Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Harris is best known for his role as Barney Stinson on CBS series How I Met Your Mother.
Early life and Education
Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, with his older brother and their parents, Sheila Gail (née Scott; born 1946) and Ronald Gene Harris (born 1946). His 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 set.
Career
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, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for a Grammy Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Harris began his career as a child actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico.Harris’s first film role as an adult was 1995’s Animal Room.
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). Harris is also known for his role as 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), Beastly (2011), The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), and Gone Girl (2014).
In 2010, Harris won two awards at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his guest appearance on Glee, and Outstanding Special Class Program for hosting the Tony Awards in 2009; he has won the latter award three additional times for hosting the show in 2011, 2012, and 2013. He also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013, and hosted the 87th Academy Awards in 2015, thus making him the first openly gay man to host the Academy Awards. In 2014, he starred in the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Harris was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010.
Personal Life
From 1997 to 1998, Harris dated actress Christine Taylor.
Harris publicly came out as gay in November 2006, after which he attended the Emmy Awards in September 2007 with his fiancé David Burtka, later confirming the relationship. In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show,Harris said his relationship with Burtka began in 2004. On August 14, 2010, Harris announced that he and Burtka were expecting twins via a surrogate mother. Their son and daughter were born on October 12, 2010.
Following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York on June 24, 2011, Harris and Burtka announced their engagement via Twitter, stating that they had proposed to each other five years earlier but kept the engagement secret until same-sex marriage became legal. On September 8, 2014, Harris announced on his Twitter page that Burtka and he were married over the weekend in Italy. Pamela Fryman, the long-time director of How I Met Your Mother, officiated the wedding while Elton John performed at the reception. In 2013, the couple bought a townhouse in Harlem which they sold in 2022 for $6.9M.
- Fun Fact: Neil Patrick Harris is an accomplished magician, and portrays many of his characters as magicians which providing him a chance to show off his magic skills
Harris is a fan of magic, like his character on How I Met Your Mother. His character in American Horror Story: Freak Show was also a magician. Harris’s Glee character performed magic as well. Harris won the Tannen’s Magic Louis Award in 2006 and hosted the 2008 World Magic Awards on October 11, 2008. He previously served as the President of the Board of Directors of Hollywood’s Magic Castle, from 2011 to 2014. Additionally, Harris and partner David Burtka were guests of honor for a Top Chef Masters episode that took place at the Magic Castle.
Net Worth
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, producer, singer, and director who has a net worth of $50 million.
At the peak of the How I Met Your Mother series, Neil earned $225,000 per episode of the show. That worked out to $5.4 million before royalties and syndication earnings.
Harris has the highest Net Worth of the HIMYM cast alongside Jason Segel who played Marshall Erikson in the series.
In 2008, he hosted the World Magic Awards.
Neil Patrick Harris is also involved in the video game industry, having worked on various games as a voice actor. These games include Saints Row 2, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (as Spider-Man), and Saints Row IV. He also hosted the Spike Video Game Awards in 2010.
In 2013, Neil and David paid $3.6 million for an 8,000 square-foot town home in Harlem. After performing a major renovation and living in the property for several years, Neil and David listed this home for sale in August 2021 for $7.3 million. They sold it in May 2022 for $7.1 million.
They previously owned a home in Sherman Oaks, California which was sold in 2014 for $3 million.
In 2017 Neil and David paid $5.5 million for a 13.5-acre property in East Hampton, NY
