Actor Jason Segel has been honoured as Man of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

He got the traditional pudding pot on Friday evening after a roast by America's oldest undergraduate drama troupe.

Segel plays Marshall Eriksen on the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother. He co-wrote and starred in last year's The Muppets. And on Friday he sang a version of Rainbow Connection written by the troupe.

Segel got his start in the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series Freaks and Geeks. He later wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which earned more than $US100 million worldwide.

Hasty Pudding honoured actress Claire Danes as its Woman of the Year.