HUGH LAURIE - HUGH LAURIE 'MISERABLE' IN LA

HUGH LAURIE 'MISERABLE' IN LA

Hollywood star HUGH LAURIE has claimed he has difficulty coping with his new celebrity life in the US, despite raking in around £150,000 an episode for playing the lead in HOUSE.

Laurie, who has carved out a career for himself in Hollywood after spending years writing and performing in British sitcoms such as BLACKADDER, has been photographed looking thoroughly miserable in LA.

The 47-year-old, who has recently been voted America's sexiest man on television, was seen renting a small boat in LA and sitting glumly on his own. The actor has left his wife and three children in London so they are not unsettled, but is clearly not enjoying being on his own.

One onlooker told the Daily Mail: "He looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders - you would never guess that he is one of Hollywood's hottest celebrities and a nationwide pin-up."

Laurie admitted recently he misses being away from his family, but doesn't want to move them to the States for his career.

He said: "It's tragic - I'm an absentee father. But now they're teenagers and they've got their own life and it's tough to drag them out.

"We continue to look for signs that would allow us to be together."