David Burtka

David Michael Burtka, born May 29, 1975, in Dearborn, Michigan, is an American actor and chef. He grew up in Canton, Michigan, where he graduated from Salem High School in 1993. Of Polish descent, he is the son of Deborah A. Zajas and Daniel Burtka. His formal training included study at Interlochen Center for the Arts, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan, and additional work at the William Esper Studios.

Burtka's stage career began in earnest before his Broadway debut. He won the 2001 Clarence Derwent Award for most promising male performer for his portrayal of The Boy in the American premiere of Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby. In 2003, he made his Broadway debut playing Tulsa in the revival of Gypsy, which starred Bernadette Peters. The following year, he originated the role of Matt Mateo in the musical The Opposite of Sex, a role he reprised for the production's East Coast premiere in the summer of 2006. Burtka returned to Broadway in 2015 in the musical comedy It Shoulda Been You, directed by David Hyde Pierce. In April 2023, he appeared in an Off-Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage at Theatre Row, alongside Carey Cox, Gabe Fazio, and Christiane Noll, with previews beginning April 18 and the production opening April 27.

His screen work includes a television debut in 2002 with a guest role on The West Wing, followed by a guest appearance on Crossing Jordan. He appeared in seven episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Scooter, the former high school boyfriend of Lily Aldrin, played by Alyson Hannigan. He made a cameo appearance as himself in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, opposite Neil Patrick Harris. His film credits include Osiris Entertainment's 2013 production Annie and the Gypsy, in which he starred, and a featured role in the 2014 film Dance-Off.

While residing in Los Angeles, Burtka pursued a culinary career alongside his acting work, graduating from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Pasadena in the summer of 2009. He subsequently launched a Los Angeles catering company called Gourmet MD. In April 2019, he published a cookbook titled Life Is a Party, a collection of recipes and entertaining tips. In 2025, he co-authored Both Sides of the Glass: Paired Cocktails and Mocktails to Toast Any Taste with Neil Patrick Harris.

Burtka has been in a relationship with Neil Patrick Harris since April 2004. Following New York's passage of the Marriage Equality Act on June 24, 2011, the two announced their engagement, disclosing that they had proposed to each other five years earlier but had kept the engagement private until same-sex marriage became legal in their state. They married in Italy in September 2014. In October 2010, the couple became parents to twins, Harper and Gideon, born via a surrogate mother.