Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, and magician.

Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold & Kumar series, and the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

He hosted the 63rd Tony Awards on June 7, 2009,[2] and the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2009. On March 7, 2010, he made a surprise appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards, delivering the opening musical number, and on August 21, 2010 he won two Emmy Awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. On December 11, 2010, Harris hosted Spike's Video Game Awards, before hosting the 65th Tony Awards on June 12, 2011.

He was named as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in 2010.[3]

In June 2010, it was announced that Harris would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

Neil Patrick Harris' 2011 Tony Awards Opening Number



Tony Awards 2011 - Hugh Jackman & Neil Patrick Harris - Dueling Hosts




Early life

Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico. His parents, Sheila and Ron, ran a restaurant.[5] He attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque and was active in school plays and musicals there. Harris was an honors student, and graduated with honors in 1991.
Career

Harris began his career as a child actor, and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a Drama Camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico.[6] Medoff cast him in his 1988 film Clara's Heart, a drama with Whoopi Goldberg based on the novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan, that won him a Golden Globe nomination. In 1988, he also starred in 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 television series such as Murder She Wrote, 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 The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Starship Troopers. In the Harold and Kumar stoner comedy films (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), he plays a (heterosexual) drug-crazed, lecherous version of himself.

From 1999 to 2000, Harris starred with Tony Shalhoub in the sitcom Stark Raving Mad, which lasted 22 episodes. He has taken lead roles in a number of made-for-television features, including Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story in 1994, My Ántonia in 1995, The Christmas Wish in 1998, Joan of Arc in 1999, The Wedding Dress in 2001, and The Christmas Blessing in 2005, as well as series guest roles.
Harris at the 2008 Comic Con in San Diego, California.

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. 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, topping fellow celeb stars John Stamos and Alan Cumming.[7]

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. He has also portrayed Mark Cohen in the touring company of the musical RENT, a character who he mockingly reprised on the January 10, 2009, episode of Saturday Night Live, which he hosted. Since fall of 2005, Harris has played Barney Stinson, a serial womanizer, in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The Stinson role earned him 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominations.

In 2007, Harris worked with Mike Nelson on an audio commentary for RiffTrax. The two riffed on the film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. Harris is a big fan of the cult TV series Nelson worked on, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was interviewed for a 1992 Comedy Central special hosted by Penn Jillette, who did voiceovers for Comedy Central's programming at that time, about the series and its fans, This Is MST3K.[8] In 2008, Harris took the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web series, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, alongside Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. The first episode of the series debuted July 15, 2008.[9] In 2008, Harris also guest-starred on Sesame Street as the Sesame Street Fairy Shoe Person.[10][11][12][13] On April 26, 2009, Harris hosted the 7th Annual TV Land Awards.

After a highly successful preview at the 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. As a character who could make anyone do his bidding by singing, he spent most of the episode singing several original songs.[14]

Harris starred in the movie Beastly[15] alongside Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens. He played a blind tutor named Will. The film was originally set for release on July 30, 2010,[16] but was pushed back to March 4, 2011.[17]

He also plays the lead in the upcoming indie comedy The Best and the Brightest as a carefree father who uproots his family from Delaware to move to New York City's Upper East Side.[18]

Harris appeared as a guest judge on Season 9 of American Idol in August 2009 auditions taped in Dallas, Texas.[19]

English stage producer Cameron Mackintosh has voiced interest in producing a Broadway revival of the musical Barnum (which originally starred Michael Crawford and Jim Dale) with Harris in the title role.

Harris provided his voice for the role of the adult Dick Grayson (Nightwing) for the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood. It was released July 27, 2010.[citation needed]

Harris also voiced the beagle Lou in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore that was released July 30, 2010.

He directed a production of the rock musical Rent. The stage production ran from August 6 – 8, 2010 at the Hollywood Bowl. Harris cast his Beastly co-star Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi.[20]

Harris won an Emmy for his performance as Bryan Ryan in the television series Glee in the episode titled "Dream On."[21]

On November 8, 2010, it was revealed that Harris had provided his voice to the Disney California Adventure attraction California Screamin'.[22]

Harris will perform the lead role of Bobby, in Stephen Sondheim's Company from April 7–9, 2011 with the New York Philharmonic in concert opposite Patti LuPone and others.[23]

Harris hosted the 65th Annual Tony Awards on June 12, 2011.[24] This was the second time he hosted the ceremony.
Personal life

Harris is openly gay, confirming this in November 2006 by saying "...I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love."[25]

