# Name some "American Hugh Lauries," please... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783 "2010-02-28T22:52:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/1 "2010-02-28T22:52:09Z")
That is, Americans who have made it big outside of the U.S. (I know Hugh was big in the UK prior to _House_, but he’s much bigger now, even a household name). I’m thinking it’s much more likely to see Americans going to Canada or the UK, since not many of us Yankees study a language other than English in our formative years. The closest things to what I’m looking for are the cases of David Hasselhoff (supposedly big in Germany) and Jerry Louis (likewise in France). Are there any others? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/2 "2010-02-28T22:59:33Z")
Are you looking for American actors who are famous outside the US, or American actors who are MORE famous outside the US than they are in the US? Since Hollywood movies are shown around the world there are many many actors in the former category. In music [Cheap Trick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheap_Trick#Formation_.281967.E2.80.931973.29) may be the original “big in Japan” band – their first three albums went gold in Japan, but failed to make the Top 40 in the US. The best known version of “I Want You to Want Me”, the one where you can hear girls in the audience screaming, was recorded live at the Budokan in Tokyo. The original studio version of the song was already popular in Japan, but it was the live-in-Japan version that became a hit in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/3 "2010-02-28T23:05:49Z")
Rich Hall, of Sniglets fame, has moved to the UK and gotten quite famous there. There are a few other American comedians going that route too. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/4 "2010-02-28T23:13:10Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Rich Hall, of Sniglets fame, has moved to the UK and gotten quite famous there. There are a few other American comedians going that route too. I opened this thread at about the same time as beginning to watch Live at the Apollo on iplayer. With one of the guests being Rich Hall. Reginald D Hunter fits in the same category. IMO RDH is very funny. He does baffled-by-british-culture very well and very funnily. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/5 "2010-02-28T23:13:43Z")
…not quite what you are looking for, but “Captain Hollister” Mac McDonald. I think of him as that “American Brit”… > **[Mac McDonald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_McDonald)** > > Mac McDonald (born Terence McDonald; June 18, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Hollister on the BBC TV series Red Dwarf and frequently plays American characters in other British TV shows. He has also had many movie roles in films such as Aliens, Batman and The Fifth Element, all of which were filmed in London. > McDonald was born on Long Island, New York. After leaving school, McDonald pursued a stage career, with a preference for comedy and music. In 1968, he was in Shr... ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/6 "2010-02-28T23:22:21Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …not quite what you are looking for, but “Captain Hollister” Mac McDonald. I think of him as that “American Brit”… > > [Mac McDonald - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_McDonald) Well, I think that counts pretty well. I haven’t heard of him, but he has done some stuff in the U. S., but he’s undoubtedly bigger in the UK. Thanks! 🙂 And **Lamia,** I guess I"m looking for Americans that are much more famous outside the U. S. So, say Bruce Willis, George Cloony, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc. wouldn’t count because they are big in the U. S. too. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/7 "2010-02-28T23:32:10Z")
Does John Barrowman count? ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/8 "2010-02-28T23:33:32Z")
I believe Bill Hicks, at his prime, was at least more well recieved in the UK than he was in the US. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/9 "2010-02-28T23:43:54Z")
[Ruby Wax](http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Reviews/H52/H52Review.html). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/10 "2010-03-01T00:03:28Z")
Good idea for a thread. Going through the Wikipedia lists of [American expatriates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_expatriates), I think that [Jules Dassin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dassin) (director of [Rififi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rififi)) and his son, [Joe Dassin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Dassin) (a popular singer-songwriter in France) qualify. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/11 "2010-03-01T00:16:32Z")
Scott Walker, especially his early pop phase. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/12 "2010-03-01T00:19:20Z")
Another American who is better known outside the US than in it is [W. Edwards Deming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edward_Deming), the statistician. He’s more widely known today, but when he was alive he was much better known in Japan than here. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/13 "2010-03-01T00:24:04Z")
