger children, Bill, 17, and Rebecca, 14, while his older son Charlie, 19, has decided to study at New York's Columbia University, a prestigious Ivy League institution.

Everyone is praying that the move, which is due to take place in the next few days, works.

Jo is generally regarded as the one person who can pull Hugh out of his depressive moods while his children, he says, 'do nothing but delight me'.

The actor has never made any secret of his depressive disposition and recently described how he drives himself mad with worry in his lonely hours.

'I get anxious about a lot of things, that's the trouble,' he said. 'I get anxious about everything.'

Even the plaudits heaped upon House, and himself in particular, have done little for his confidence.

He has won two Golden Globes and three Emmy nominations for his role as the crotchety and rude Dr House, who specialises in finding out the causes of mystery illnesses.

The show regularly gets 18 million viewers in the U.S and is syndicated around the world.

Double act: Laurie first found fame in comedy sketches with Stephen Fry

Double act: Laurie first found fame in comedy sketches with Stephen Fry

Meanwhile, Hugh was recently voted second sexiest TV doctor ever and one of the top five most popular U.S. television personalities.

He also has hundreds of websites devoted to him; even Rolling Stone magazine has dubbed him 'the most rock and roll actor on TV'.

But he admits that he still suffers from crippling self doubt and doesn't even think that he has a convincing American accent on the TV show.

'Every show we do, every scene we shoot is a disaster, I'm convinced of it,' he says. 'I go home at the end of the day and my head is full of all the mistakes I've made.'

As an introspective person, he has obviously thought long and hard about his moods and their causes.

He appears to feel guilt about earning so much more than his father, who was a real life doctor in Oxford, while his mother's wild mood swings meant that he got little affection from her.

'I don't know if she was clinically depressed, but she certainly had mood swings,' he said recently.

The Eton-educated actor, who first found fame as a comic actor on TV with partner Stephen Fry, has suffered from depression since being a teenager.

But he only sought help for it after conducting an affair which nearly broke up his marriage, and still casts a shadow over it.

In 1997, while once again working away from home on a children's film called The Place Of Lions, his closeness with the director Audrey Cooke was the talk of the set.

Determined to save her marriage, Jo wrote an emotional letter to the director, begging Audrey to leave her husband alone.

Seeing the heartache he had caused the two women encouraged him to finally try to do something about his depression.

But he can never entirely rid himself of his black dog. Fox executives have done their best to try to help their troubled star as much as possible.

He attends a weekly session with a counsellor and the studio pays for him to have boxing lessons which he adores.

They also encourage his motorcycle riding, even though most stars would be banned from it due to insurance considerations.

Studio bosses have also welcomed him becoming part of a band, Band From TV.

Made up of a group of TV actors, including Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher on vocals, they perform at charity events.

It is a rare sociable experience for an actor who complains that he has no friends.

'I do feel like for the most part is behind me,' Hugh said recently. 'But I have some very black days. A lot of that has to do with just finding the situation I'm in overwhelming.

'There are days when I feel very exposed and very lonely and vulnerable. I hate being looked at.'

And as the House crew are only too aware, when he is feeling down, he retreats into himself. The actor had to be literally dragged out to his 49th birthday party in June, hosted by the show's executives, because he was exhausted and upset not to be spending it with his children.

Now everyone hopes that the big move will pull him out of his torpor. And it looks hopeful - production sources say they saw a change in him as soon as the decision had been made.

'He'll be a lot healthier with his support system in place and I think people were dreading the idea that this show could actually wreck his marriage.

Now he's really going to be able to share the success he's had with the people he loves,' said one House insider.

Hugh - pessimist to the last - has insisted on a get-out clause in case things do go wrong.

If any member of the family is unhappy in America by this time next year, they will all return home to London.

In the meantime, the Lauries are set to start their American adventure. Within a few weeks of their arrival, they will attend the glamorous Emmys, where Hugh has been nominated in the best actor category for the third year running.

He will be accompanied by his wife and, if we are lucky, he might even reveal what that elusive smile looks like.

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