Legendary: Everything Neil Patrick Harris has accomplished by 45

While few people will remember the melodramatic one-off that was "Clara's Heart," this Whoopi Goldberg vehicle was a heck of a showcase for Harris, who played the neurotic-yet-charming son of a couple whose marriage was falling apart. Clara (Goldberg) was brought in as a nanny and soon formed a bond with the child and, cue the strings, you know how the rest of this goes. Still, it was Harris' first-ever film project and launched his career. His next piece of work? "Purple People Eater," of course.

Created by noted cop drama impresario Steven Bocho ("Hill Street Blues," "NYPD Blue"), this show circled around the laughable premise of a teenage medical genius who couldn't buy beer but could prescribe drugs — mixing standard-issue medical drama scenarios with cookie-cutter coming-of-age embarrassments. It's quite goofy, but the show's a minor hit, lasting for four seasons and even netting an early Emmy nomination for the actor in the title role: Neil Patrick Harris.

While he's an acclaimed actor, singer and hoofer, one of NPH's true passions in life has been magic. He's poked fun at it before, but also has legitimate chops, frequently astounding TV hosts and regular onlookers with his well-executed tricks. As noted in the intro, he's also served as the President of the Board of Directors of Hollywood's Magic Castle, made his character Barney Stinson ("How I Met Your Mother") a bit of a magic aficionado, and by the time he made his own young adult novel, he titled it — what else — "The Magic Misfits."

Celebrities put out autobiographies all the time, and it's highly questionable whether or not any of them had an actual say in the words that appear on the page. Yet Neil Patrick Harris isn't like most celebrities and structured his own life overview after the page-flipping narrative "Choose Your Own Adventure" series that was popular with kids in the '80s and '90s. The novelty of the book, however, doesn't deter from the insight contained within. At times confrontational (particularly in regards to his sexuality) and very sweet (read up on the road trip his husband sent him on for his birthday), it makes for a fascinating, delightful and unquestionably unique read.

After appearing in a series of unremarkable films in the '90s (sorry, "Undercover Brother"), Harris felt burnt out and took his dwindling career to Broadway — belting out the tunes and establishing theatre cred while searching for his next move. However, his cameo roles in the low-budget stoner-friendly "Harold & Kumar" films absolutely brought him back into the forefront of pop culture, as he played "Neil Patrick Harris": a psychotic actor who was on "Doogie Howser, M.D." — a womanizing drug addict with a penchant for extreme violence. It was one of the best parts of the film, against type, and undeniably hilarious. No wonder he was back for every film in the trilogy.

The great Writers Guild of America strike between November 2007 and February 2008 was one of the longest in history and prevented several television shows from expanding out their entire seasons (see: "Breaking Bad" truncated episode order) and forced some late night hosts to go on-air with no prepared material. During this, Joss Whedon and his collaborators conceived a low-budget but professional-looking web-series musical that would feature the talents of Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris. It was a resounding success, even going on to win an Emmy. The cast reconvened to record the DVD commentary, which, instead of spoken insights, was a whole separate musical to be played over the already-existing footage of the show. Wow.

With his trained singing voice and charismatic persona, Neil Patrick Harris has long endeared himself to the New York theatre scene. So, naturally he has hosted the televised Tony Awards no less than four times, each time seemingly outdoing himself. Our pick for the best? His gig hosting the 2013 ceremony opened with a song called "Bigger!," which is about as entertaining, emotional and epic a program opening as you can expect. Fun fact: that song was written by "Next to Normal" scribe Tom Kitt and some guy you probably haven't heard of named Lin-Manuel Miranda. Great song, but it's Neil who sells it.

Literally the same year that he did his last hosting job for the Tony Awards, NPH became the hostest with the mostest and proceeded to also host the Emmy Awards in 2013 — his second time presenting the Primetime broadcast. Both times he's hosted it he's done a perfectly serviceable job, but the opening musical number for the 61st ceremony (because of course there was a musical number) was basically about the show begging you to not throw out the remote (subtext: please don't switch to streaming). It was... fine. Neil gave it what he could, 'cause that's what he always does.

After making a mark on Broadway and using his hosting gigs to become an ambassador for great theatre, it was his tackling of the title role in the classic John Cameron Mitchell/Steven Trask glam-rock musical "Hedwig & The Angry Inch" that netted him his first-ever Tony Award nomination. Even more than that, it soon turned into his first-ever win. In his acceptance speech, he came off as nothing but truly grateful for the opportunity.

