David Burtka
David Michael Burtka (born May 29, 1975) is an American actor and professional chef. He is known for his acting roles in theatre and television shows such as How I Met Your Mother and The Play About the Baby. After his role on How I Met Your Mother, Burtka gained media attention for dating Neil Patrick Harris, whom he later married in 2014.
David Burtka | |
|---|---|
Burtka in 2012 | |
| Born | David Michael Burtka May 29, 1975 Dearborn, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | University of Michigan (BFA) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
Burtka was born in Dearborn, Michigan, the son of Deborah A. Zajas (died 2008) and Daniel Burtka. He is of Polish descent.[1][2] He grew up in Canton, Michigan, and graduated from Salem High School in 1993. He trained in acting at Interlochen Center for the Arts, obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan and had further training at the William Esper Studios.
Acting career
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021) |
Burtka made his television debut in 2002 with a guest role on The West Wing. This was followed by guest appearances on Crossing Jordan.
Burtka made his Broadway debut as Tulsa in the 2003 revival of Gypsy, which starred Bernadette Peters. He played The Boy in the American premiere of Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby, for which he won the 2001 Clarence Derwent Award for most promising male performer.
In 2004, Burtka originated the role of Matt in the musical The Opposite of Sex and reprised the role in the work's East Coast premiere in the summer of 2006.
Burtka appeared in seven episodes of How I Met Your Mother, playing "Scooter", the former high school boyfriend of Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), who still had not gotten over their breakup. Burtka made a cameo appearance, in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, as himself; in it, he also shared a scene with Neil Patrick Harris, in a part that was much like his character from How I Met Your Mother.
Burtka starred in Osiris Entertainment's 2013 film Annie and the Gypsy,[3] and had a featured role in the 2014 film Dance Off. [4]
Burtka returned to Broadway in a comedy play, which David Hyde Pierce directed, titled It Shoulda Been You. In the play, staged in late April 2015, he assumed the role of a Catholic fiancé of a Jewish bride, who was played by Sierra Boggess, whose wedding day is disrupted when her ex-boyfriend shows up at the wedding. Additional cast members included Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris.[5]
Burtka is set to star in an Off-Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage at Theatre Row in NYC. Previews begin on April 18, 2023 with opening night set for April 27, 2023. Burka will star along with Carey Cox, Gabe Fazio and Christiane Noll.[6]
Personal life
Six months after Burtka's first How I Met Your Mother appearance, allegations arose that the actor had received the part because of a romantic relationship with one of the show's stars, actor Neil Patrick Harris.[7] Speculation around this story eventually led Harris to acknowledge publicly that he himself was gay in a cover story in People Weekly Magazine.[8] Burtka made no public response to the story, though later Harris stated that he and Burtka were moving in together.[9]
Burtka and Harris attended the Emmy Awards in September 2007 as an openly acknowledged couple for the first time, an appearance that Harris discussed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[10]
Burtka's mother died of cancer in May 2008.[11]
On February 4, 2009, Burtka and Harris appeared for the first time on stage together, singing a duet from Rent at a benefit for The LGBT Community Center in New York. The two actors had been together since April 2004.[12] Harris customarily referred to Burtka as "my better half" and "an amazing chef."[13] Burtka and Harris became parents to fraternal twins[14] who were born in October 2010, via a surrogate mother. Burtka, although not the biological father of his ex Lane Janger's children, who had also been born via surrogate, has remained close to them over the years.[15][16]
Following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York on June 24, 2011, Burtka and Harris announced their engagement, stating that they had proposed to each other five years earlier but had kept the engagement secret until same-sex marriage became legal in their state.[17]
According to Harris, Burtka quit acting full-time to become a professional chef.[18] He graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Pasadena in the summer of 2009; afterwards, he began running a Los Angeles catering company that he called "Gourmet M.D." Burtka did continue to act, including in It Shoulda Been You on Broadway in 2015.[19]
Burtka's first cookbook, Life is a Party, a collection of recipes and tips on entertaining, was published in April 2019.[20]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 24 Nights | Toby | |
| 2007 | Worldly Possession | Andrew Bates | Television film |
| 2007 | Open House | Husband | Short film |
| 2007 | Army Guy | Keith | Short film |
| 2011 | A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | Himself | |
| 2011 | Gaysharktank.com | Short film | |
| 2012 | Annie and the Gypsy | Martin | |
| 2013 | The Gay Christian Mingle | Short film | |
| 2014 | Dance-Off | JT | |
| 2020 | Cicada | Bo |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The West Wing | Intern Bruce | Episode: "The Black Vera Wang" |
| 2005 | Crossing Jordan | Craig Heeley | Episode: "Total Recall" |
| 2007 | CSI: NY | David King | Episode: "Down the Rabbit Hole" |
| 2013 | Iron Chef America | Himself | Episode: "Zakarian vs. Chiarello: Scotch" |
| 2012 | Neil's Puppet Dreams | Himself | Episodes: "Dream Bump" "Bollywood" |
| 2006–14 | How I Met Your Mother | Scooter | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself (guest judge) | Episode: "Drag My Wedding" |
| 2015 | Beat Bobby Flay | Himself (guest judge) | Episode: "No Training Wheels" |
| 2015 | American Horror Story: Freak Show | Michael Beck | Episode: "Curtain Call" |
| 2018 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | Mr. Willums | Episodes: "The Carnivorous Carnival: Part 1" "The Carnivorous Carnival: Part 2" |
| 2020 | Home Movie: The Princess Bride[21] | Princess Buttercup | mini series |
| 2022 | Uncoupled | Jerry | Episode: "Chapter 6" |
See also
References
- ^ . michigan.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
- ^ Administrator. "Famous Polish Americans". polishyoungstown.com. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
- ^ "Platinum the Dance Movie (2014)". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris, Sierra Boggess, Lisa Howard, David Burtka & More Will Star in David Hyde Pierce-Helmed IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU on Broadway; Opens April 14". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
- ^ "David Burtka to Lead Off-Broadway 'God of Carnage' Revival (EXCLUSIVE)". 16 March 2023.
- ^ canada.com October 24, 2006 (2006-10-24). . Canada.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
- ^ . People.com. 2006-11-03. Archived from the original on 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
- ^ Fabien Montique (July 26, 2007). . theBosh.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- ^ Thomson, Katherine (2007-09-13). "Watch: Neil Patrick Harris Tells Ellen About Going To The Emmys Since Coming Out". The Huffington Post.
- ^ WENN (23 May 2008). "Harris' Tribute To Boyfriend's Late Mother". contactmusic.com. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
- ^ "US Weekly". February 18, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Neil Patrick Harris Welcomes 'Happy, Healthy' Twins". People. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
- ^ "David Burtka on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
- ^ Dulin, Dann. "David Burtka: Cover Story". 5 April 2014. aumag.org. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
- ^ Published Saturday, Jun 25, 2011, 1:42pm EDT (2011-06-25). "Neil Patrick Harris announces secret engagement". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Neil Patrick Harris talks Thanksgiving on The Late Late Show. Retrieved 2011-11-16 – via YouTube.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ^ Vora, Shivani (2019-06-14). "How Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka Spend Their Sundays". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (June 26, 2020). "Watch the Celebrity-Filled Fan-Film Version of The Princess Bride". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
External links
- Media related to David Burtka at Wikimedia Commons
- David Burtka at IMDb
- David Burtka at the Internet Broadway Database
- at the Lortel Archives
- David Burtka at AllMovie