Harris attended the Emmy awards in September 2007 with his partner David Burtka, later confirming the relationship, which began in 2004, in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[26] On August 14, 2010, Harris announced that he and Burtka were expecting twins via a surrogate mother.[27][28] Fraternal twins Gideon Scott, a boy, and Harper Grace, a girl, were born on October 12, 2010.[29][30]

Following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York on June 24, 2011, Harris and Burtka announced their engagement via Twitter[31], stating that they had proposed to each other five years ago but kept the engagement secret until same-sex marriage became legal.[32]

Harris is a fan of magic and is a magician similar to his character on How I Met Your Mother. He serves on the Board of Directors of Hollywood's Magic Castle.[33] Harris won the Tannen's Magic Louis Award in 2006 and hosted the 2008 World Magic Awards on October 11, 2008. Additionally, Harris was the celebrity guest of honor for Top Chef Masters, which took place at the Magic Castle, and included Burtka as a fellow guest. Harris also performed magic in his Emmy-winning performance on Glee.[34]
Discography
Cast recordings
Year Album title Notes
2000 Sweeney Todd: Live in Concert 2000 New York Concert Cast
2001 Evening Primrose Studio Cast
2004 Assassins Revival Cast Recording
2006 Wall to Wall: Stephen Sondheim Concert Cast
2008 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Original Cast Recording
2009 Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Mayhem of the Music Meister Original Cast Recording
Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Sales Album
AUS CAN IRE UK US
2010 "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" 113 76 — 50 — — How I Met Your Mother season 5
"Dream On" (Featuring Matthew Morrison) 91 24 44 47 26 84,000 (US)[35] Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers
Acting credits
Film Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
1988 Clara's Heart David Hart Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
1988 Too Good to Be True Danny Harland TV movie
1988 Purple People Eater Billy Johnson
1989 Cold Sassy Tree Will Tweedy/Narrator TV movie
1989 Home Fires Burning Lonnie Tibbits TV movie
1991 Stranger in the Family Steve Thompson TV Movie
1993 For Our Children: The Concert Himself (Presenter) TV movie
1993 A Family Torn Apart Brian Hannigan TV movie
1994 Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story Jim Stolpa TV movie
1995 The Man in the Attic Edward Broder TV movie
1995 Animal Room Arnold Mosk
1995 Not Our Son Paul Kenneth Keller TV movie
1995 My Antonia Jimmy Burden TV movie
1995 Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story William Coit TV movie
1997 Starship Troopers Carl Jenkins
1998 The Proposition Roger Martin
1998 The Christmas Wish Will Martin TV movie
1999 Joan of Arc The Dauphin TV movie
2000 The Next Best Thing David
2001 The Wedding Dress Travis Cleveland TV movie
2001 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert Tobias Ragg TV movie
2002 The Mesmerist Benjamin
2002 Undercover Brother Lance
2004 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle Neil Patrick Harris
2005 The Christmas Blessing Nathan Andrews TV movie
2008 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Neil Patrick Harris
2008 Beyond All Boundaries 1st Lt. David Hettema Voice only
2008 Justice League: The New Frontier Barry Allen/The Flash Voice only
2009 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Steve Voice only
2010 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Lou the Beagle Voice only
2010 The Best and the Brightest Jeff Post-production
2010 Batman: Under the Red Hood Dick Grayson/Nightwing[36] Voice only
2011 A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas Neil Patrick Harris Filming
2011 The Smurfs Patrick Winslow Post-production
2011 Rio
2011 Beastly Will Fratalli
Television Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
1989 Hallmark Hall of Fame Lonnie Tibbetts Episode: "Home Fires Burning"
1989 B.L. Stryker Buder Campbell Episode: "Blues for Buder"
1989–1993 Doogie Howser, M.D. Douglas 'Doogie' Howser 97 Episodes
Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series (1990–1992)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – TV Series Musical or Comedy (1992)
1991 Blossom The 'Charming' Derek Slade Episode: "Blossom – A Rockumentary"
1991 The Simpsons Himself as Bart Simpson Episode: "Bart the Murderer"
1992 Roseanne Dr. Doogie Howser Episode: "Less Is More"
1992 Captain Planet and the Planeteers Todd Andrews Episode: "A Formula for Hate"
1993 Quantum Leap Mike Hammond Episode: "Return of the Evil Leaper – October 8, 1956"
1993 Murder, She Wrote Tommy Remsen Episode: "Lone Witness"
1992–1995 Capitol Critters Max 13 Episodes
1996 The Outer Limits Howie Morrison Episode: "From Within"
1997 Homicide: Life on the Street Alan Schack Episode: "Valentine's Day"
1999–2000 Stark Raving Mad Henry McNeeley 22 Episodes
2000 Will & Grace Bill Episode: "Girls, Interrupted"
2001 Static Shock Johnny Morrow Voice Only
Episode: "Replay"
2001 Son of the Beach Loverboy Episode: "Queefer Madness"
2001 The Legend of Tarzan Moyo Episode: "Tarzan and the Challenger"
