Neil Patrick Harris

Biography for Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 15, 1973. He grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, a small town 120 miles south of Albuquerque, where he first took up acting in the fourth grade. While tagging along with Brian, his older brother by 3 years, Harris won the part of Toto in a school production of The Wizard of Oz (1939).

His parents, Ron (a lawyer) and Sheila (a writer), moved the family to Albuquerque in 1988, the same year that Harris made his film debut in two movies: Purple People Eater (1988) and Clara's Heart (1988), which starred Whoopi Goldberg. A year later, when Neil was 16, he landed the lead role in Steven Bochco's television series about a teen prodigy doctor at a local hospital, "Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989), which launched Harris into teen-heartthrob status. The series lasted1989-1993 and earned him a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Series (1990) and a Golden Globe Nomination (1990). Harris attended the same high school as Freddie Prinze Jr., La Cueva High School in Albuquerque. Neil acted on stage in a few plays while there, one of which was his senior play, Fiddler on the Roof (1971), in which he portrayed Lazar Wolf the butcher (1991).

When "Doogie Howser, M.D." stopped production in 1993, Harris took up stage acting, which he had always wanted to do. After a string of made-for-television movies, Harris acted in his first big screen roles in nine years, Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien and then The Proposition (1998). In July 1997, Harris accepted the role of Mark Cohen for the Los Angeles production of the beloved musical, Rent (2005). His performance in "Rent" garnered him a Drama-League Award in 1997. He continued in the musical, to rave reviews, until January 1998. He later reprised the role for six nights in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in December 1998.

In 1999, Harris returned to television in the short-lived sitcom "Stark Raving Mad" (1999), with Tony Shalhoub. He was also in the big-screen projects The Next Best Thing (2000) and Undercover Brother (2002), and he can be heard as the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the newest animated "Spider-Man" (2003) series. Harris has continued his stage work, making his Broadway debut in 2001 in "Proof." He has also appeared on stage in "Romeo and Juliet," "Cabaret," "Sweeney Todd" in Concert, and, most recently, "Assassins." In 2005, Harris returned to the small screen in a guest-starring role on "Numb3rs" (2005) and a starring role in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005).

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor born June 15, 1973 in Albuquerque New Mexico. He is best known for his role as a young gifted doctor in Doctor Doogie and a womanian runner in How I Met Your Mother.

He grew up in Ruidoso New Mexico. It was by accompanying his elder brother to an audition that he is spotted, which leads him to play in a room, at school, the magician of Oz. He follows his schooling at the college and high school La Cueva d'Al Albuquerque where Freddie Prinze Jr. also studied, where he is a good student and plays in musicals.

On November 2, 2006, following a report lent him a romantic relationship with actor David Burtka, his agent denies this information, declaring that Harris "is not on this side". However, the next day, he came out and assumes his homosexuality in the open in his personal and professional life.

He began his acting career when he was still a child. He played his first significant role in 1988 in the film Le Secret de Clara, a drama with Whoopi Goldberg which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globes, then Purple People Eater.

The following year, he won the first role in the Doctor Doogie series, for which he was again appointed to the Golden Globes. After the fourth and last season of the series, Harris embodies supporting roles in several TV series, before playing in 1995 his first main role as an adult, in the Science Fiction film Animal Room. Subsequently, he embodies many supporting roles, as in Starship Troopers, an almost perfect couple, Undercover Brother and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle in which he plays a drug addict, a lescent parody of himself.

From 1999 to 2000, he was the star, with Tony Shalhoub, of the Stark Raving Mad series for 22 episodes. He also embodies leading roles in many TV movies in the United States and a few series.

He also played on Broadway in several musicals: in 2001, he played the role of Tobias Todd in the musical Sweeney Todd. In 2002, he played in the play the proof alongside Anne Héche on Broadway. In 2003, he played the role of Emcee in Cabaret with Deborah Gibson and Tom Bosley. In 2004, he played the double role of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassins musical by Stephen Sondheim. He also sang the role of Charles on the disc La Primevère du Soir (The Evening Primrose), by Sondheim.

Since 2005, he has embodied Barney in the TV series How I Met Your Mother.

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, producer, singer and television host. He was born on June 15, 1973 in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, in the United States. Harris began his career as a child actor, especially by playing the role of Doogie Howser, a brilliant teenager who works as a doctor, in the eponymous television series. He has also played in many other television series, films and plays.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Both of his parents are lawyers. Neil is an amateur magician, which he once demonstrated on a Jerry Lewis telethon.
• Went to the same high school as Freddie Prinze Jr..
• Has performed magic tricks on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962), "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993), "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), and "Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (2003).
• Perfomed as Mark in "Rent" at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles to rave reviews
• Has sung since he was a child. His father played the folk guitar and together they entertained.
• His favorite movie is Rear Window (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock.
• His parents own a restaurant called Perreniel's in Albuquerue.
• Based on his Los Angeles stage performance in the musical Rent, he was attached to play Mark Cohen in a television mini series based on the Broadway musical, with Wilson Cruz as Angel, Rikki Lee Travolta as Roger Davis, and singer Shakira as Mimi, but the rights were pulled in order for Chris Columbus to make a film adaptation using much of the original Broadway cast including Anthony Rapp in the role of Mark.
• Is an avid Les Miserables fan, and performed the song "The Confrontation" with his co-star Jason Segel (both of "How I Met Your Mother") live on the Megan Mullally show. He performed the role of Javert, to wild cheers from the audience.
• He was the "Not My Job" guest on the April 5, 2008, episode of the National Public Radio quiz show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!".

Quotes

People Magazine, November 3, 2006: "Rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, 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."

I heard through the grapevine that they'd written this movie and that I was in it, and that I had to call my attorneys and make it stop -- that it was a bad thing, and I read it and thought it was hilarious. A friend was auditioning for a different part in the movie and said, 'do you know about this movie that you're in?' - on playing "Neil Patrick Harris" in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

Comedy is way more difficult than drama. What I might find funny, the editor might not find funny. They might choose the reaction shot from Take 4 with my line from Take 1 with my next line from Take 7, and then the timing that I was trying to do does not come across.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 09/05/2008 by abdest