Hugh Laurie’s “House” salary allows family to join him in US?
Posted on September 14th, 2008 by Hot Momma
Hugh Laurie the star of the biggest drama on television “House,” is poised to become one of the highest-paid actors on TV with a new deal to continue on Fox’s “House.”
The British actor’s salary is expected to rise to about $400,000 an episode, or more than $9 million a year, under a pact with producer Universal Media Studios.
Hugh now joins the highest-paid TV actors on drama series, which is topped by departing “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” leading man William Petersen ($600,000 per episode) and “24’s” Kiefer Sutherland (close to $500,000), who both serve as executive producers on their series.
Laurie, 49, who had humble beginnings on “House” with a starting salary in the mid-five figures in 2004, got his first major salary bump in summer 2006 when his per-episode fee was upped to $250,000-$300,000 an episode.
The role has earned Laurie two Golden Globes and three Emmy nominations.
He also would get some sort of producing credit on the medical drama, which returns for a fifth season Tuesday. The deal also adds another year to Laurie’s contract on the series, assuring he will stay on at least through the 2011-12 season.
This past season, the medical drama averaged 16.7 million viewers, the second-highest-rated scripted series behind ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.”
Hugh Laurie’s family is now moving to the US to join him following his success in the US TV drama, it’s been reported.
The actor, 49, who’s played Dr Gregory House since 2004, has been jetting to and from Los Angeles to London to see wife of 19-years Jo and their three teenage kids.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Jo could not stand seeing Hugh miserable any longer. They all missed each other.”
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. Apparently armed with the new contract Hugh is feeling more at ease.
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