Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., 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 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. 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.
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 as such 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. Medoff casted him in his 1988 film Clara's Heart, a drama with Whoopi Goldberg based on the novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan. Clara's Heart 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. He also plays a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold and Kumar stoner comedy films (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas).
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 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.
Harris attended the Emmy awards in September 2007 with his partner David Burtka, later confirming the relationship, which he said began in 2004 in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. On August 14, 2010, Harris announced that he and Burtka were expecting twins via a surrogate mother. Fraternal twins Gideon Scott, a boy, and Harper Grace, a girl, 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 ago, but kept the engagement secret until same-sex marriage became legal.
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. 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.
Tags: How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor
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