Neil Patrick Harris's Real Name: Neil Patrick Harris

Quick answer: The actor is known professionally as Neil Patrick Harris. Biography.com and Encyclopedia.com independently date his birth to June 15, 1973, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and say he was raised in Ruidoso, New Mexico (Biography.com; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Neil Patrick Harris. The sources cited here use that name and do not independently document a different legal form, so this page titles the public name. Biography.com says he is the son of attorneys, grew up in Ruidoso, began acting as Toto in a grade-school production of The Wizard of Oz, and appeared in plays and musicals while attending La Cueva High School. Encyclopedia.com independently names his parents as Ron, a lawyer, and Sheila, a writer and lawyer, records that he studied drama, and lists magic and juggling among his avocational interests.

Career highlights

Biography.com says that in 1988, at age 15, he received a Golden Globe nomination for Clara's Heart, opposite Whoopi Goldberg, and the following year landed the title role on ABC's Doogie Howser, M.D., which ran for four seasons and brought another Golden Globe nomination. Encyclopedia.com independently lists the series as running on ABC from 1989 to 1993. Biography.com says he later appeared on Broadway in Proof, Assassins, and Rent, and as the host in Cabaret, and in 2005 began playing Barney Stinson on CBS's How I Met Your Mother. Encyclopedia.com independently lists How I Met Your Mother from 2005 and records a DramaLogue Award for Rent as well as the Cabaret role in 2003.

Biography.com also lists film work including Starship Troopers and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and the NBC sitcom Stark Raving Mad. Encyclopedia.com independently lists the 1999 miniseries Joan of Arc. Biography.com says he hosted the Tony Awards in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013, winning three Emmys for that hosting work, and that in 2014 he won a Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical for the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It also says he hosted the 87th Academy Awards the following year.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Neil Patrick Harris are looking for the American actor known for Doogie Howser, M.D. and How I Met Your Mother, not other performers with similar names.