Neil Patrick Harris was born June 15, 1973. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up in Ruidoso, also in New Mexico, with his parents Sheila and Ron (both lawyers) and his older brother.

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 television series, 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, Starship Troopers and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, in which he played a drug-crazed, lecherous parody of himself.

Harris has worked on Broadway in both musical and dramatic roles. He has played Tobias Ragg in four separate productions of Sweeney Todd, including the 2001 concert performance with the San Francisco Symphony. In 2002, he made his Broadway debut alongside 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.

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 – a role he was originally meant to play in 2001 before the show was postponed due to the events of 9/11. He also sang the role of Charles (first played by Anthony Perkins) on the Nonesuch recording of Sondheim’s Evening Primrose, and portrayed Mark Cohen in the musical RENT. Harris’ current role is in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother, playing a serial womanizer in a performance that earned him a 2007 and a 2008 Emmy nomination. The show debuted in the fall of 2005 and wrapped up its third season on May 19, 2008. In 2004 and 2008 respectively, Harris portrayed a comic fictionalized version of himself in the films Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

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. In 2008, Harris starred alongside Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day in Joss Whedon’s musical web series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. The first episode of the series debuted July 14, 2008. Neil has also appeared on Sesame Street as the Sesame Street Shoe Fairy in an episode which aired in August 2008.

In November 2006, after a report about Harris’ romantic relationship with actor David Burtka surfaced on www.Canada.com, Harris came out publicly in People.