2001 Ed Joe Baxter Episode: "Replacements"
2002 Touched by an Angel Jonas Episode: "The Princeless Bride"
2002 Justice League Ray Thompson Episode: "Legends: Part 1"
Episode: "Legends: Part 2"
2003 Boomtown Peter Corman Episode: "Monster's Brawl"
2003 Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Peter Parker / Spider-Man 13 Episodes
2004 Law & Order: Criminal Intent John Tagman Episode: "Want"
2005 Numb3rs Ethan Burdick Episode: "Prime Suspect"
2005 Jack & Bobby Prof. Preston Phelps Episode: "Querida Grace"
2005–present How I Met Your Mother Barney Stinson Main Role
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – TV Series (2009–2010)
Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Scene Stealing Star (2008)
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2007–2010)
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – TV Series (2009)
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2007–2008)
Nominated—Television Critics Association Award for Achievement in Comedy (2009)
2006 Me, Eloise Unknown Voice only
Episode: "Eloise Goes to School"
2007 Family Guy Barney Stinson Episode: "No Chris Left Behind"
2008 Sesame Street The Fairy Shoeperson Episode: "Telly's New Shoes"
2008 Anytime with Bob Kushell Himself Guest star
2008 Million Dollar Password Himself Guest Star
2009 Batman: The Brave and the Bold The Music Meister Episode: "Mayhem of the Music Meister!"
2009 Robot Chicken Various Episode: "President Hu Forbids It"
Episode: "The Ramblings of Maurice"
2009 Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special Ace Voice only
2009 Yes Virginia Dr. Philip O'Hanlon Voice only
2009 Family Guy Barney Stinson Episode: "Peter's Progress"
2010 Glee Bryan Ryan Episode: "Dream On (Glee)"
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
2010 The Penguins of Madagascar Dr. Blowhole Episode: "Dr. Blowhole's Revenge"
Theater Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
1997 Rent Mark Cohen 2nd National Tour-LA, San Diego
1998 Romeo and Juliet Romeo Montague Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
2001 Sweeney Todd Tobias Ragg San Francisco Symphony Orchestra concert version
2002 Proof Hal Broadway
2003 Cabaret Emcee Broadway
2004 The Paris Letter Young Anton/Burt Sarris
2004 Assassins Lee Harvey Oswald/The Balladeer Broadway
2005 Tick, Tick... BOOM! Jon Menier Chocolate Factory, London
2006 All My Sons Chris Keller Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles
2006 Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Hollywood Bowl
2010 Rent Live At The Hollywood Bowl Director
2011 Company Robert New York Philharmonic Concert Version
Web television Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
2008 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Dr. Horrible (Billy)
2008 Prop 8: The Musical A Very Smart Fellow
Video games Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
2008 Saints Row 2 Veteran Child voice over
2009 Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard Wallace "Wally" Wellesley voice over
2010 Rock of the Dead Unnamed character voice over
2010 Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Peter Parker / Amazing Spider-Man voice over
Theme parks Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
2010–present California Screamin' Victorian Carnival Character safety spiels and launch countdown
Awards
List of awards and nominations Year↓ Award↓ Category↓ Result↓ Title↓
1989 Young Artist Award Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated Clara's Heart
1989 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Nominated Clara's Heart
1990 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series Won Doogie Howser, M.D.
1991 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series Won Doogie Howser, M.D.
1992 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series Won Doogie Howser, M.D.
1992 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical Nominated Doogie Howser, M.D.
2007 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor: Comedy Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2007 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2008 People's Choice Awards Favorite Scene Stealing Star Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2008 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2009 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2009 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2009 Bravo A-List Awards A-List Male Actor Won
2009 Streamy Awards Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series Won Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
2010 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2009–2010 Golden Icon Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Television Series Won How I Met Your Mother
2010 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated How I Met Your Mother
2010 Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Won Glee
2010 Emmy Award Outstanding Special Class Program Won 63rd Annual Tony Awards
2010 Spike Video Game Awards Best Performance by a Human Male Won Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
2011 People's Choice Awards Favourite TV Comedy Actor Won How I Met Your Mother
References from Wikipedia.com