This page uses content from the Neil Patrick Harris biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American actor. He is best known for his TV roles as the teenage doctor Doogie Howser, M.D. and the womanizing Barney in How I Met Your Mother.

Career overview

Son of Ron and Sheila H. Harris, both of whom are lawyers, he began his career as a child actor; the existence of another actor named Neil Harris at the outset of his acting career led the actor to include his middle name to avoid professional confusion. His first significant roles came in 1988, when he starred in two movies: the film Clara's Heart, a drama with Whoopi Goldberg that won him a Golden Globe nomination, and Purple People Eater, a children's fantasy.

The following year he won the lead in Doogie Howser, M.D., for which he was again nominated for a Golden Globe. After Doogie Howser's four-season run ended in 1993, Harris played a number of guest roles on TV, before taking his first film role as an adult in 1995 in the little-seen shocker Animal Room. Since then his film work has included supporting roles in Starship Troopers, The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, in which he played a drug-crazed, lecherous parody of himself.

From 1999 to 2000 Harris starred with Tony Shalhoub in the sitcom Stark Raving Mad, which lasted twenty-two episodes. He has taken lead roles in a number of made-for-television features, including A Christmas Wish in 1998, The Christmas Blessing in 2005, The Wedding Dress in 2001, Joan of Arc in 1999, and My Antonia in 1995, as well as series guest roles.

Harris has worked on Broadway in both musical and dramatic roles. He played Tobias Ragg in 2001 concert performances of Sweeney Todd. In 2002, he performed on Broadway beside Anne Heche in Proof. In 2003, he took the role of the Emcee in Cabaret, alongside Deborah Gibson and Tom Bosley. In 2004, he performed a dual role of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald on Broadway in the controversial musical revival of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. He also sang the role of Charles (first played by Anthony Perkins) on the Nonesuch recording of Sondheim's Evening Primrose.

Harris' current role is in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The show debuted in the fall of 2005 and has been renewed for a second season.

Personal life

On November 2 2006, after a report about Harris's relationship with his reported boyfriend, actor David Burtka, surfaced on www.canada.comcanada.com - O.C. stars hit T.O., the actor's publicist issued a denial, stating that Harris "is not of that persuasion." However, a day later, Harris told People that he is gay. The actor's statement read:People - EXCLUSIVE: Neil Patrick Harris Tells PEOPLE He Is Gay

Selected performance history

Television

• Doogie Howser, M.D. (title role)
• Roseanne (guest appearance)
• My Antonia (1995) Jimmy
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
• Stark Raving Mad Henry
• Will & Grace (guest appearance)
• Celebrity Poker Showdown (31 Oct 2004)
• Ed (guest appearance - season 2, episode 6)
• NUMB3RS (guest appearance - season 1, episode 5)
• Jack & Bobby (guest appearance - season 1, episode 17)
• How I Met Your Mother Barney (debuted fall 2005)
• Mad TV (guest appearance)
• The Daily Show (guest appearance)
• The Simpsons (guest voice - season 3, episode 4: "Bart the Murderer")
• Big Brother 7: All Stars (guest appearance - episode 22, as the houseguests' secret Santa)
• Quantum Leap Episode (Return of the Evil Leaper) (guest appearance)
• Boomtown (TV series) as Peter Corman (guest appearance - season 1, episode "Monster's Brawl")
• Late Show with David Letterman (guest appearance 13 Oct 2006)

Cinema

• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) Himself
• Undercover Brother (2002) Lance
• The Next Best Thing (2000) David
• The Proposition (1998)
• Starship Troopers (1997) Colonel Carl Jenkins
• Not Our Son (Made for TV movie) (1995) Paul Kenneth Keller

Theater

• Romeo and Juliet (1998), "Romeo", Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
• Rent National Tour-LA, San Diego Mark Cohen
• Assassins (2004) Balladeer; Lee Harvey Oswald
• Cabaret (2003) Emcee
• Proof (2002) "Hal"
• Sweeney Todd Tobias Ragg
• Tick, Tick... BOOM! Jon 2005 at Menier Chocolate Factory, London
• All My Sons (2006), "Chris Keller", Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles
• Amadeus, "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart", July 20, 2006 at the Hollywood Bowl

References

External links

• Neil Patrick Harris Bio at CBS - How I Met Your Mother
• Neil Patrick Harris at NNDB
• 2004 Chicago Sun Times Interview
• Neil Patrick Harris interview at AOL Television
• A question and answer session with Harris at Broadway.com
• Neil Patrick Harris and Marc Kudisch Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing
• Video: 9/06 Interview on myfoxla.com.
• Neil Patrick Harris Comes Out as "Content Gay Man"

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