Neil Patrick Harris (Actor)

Neil Patrick Harris during Celebrity Jeopardy at Radio City Music Hall. (Photo: Scott Wintro / Getty Images)

About Neil Patrick Harris

A child actor who achieved popularity and critical acclaim at an early age, Neil Patrick Harris managed to avoid the typical fate of child stars who often slipped into obscurity after spinning out of control; instead he thrived on stage, as well as on film and television. Harris first emerged into the national spotlight as the titular character on "Doogie Howser, M.D.” (ABC, 1989-1992), playing a child prodigy who works as a surgeon while still trying to cope with the struggles of an everyday teenager. For a longtime after the series was cancelled, Harris was solely identified with the role, though he nonetheless continued to deliver strong performances in television movies and on stage. Following a few down years in the early 1990s, Harris re-emerged at the end of the decade with a revamped feature career, thanks to prominent roles in “Starship Troopers” (1997) and “The Next Best Thing” (2000). After delivering huge laughs in a parody of himself in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004), Harris made a triumphant return to regular series work, co-starring as an opinionated womanizer whose catchphrase “Suit up” helped propel “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS, 2005- ) into a ratings winner, while allowing Harris to finally exorcise the ghosts of Doogie Howser once and for all.

Born on June 15, 1973 in Albuquerque, NM, Harris was raised by his father, Ron, and mother, Sheila, both of whom were lawyers. He first caught the acting bug at age six, when he played Toto in a school production of “The Wizard of Oz.” While attending La Cueva High School, where he continued to perform in school plays, Harris met playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp at New Mexico State University. Medoff cast the young Harris in “Clara’s Heart” (1988), playing a young boy dealing with his parent’s divorce while at the same time, cultivating a meaningful friendship with his Jamaican housekeeper (Whoopi Goldberg) – a role that earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. Over the next few years, Harris quickly racked up a number of television credits, including appearances in the TV movies "Too Good to Be True" (NBC, 1988) "Home Fires Burning" (CBS, 1989), "Cold Sassy Tree" (TNT, 1989) and a starring guest role in "Blues for Buder" (ABC, 1989), one of the "B.L. Stryker" detective TV movies, starring Burt Reynolds.

In 1989, Harris landed the role of the pubescent doctor on "Doogie Howser, M.D.,” likeably playing the 16-year-old medical school graduate who struggles to deal with both his patients and his adolescence. Thanks to his skillful, award-winning performance as the young idealistic medical professional, Harris became inextricably linked to the role, which threatened to limit his future career prospects after the series' 1992 demise. But Harris managed to keep busy with a slate of television appearances in long-forms and series guest roles. In 1991, he landed episodes of "Blossom" (NBC, 1990-95) and "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1989- ). The voice work on the latter prepared him for a regular starring role on the short-lived animated series "Capitol Critters" (ABC, 1992), playing Max, a country mouse who ends up in Washington, D.C. Featured guest parts on "Quantum Leap" (NBC, 1988-1993) and "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS, 1984-1996) were followed by playing a series of characters in fact-based television movies, most notably in "A Family Torn Apart" (NBC 1993) and "Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story" (CBS, 1994), in which he played a man who, along with his wife and five-month-old child, survives after days trapped in a Nevada avalanche.

Though mostly under the radar, Harris remained active in a series of television movies: "Not Our Son" (CBS, 1995), "My Antonia" (USA, 1995), "The Man in the Attic" (Showtime, 1995) and "Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story" (Fox, 1995). After time away from television to pursue stage roles and feature work, Harris returned with a starring turn as a young successful businessman on a journey to self-discovery in the holiday offering, "The Christmas Wish" (CBS, 1998) and a supporting role the following year as King Charles VII opposite Leelee Sobieski in the miniseries, "Joan of Arc" (CBS, 1999). He returned to regular series work with "Stark Raving Mad" (NBC, 1999), playing the neurotic, germophobic editor of a zany horror novelist (Tony Shalhoub). The series' plum time slot – nestled between heavy-hitters "Frasier" (NBC, 1993-2004) and "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009) – and highly capable, watchable performances from Harris and Shalhoub failed to propel the otherwise by-the-numbers sitcom.

