MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — After years of helping hand out Tony Awards to others, Neil Patrick Harris finally has one of his own.

The Emmy Award-winning “How I Met Your Mother” star won his first Tony on Sunday for playing a German male transsexual rock singer in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” a tale of obsession, glam rock and a botched sex-change operation.

He beat Ramin Karimloo from “Les Miserables,” Andy Karl of “Rocky,” and Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, both from “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.”

Harris, the onetime star of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has featured previously in three Broadway productions: “Assassins,” ”Proof” and as the exuberant master of ceremonies in “Cabaret.” He also has appeared in the “Harold & Kumar” and “The Smurfs” movies.

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