Neil Patrick Harris

When you think of child stars who made the nearly impossible transition to adult acting careers, one of the first names to pop up is Neil Patrick Harris. After being discovered at a drama camp by playwright Mark Medoff, he went on to win critical acclaim in the 1988 film adaptation of Clara’s Heart, starring alongside Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg, before earning the role of teenage physician Doogie Howser on ABC’s Doogie Howser, M.D., which ran for four seasons. Once the show was canceled, Harris went on to a highly successful stage career and reemerged in film with a supporting role in 1997’s Starship Troopers, with his television return coming in 1999 one-season sitcom Stark Raving Madly, where he plays obsessive-compulsive book editor Henry McNeeley opposite Tony Shalhoub. In 2004, he starred as an exaggerated version of himself in cult comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, a role that helped him land a spot on CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, arguably the role he’s most known for. Harris plays womanizer Barney Stinson on the long-running comedy, set to sign off after the 2013-2014 season. Among the recognition Harris has received for the role were two Golden Globe nominations and four Emmy nominations. Additionally, the multi-talented actor, whose singing ability has been lauded, has become one of the go-to hosts for award shows in recent years, having emceed the Tony Awards four times, the Creative Arts Emmys once, the TV Land Awards once, Spike TV’s Video Game Awards once, and the Emmys main telecast once.