Neil Patrick Harris mini-bio: 
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor. He is best known for his TV roles as the teenage doctor Doogie Howser, M.D. and the womanizing Barney in How I Met Your Mother. His first significant roles came in 1988, when he starred in two movies: the film Clara's Heart, a drama with Whoopi Goldberg that won him a Golden Globe nomination, and 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 TV, 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 Starship Troopers, The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, in which he played a drug-crazed, lecherous parody of himself. From 1999 to 2000 Harris starred with Tony Shalhoub in the sitcom Stark Raving Mad, which lasted twenty-two episodes. He has taken lead roles in a number of made-for-television features, including The Christmas Blessing in 2005, The Wedding Dress in 2001, Joan of Arc in 1999, and My Antonia in 1995, as well as series guest roles.
Harris has worked on Broadway in both musical and dramatic roles. His Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd, Proof, Cabaret, and Assassins. His most recent role came during the writer's strike of 2007, where he teamed with Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion to prove that entertaining, quality productions could be made on an independent budget outside of Hollywood. The move was a success, becoming the #1 bestseller on iTunes for five straight weeks and sending its own website into a meltdown.
Harris' comedic flair can be seen in his current role is in the CBS ensemble sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The show debuted in the fall of 2005 and has been continuing strongly since, now entering its fourth season.