Pass notes No 3,005: Hugh Laurie

Age: 52.

Appearance: Ageing like a fine red wine.

You mean because he's worth more with every passing year? No, I mean because he seems to get better-looking as he ages.

Why is that? Perhaps because the lines under his eyes make that impish yet world-weary stare all the deeper and more alluring. Maybe the three thick wrinkles of his forehead are a three-line whip to the female libido, and the ash-grey specks in his unkempt hair are like hallmarks on silver, assuring us that this is a man who has lived long and loved hard and who knows, above all, what it is to be a man.

Or maybe? Or maybe it's because he's started wearing makeup.

Really? Well, he's just become the new male cosmetics ambassador for L'Oréal, which would be a fairly odd thing to do if you'd never actually used the stuff.

And what will he do as ambassador? State visits? In his own words, he'll be standing tall as a man "[not] afraid to proclaim that using cosmetics can be a very masculine decision after all". That and posing for some glossy photographs.

Does he need the money? Unlikely, given that he's the highest-earning actor on US television, at a rumoured $400,000 per episode for his starring role in medical drama House.

Then why is he hawking male beauty products? Maybe he just very strongly believes in the rights of men to wear makeup.

As in "Foundation is the foundation of a just society"? OK, not that.

Then what? Maybe it's all part of his plan to constantly reinvent himself. He has, after all, already made the transition from comedian to heart-throb actor via novelist, director and blues singer.

Sure, but that doesn't explain the male cosmetics bit. Then, to quote the finest song he ever wrote: "Well then, I guess, it's just a mystery."

Do say: "Because I'm worth it . . ."

Don't say: ". . . specifically, $400,000 an episode, and clearly that's still not enough."