Background and career
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, television host, comedian and magician. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout his career, including a Tony Award and five Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for a Grammy Award and three Actor Awards. On television, he is known for playing the title character on the ABC series Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy, as well as Barney Stinson on the CBS series How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014), for which he was nominated for four Emmy Awards, and Count Olaf on the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2019). He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on Glee (2010). Harris is also known for portraying the title character in Joss Whedon's musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), and a fictional version of himself in the Harold & Kumar film series (2004–2011). His other films include Starship Troopers (1997), The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and Gone Girl (2014). On stage, he starred as Mark Cohen in the national tour of Rent (1997), before making his Broadway debut in the David Auburn play Proof (2002). He went on to win the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical playing the title role in the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014). Harris has hosted numerous award shows, including the Tony Awards in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013, the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013, and the Academy Awards in 2015. He was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2010.
Neil Patrick Harris was born on June 15, 1973, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, with his older brother and their parents, Sheila Gail (née Scott) and Ronald Gene Harris. Both parents were lawyers and also ran a restaurant. He attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, graduating with high honors in 1991, which he attributes to being privately tutored half the school year while on a set.
Harris began his career as a child actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Medoff later cast him in the drama film Clara's Heart (1988). Clara's Heart earned Harris a Golden Globe nomination in 1989. That same year, Harris starred in Purple People Eater, a children's fantasy. Beginning in 1989, Harris played the title role of a child prodigy doctor in Doogie Howser, M.D., for which he was nominated for another Golden Globe award. After the show's four-season run ended in 1993, Harris played a number of guest roles on television series, including Murder, She Wrote. From 1999 to 2000, he starred in the NBC sitcom Stark Raving Mad, which lasted 22 episodes. Harris's first film role as an adult was Animal Room (1995), although he portrayed a teenager. Harris played lead roles in numerous made-for-television features, including Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story (1994), My Ántonia (1995), The Christmas Wish (1998), Joan of Arc (1999), The Wedding Dress (2001), and The Christmas Blessing (2005). His film work also has included supporting roles in The Next Best Thing (2000), Undercover Brother (2002), and Starship Troopers (1997). Harris portrayed Mark Cohen in the 1997 touring company of the rock musical, Rent, a role he later satirized in the January 10, 2009, episode of Saturday Night Live which he hosted, and sang the role of Charles (initially played by Anthony Perkins in a 1966 ABC telecast) on the Nonesuch recording of Sondheim's Evening Primrose in 2001. Harris has also worked on Broadway in both musical and dramatic roles. He played Tobias Ragg in the 2001 concert performances of Sweeney Todd, and the following year, he performed in Proof. In 2003, he took the role of the Emcee in Cabaret. As a result of his critically acclaimed performance in Cabaret, Harris was named the top-drawing headliner in the role of the Emcee by GuestStarCasting.com.
In 2004, he performed the dual roles of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald on Broadway in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins. In 2004, Harris played a fictionalized, hyper-womanizing, lewd version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a stoner comedy film in the Harold & Kumar series. Given the chance, Harris embraced the freedom from roles associated with his sanitized "Doogie Howser" character to the more unscrupulous and bawdy part in the Harold & Kumar franchise, which some have connected to his eventual casting as Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother the following year. He would go on to reprise the role in the sequels Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011). In 2005, Harris portrayed Jon in the London premiere of Tick, Tick... Boom! at the Menier Chocolate Factory. He was replaced by Christian Campbell in July of that same year.
From 2005 to 2014, Harris played Barney Stinson, a serial womanizer, in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The role earned him Emmy nominations every year from 2007 to 2010. In 2007, he worked with Mike Nelson on a comedic audio commentary set to the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for RiffTrax. In 2008, Harris played the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That same year, he guest-starred on Sesame Street as the Sesame Street Fairy Shoe Person. In 2009, he hosted the 7th Annual TV Land Awards and appeared as a guest judge on season 9 of American Idol. Harris provided the voice of Steve the Monkey in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs film franchise (2009–2013). After a preview at San Diego Comic-Con, a musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold featuring Harris as the villainous Music Meister premiered on October 23, 2009, on Cartoon Network. He has also provided his voice for the Disney California Adventure Park attraction California Screamin'.
Harris hosted the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2009. On August 21, 2010, he won two Emmy Awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, one of which was for his guest performance in the television series Glee. Harris hosted the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22, 2013, marking his second time hosting the event. Harris has hosted the Tony Awards four times: the 63rd Tony Awards on June 7, 2009, the 65th Tony Awards on June 12, 2011, the 66th Tony Awards on June 10, 2012, and the 67th Tony Awards on June 9, 2013. Only Dame Angela Lansbury, with five ceremonies, has hosted the Tony Awards more times. Hosting the Tony Awards has earned him four Primetime Emmy Awards in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th, respectively. Harris appeared in the 2010 Time 100 list of influential people. That year, Harris directed a Hollywood Bowl production of Rent; he cast his Beastly co-star Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi Márquez. Also in 2010, Harris provided voice acting for the role of the adult Dick Grayson (Nightwing) in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood and the beagle Lou in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. On March 7, 2010, he delivered a musical number appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards. He played the lead in the indie comedy The Best and the Brightest. In December 2010, Harris hosted the Spike Video Game Awards. In 2011, Harris played the lead role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company with the New York Philharmonic in concert. That same year, he directed The Expert at the Card Table at Broad Stage's Edye in Santa Monica, California. He also starred in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its 2013 sequel The Smurfs 2. On Sept. 15, 2011, Harris received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