> [@Hrududu](#): > > Does John Barrowman count? I am afraid so. The US can have him back permanently at any time. Preferably sooner rather than later. > [@statsman1982](#): > > Well, I think that counts pretty well. I haven’t heard of him, but he has done some stuff in the U. S., but he’s undoubtedly bigger in the UK. Thanks! 🙂 > > . He may be bigger in the UK but not that big. I haven’t heard of him either. - ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/14 "2010-03-01T00:31:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Another American who is better known outside the US than in it is [W. Edwards Deming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edward_Deming), the statistician. He’s more widely known today, but when he was alive he was much better known in Japan than here. Yes, how could I have failed to mention him? I talk about him in my classes and my advisor actually got to see one of his “red bead” demonstrations. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/15 "2010-03-01T00:33:40Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > [Ruby Wax](http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Reviews/H52/H52Review.html). I don’t get the connection between the link and the person I just looked up on Wikipedia. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/16 "2010-03-01T01:59:24Z")
I’m sorry, but I would have to disagree with two of the examples in the OP. Hugh Laurie was quite big in the U.K. before he did _House_. This is more of an example of someone already well known becoming more well known by increasing the range of their work. Also, it’s not true that Jerry Lewis is more well known in France than in the U.S. In both countries he’s now considered to be well past the peak of his work. He was considered quite important in France at one point, but that was a long time ago. I just looked through a couple of the lists of American expatriates that were linked to. I can’t find a single one of them that fits the requirements of the OP. Most of them are already famous Americans who for various personal reasons decided to live abroad. I can’t see that any of them became more famous while living abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/17 "2010-03-01T02:13:36Z")
Dean Reed (“Comrade Rockstar”) was huge in the Soviet Union. Suzi Quatro, a moderately popular actress/musician in the US, was huge in Europe, as were the Stray Cats early in their career. Pink Martini, a Portland-based band, had a major hit in France and Turkey, “Sympatique.” They can’t get arrested here in the States, although I love 'em! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/18 "2010-03-01T02:31:32Z")
Dean Reed is probably as close as you can get to the requirements of the OP: > **[Dean Reed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Reed)** > > Dean Cyril Reed (September 22, 1938 – June 13, 1986) was an American actor, singer-songwriter, director, and social activist who lived a great part of his adult life in South America and then in East Germany. Nicknamed the Red Elvis, Reed was the best-selling Western performer in communist countries, with his songs often topping the local charts, and millions of his records were sold in the Eastern Bloc and elsewhere mostly under the Melodiya label. He never renounced his U.S. citizenship, desp... ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/19 "2010-03-01T02:50:41Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I’m sorry, but I would have to disagree with two of the examples in the OP. Hugh Laurie was quite big in the U.K. before he did _House_. Yes, I said as much in the OP. But I doubt the average American would have known who the hell he was until House became a hit show. Sure he played the Dad in Stuart Little and had some other roles such as in _Flight of the Phoenix_, but he’s undeniably more famous now for House. Like I said in the OP. > [@](#): > > This is more of an example of someone already well known becoming more well known by increasing the range of their work. Also, it’s not true that Jerry Lewis is more well known in France than in the U.S. In both countries he’s now considered to be well past the peak of his work. He was considered quite important in France at one point, but that was a long time ago. Quite right. That’s why I prefaced that comment with “_The closest thing_ that I could think of”. That’s why I started the thread. If I knew of better examples, I wouldn’t have bothered. And when asked for clarification by **Lamia** , I said > [@](#): > > I"m looking for Americans that are much more famous outside the U. S. I’m not saying they have to be completely unheard of in the U. S. In fact, I’m saying they can be well known, but are \*more \*well known elsewhere. So far, what I’ve seen meets my (maybe vague) criterion. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783/20 "2010-03-01T02:57:46Z")
How about [Terry Gilliam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gilliam)? eta or [Lloyd Grossman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyd_Grossman)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-american-hugh-lauries-please/530783.md?page=2)