<P> Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Jason Segel . Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca . </P> <P> The series revolves around the adventures of the five main characters: Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his best friends Marshall, his wife Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). Marshall met Ted and Lily during their freshman year at Wesleyan University in 1996, and they moved into an apartment in New York City together after graduation . In the show's pilot episode, he proposes to Lily, inspiring Ted to start looking for the love of his life . </P> <P> Marshall was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the youngest of three brothers . His last name, and the fact that he is from Minnesota suggests that he might be a Danish American or Norwegian American . He is extremely close to his family, particularly his father, Marvin (Bill Fagerbakke). When Marvin dies Marshall is devastated, and takes a long time to recover, not to mention that during the episode, Last Words he struggles with remembering what Marvin's last words were to him . He is also close to his mother, Judy (Suzie Plakson), and is oblivious to the fact that she and Lily despise each other . </P> <P> Very few references have been made to identify Marshall's birthday . We can assume he was in the same school year as best friend and roommate Ted Mosby and then - girlfriend Lily Aldrin and In "The Yips" Marshall says he is 29 . This episode aired in November 2007 . This confirms Marshall's birth year to be either 1978 or 1977 . Ted is turning 30 on April 25th 2008 in "The Goat (How I Met Your Mother)". The dialogue in this episode implies that Lily, Marshall and Robin have not yet reached this milestone . We can only conclude Marshall's birthday is between April 25th - late August / early September 1978 . </P>

Who is marshall in how i met your mother