Hugh Laurie is set to become one of America's highest paid actors

It is not a traditional cure for somebody suffering the miserable effects of homesickness.

But even Hugh Laurie may afford himself a smile or two when he puts pen to paper on a new deal that will make him one of the highest-paid actors in America.

The 49-year-old star of House has reportedly been persuaded to stay in LA for at least another four years after accepting an offer worth over £5million a year from producers Universal Media Studios.

Laurie's salary will now exceed £220,000 an episode and will tie him to the popular medical drama on which he has found fame in the US playing grumpy TV character Dr Gregory House.

Another feature of the extraordinary deal will hand Laurie a producing credit.

The show is set to return in America for a fifth season on Tuesday and will now run until at least 2012.

The actor has been plagued by unhappiness after living in isolation from his his wife Jo Green and their three children, who still live at the family's London home.

But after four years of enforced separation, his wife and children are rumoured to be joining Laurie stateside in a bid to ease his depression.

Laurie recently splashed out £2million on a lavish mansion in the Hollywood Hills, described as a 'magical garden paradise', that is set to become his family's new home.

The 3,242-sq ft gated English country house includes a gym, a pool and a guest house.

The extraordinary salary boost will leave him just below CSI's departing leading man, William Petersen, on £334,000 per episode, and 24's Kiefer Sutherland, on £278,000 per episode.

Both actors also serve as executive producers on their series.