Neil Patrick Harris : Role: Barney Stinson
Birthday : 15th June 1973
Birthplace : Albuquerque, New Mexico,, USA
Recent Role : Guest Diner on Top Chef Masters
Height : 6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
Gender : Male

Neil Patrick Harris was born as the son of Ron (a lawyer) and Sheila. (a writer) His father worked as a lawyer while his mother pursued a career in writing and the two also own a restaurant in Albuquerque, which is called “Perreniel’s”. He has one elder brother named Mark, who is three years older than him.

Harris was brought up in Ruidoso, New Mexico. He went to the same high school as Freddie Prinze Jr., and was three years ahead of him. He took up singing when he was still a child and often entertained along with his father who played the folk guitar. He also has a great liking for magic and is an amateur magician. Due to his love for drinking Red Bull, the company has provided him with a lifetime supply of the same along with a mini-refrigerator as a regard to the amount of free advertising he has done for it.

Neil Patrick Harris had been openly gay in his personal life and in the theater community. However he acknowledged the fact publicly after a report about his romantic relationship with actor David Burtka appeared online in November 2006. Although the two have been together since April 2004, Neil and Burtka appeared as couple openly for the first time at the 2007 Emmy Awards. Harris has spoken of Burtka as his better half as well as a brilliant chef.

Neil started his acting career as a child actor when he was still in his fourth grade. He had followed his brother to an audition, where he ended up getting the role of Toto in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. Later, he caught the eye of playwright Mark Medoff at a Drama Camp and bagged a role in his film Clara’s Heart, in 1988. And the rest as they say is history.

Since then Neil has worked in more than 45 TV shows and 14 movies. His most prominent appearances on television have been for shows like, Doogie Howser, M.D., Capitol Critters, Stark Raving Mad, Justice League, Spider-Man, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Sesame Street and How I Met Your Mother, to name just a few.

Besides having proved his talent on the small screen, Harris has also emerged as a very powerful and versatile actor on the big screen. His awesome performances have been appreciated by millions in movies like, Starship Troopers, The Mesmerist, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and Prop 8: The Musical etc. He will next be seen in the upcoming movie projects which include Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which is currently in the process of post-production as well as The Best and the Brightest and Beastly, which are currently being filmed.

Neil has won four prestigious awards till now and in addition has also been nominated for nine other awards. In 1990, he won the People’s Choice Award of Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series. From 1990-1992, he won the Young Artist Award under the category of Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series for Doogie Howser, M.D..

Besides winning the above awards, Neil has been nominated once each for a Young Artist Award and a People’s Choice Award, twice each for Teen Choice Awards and Emmy Awards, and has also been nominated thrice for the Golden Globe Awards, under various categories.

Role In How I Met Your Mother

In How I Met Your Mother, Neil plays the role of Barney Stinson. He is a womanizer, prefers wearing suits, gets pleasure from playing laser tag and performs magic tricks that frequently involve fire. Ted also feels that he is quite liberal with his use of the words “awesome” and “legendary”, in his vocabulary. He had been engaged to a woman in college but was abandoned by her, before he lost his virginity. Later, it was his black, gay brother who arranged for him to lose his virginity. Before losing his virginity, Barney was a hippie who supported a long-hair and had plans of joining the Peace Corps. In season four, it was made known that he was infatuated with Robin.