COMEDIAN and actor Hugh Laurie has come a long way since he first trod the boards with the Cambridge Footlights review group. One half of a double act with Stephen Fry, he made a number of Uk films before Hollywood came calling. A series of successful movies followed until he ditched his English accent to find fame in the hit US TV series House.

Here he remembers some of his firsts...

Ambition: My first ambition was to join the army or the Hong Kong police, but nothing came of it.

Bike: I love motorbikes. I got my first two-stroke moped when I was 14, messing about with it in a field. I was immediately hooked. Two years later, dad bought me my first proper motorcycle, a Honda SS50.

Sporting honour: When I was young I loved rowing, and in 1977 I became one half of the national junior champion coxed pair. I was following in my dad's footsteps - he'd won a gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics as part of the British national team.

UNIVERSITY Boat Race: When I was at Cambridge University, I joined the prestigious rowing team and took part in the 1960 Boat Race.

Footlights Club: When I became ill I had to withdraw from rowing competitions. While regaining my health, I became involved with the Cambridge Footlights, a famed undergraduate comedy revue group. That's where I got my first taste of performing.

Citizen's arrest: I made my first - and only! - citizen's arrest when I was 18. I nabbed this chap on Kensington Church Street - he was running out of a leather goods shop, loaded with stuff. I brought him down to the pavement and held him there until the police arrived.

ROLE IN Friends: I first appeared in the hit show in 1998 - I had a brief guest-starring role as a man seated next to Rachel on a flight to London.

Award: While touring with the Footlights, I met up with Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry. We collaborated on a sketch called The Cellar Tapes, which we entered in the 1981 Edinburgh Fringe and were awarded Pick of the Fringe, which was a wonderful honour.

Major award nomination: In 2005 I was nominated for an Emmy for my role as Dr Gregory House in the popular American medical drama, House.

Major award: I received a Golden Globe this year for the same series.

Book: I have always fancied myself as a writer, and my first book, The Gun Seller, was published in 1996. It's a spy spoof about a hapless ex-solder who is drawn unwittingly into the centre of a dangerous James Bond-like plot involving international terrorists.

Flying a plane: I flew my first plane, a Jaguar fighter-bomber in which I was being given a lift, when the pilot was sick and threw up.

He told me to take the controls and fly the plane while he recovered. I had never flown before, and certainly didn't have a pilot's licence.