After a nine-year absence from film, Harris returned to the big screen with a supporting role in Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi actioner "Starship Troopers" (1997). After starring that same year alongside Matthew Lillard in the independent drama "The Animal Room” (1997), Harris essayed the role of a Harvard Law student who gets emotionally involved after being hired to sire the child of a successful, infertile couple (Madeline Stowe and William Hurt) in the 1930s-set drama "The Proposition" (1998). Back on stage, he played Romeo to Emily Bergl's Juliet in a 1998 Old Globe Theater production of the Shakespeare classic, then was touted by critics as a highlight of the Los Angeles concert version of the Sondheim musical, "Sweeney Todd” (2001). He returned to features with a supporting turn in "The Next Best Thing" (2000), which starred Madonna and Rupert Everett, respectively, as a woman and her gay male friend who suddenly find themselves as unwitting parents after an unexpected drunken night of sex. Harris made another return to the stage, embarking on a highly successful run on Broadway by performing in such A-list productions as “Proof” (2001), opposite Anne Heche, and the 2003 revival of “Cabaret,” alongside Deborah Gibson and Tom Bosley. Drawing critical acclaim for his performance as the Emcee in “Cabaret,” Harris was tapped next to play the role of Lee Harvey Oswald in Stephen Sondheim's controversial musical, “Assassins” (2004).

On the big screen, Harris delivered a hilarious cameo in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004), playing a sex-crazed, drug-addled parody of himself – a role he revived in the sequel, “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” (2008). The newly hot actor then landed a co-starring role as serial womanizer Barney Stinson on the hugely popular ensemble sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS, 2005- ), about a married couple telling their children the story how they met and fell in love. An instant hit in the ratings, “How I Met Your Mother” had the residual effect of sparking the public’s interest in the personal lives of its stars. Harris, in particular, became a target of rampant gossip after it was rumored at the start of the second season that he was a closeted homosexual. After an initial denial from his publicist, Harris personally ended the mounting speculation with a statement to People magazine's website in November 2006: "Because of speculation and interest in my private life and relationships… [I] am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest." While a few Hollywood insiders wondered if his admission might hurt his career – especially in regards to his role as a womanizer on the top-rated sitcom – Harris enjoyed the exact opposite effect. Not only did ratings for “How I Met Your Mother” remain solid into its third season, Harris received his first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2007, a feat he duplicated the following year.

Notes

"I did a TV show that was very good and my TV-IQ was very high. I had the opportunity then to do more TV and make a lot more money. I didn't want to do that, and I'm glad I didn't." - Harris to The Los Angeles Times, Aug. 31, 1997

"I'm trying to break free of wholesome, of 'smile, show your teeth, be a nice good boy' and try to be more mysterious, sexual, warped." - Harris to The New York Times, Nov. 2, 1997

"It'd be awesome if I could get people my age - the heroin chic generation who only think it's cool to go to the Skybar, to do little indie movies and brush shoulders with Ethan Hawke - to see how powerful musical theater can be if it's done right." - Harris quoted in Movieline, December 1997/January 1998

"The two biggest attributes I hold dear are creativity and authenticity." - Harris in The New York Times, Nov. 2, 1997

Harris on being known as Doogie Howser: "I'm glad I'm recognized for work that I'm proud of. You get some [heckling], but that's sort of the karmic equivalent to getting a good table at a restaurant. It's the yin and yang of it all." - from People magazine, Dec. 7, 1998

Harris showing an unexpected caustic wit, commenting on how he deals with questions regarding his child prodigy TV alter ego, seven years after the series' final episode: "That's what stun guns are for. Shuts people right up. You'd be surprised - it takes only, like, three seconds, but if you hold it there for seven or eight, they really clam up." - quoted in Entertainment Weekly, Oct. 8, 1999

Neil Patrick Harris ended mounting speculation about his sexuality, by revealing he is gay. Harris revealed to People magazine's website in November 2006: "because of speculation and interest in my private life and relationships." He says, "(I) am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest."