Neil Patrick Harris born June 15 1973 is an American actor singer writer producer and television host 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 On television he is known for playing the title character on the ABC series Doogie Howser MD 19891993 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 20052014 for which he was nominated for four Emmy Awards and Count Olaf on the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events 20172019 Harris is also known for his role as the title character in Joss Whedons musical Dr Horribles SingAlong Blog 2008 and a fictional version of himself in the Harold Kumar film series 20042011 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 magazines 100 Most Influential People in 2010 He is married to David Burtka In 2010 they had twins via surrogacy