Neil Patrick Harris

He's all grown up now, but Neil Patrick Harris has been in the public eye since the age of 16, when he was cast as the teen-prodigy physician in the TV series "Doogie Howser M.D." Two decades later, he's a star of another hit TV series, CBS' "How I Met Your Mother."

The cast of "How I Met Your Mother," from left, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders and Josh Radnor attend the 2010 CBS UpFront on May 19, 2010, in New York. Harris earned his fourth consecutive Emmy nomination in 2010 for his role as Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother."

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Neil Patrick Harris and Suze Orman attend Time's 100 Most Influential People gala on May 4, 2010, in New York City.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris arrives at the Tod's boutique opening in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Thursday, April 15, 2010.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris, from the upcoming film "Beastly," poses for photographers at the CBS Films photo call during ShoWest 2010 in Las Vegas, Thursday, March 18, 2010.

In "How I Met Your Mother," Harris plays Barney Stinson, here in bed with Lily (played by Alyson Hannigan), who is the girlfriend of his friend Marshall, in the episode in the second season entitled "World's Greatest Couple." Barney is described as a character with "endless, sometimes outrageous opinions, a penchant for suits and a foolproof way to meet women."

After "Doogie Howser" ended in 1993, Harris worked frequently on the stage. Among his roles on Broadway, he played JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Assassins". Here he is with Michael Cerveris playing Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, as they present a scene from the musical at the Tony Awards ceremony in 2004.

Neil Patrick Harris made his Broadway debut in "Proof" Here, the bearded Harris attends a party for that play's reopening in 2002. Harris has also appeared on Broadway in "Cabaret." In 2009, Harris served as host of the Tony Awards.

Outside of New York, Harris has performed in stage works ranging from "Romeo and Juliet" to "Rent". Here he is performing a number between Mark Esposito and Claci Miller in the fourth annual S.T.A.G.E. Event in Los Angeles.

John Cho, Kal Penn and Paula Garces, from left, join Neil Patrick Harris at the world premiere of "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," in which they all star, with Harris playing a parody of himself (the character is named Neil Patrick Harris) as an insistent womanizer.

The womanizing is literally an act. Neil Patrick Harris spoke in April on at the 18th annual awards ceremony of GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.) Several months earlier, in response to press speculation about his love life, he wrote, "I am a very content gay man."

Neil Patrick Harris has starred in five television series, including "Stark Raving Mad" (left, with Tony Shalhoub), which lasted 22 episodes, and guest-starred in many others.