Headlining a musical like "Hedwig & the Angry Inch" comes with a lot of responsibility as well as a lot of glory, and because of that, he ended up sharing a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album with his extremely talented co-star Lena Hall. The nomination was lovely, but the gong ended up being awarded to "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical."

How could any list of NPH's accomplishments not include his smarmy, womanizing and endlessly-quotable Barney Stinson? It's a character that was iconic from the second he walked onscreen and has resulted in books and merchandise brandishing Barney's name. Not to mention, the four Emmy nominations that the role has netted Neil during HIMYM's run. It's nothing short of lengen-(wait for it)-dary.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller's animated 2009 film  "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" has become a cult hit amongst kids, parents and people who take a lot of drugs. With its breakneck jokes and remarkable food-oriented visuals, the film has lasted through the years due to its wit and charm (which is not something we can say for the sequel), and part of what made it work was the extraordinary cast involved. The lead role of Flint Lockwood was initially supposed to be voiced by Neil. However, upon reading the script, he liked the role of the monkey "Steve" much better, as the comedic sidekick spends a majority of the movie just saying "Steve" in various tones. Don't worry about the role of Flint though: it eventually went to Bill Hader.

While Neil Patrick Harris bravely revealed he was gay in 2006, his autobiography revealed that he had meaningful encounters with men much earlier. Out of all of them, though, it's his relationship with Burtka that has stuck — the two of them initially dating all the way back in 2004. Ten years later, they were married in Italy in a ceremony officiated by Pamela Fryman, one of the key creatives behind "How I Met Your Mother." Elton John performed at the ceremony to boot!

His role was definitely of the "supporting" variety, but who are you to make a show about twisted circus performers and not have Neil Patrick Harris play a magician? He's a bit of a psychotic magician, to be fair — sawing a woman in half while she's in the box without any special assistance and then letting her guts spill out on the floor. It's a remarkable change of pace for Harris, but between this and his notable supporting role in the Oscar-nominated David Fincher film "Gone Girl," it was clear that Neil was looking to expand his range even further.

Born by a surrogate in 2010, Neil and David take great care of their son, Gideon Scott, and their daughter, Harper Grace. The two adorable ragamuffins frequently appear in Neil's social media posts. And in virtually every press appearance he makes, he absolutely beams about them.

Oh, but it wasn't just any episode of "Glee." It was the Joss Whedon-directed "Dream On" episode. Bryan Ryan (Harris), an old rival of Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison), comes in to try and let the kids know that their showbiz dreams are unrealistic, which is the antithesis of what Will has been saying all along. The climax, of course, comes from a Harris-Morrison sing-off using Aerosmith's "Dream On" as the basis, resulting in what some have called the most iconic "Glee" performance (second to "Don't Stop Believing" of course).

While Harris started his account of Primetime Emmy nominations in 2007 with his first nod for playing Barry Stinson in "How I Met Your Mother," he's been nominated virtually every year since then like clockwork. He eventually won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2010 for his "Glee" appearance. If that wasn't enough, he nabbed the statue for every year that he ended up hosting the Tonys (2009, '11, '12, '13).

Although short-lived, "Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris" did what it could. Harris would bring on guests stars, guest announcers, and feature live guest singalongs 'cause it's a Neil Patrick Harris' show and why not? Of all the bits he tossed out there, his best was when he pretended to be a foreign cast member of "The Voice" and interviewed (and later auditioned) for the real-life coaches of "The Voice." He did the job so well that none of them guessed it Neil until he told them after his audition.

Before he even hit 40 years old, Neil ended up with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and it's hard to think of someone more deserving. Although his teenage acting gigs showed that Harris was a unique talent unto himself, it's been seeing him transform his career since then that's been most remarkable — tackling not just one but several iconic roles that won't soon be forgotten.

Jamie Kennedy's career said it best: don't try and follow up a role that was originally done by Jim Carrey. However, the 2004 effort of the same name was not particularly well-received upon release. Enough time had passed that anyone who was a kid when it originally came out was well grown up now, paving the way for Netflix to unleash it upon a whole new generation of youngsters. The efforts have paid off, as the show has been renewed for a third season, which is expected to arrive in 2019, starring none other than Neil Patrick Harris as the devious and bizarre Count Olaf. The show is well-crafted, but let's be real: you're coming for the Neil.