Apr 3, 1959

Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

David Hyde Pierce is an American actor, best
known for his role as Dr. Niles Crane on
the sitcom Frasier.

He began acting in high schooland studied classical piano at Yale University.
Unfortunately, he soon grew bored with music history lessons. He graduated
in 1981 with a double major in English and Theatre Arts. Pierce then
moved to New York City, where he worked several menial jobs
(including selling ties at Bloomingdales and working as a security
guard) while acting i... ... (read more...) n the theater during the late 1980s and early
1990s.
His career would soon take off with a role on another
sitcom. Because of his resemblance to Kelsey Grammer, the role of
Niles Crane on the Cheers spin-off Frasier was created for him. For
this role, Pierce was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for
a record eleven consecutive years, winning in 1995, 1998, 1999 and
2004. For the last few years of the run of the show, Pierce was paid
up to $1 million per episode.
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Pierce appeared in Sleepless in Seattle, Little Man Tate, and Down With Love. He also provided
the voice for Doctor Doppler in Disney's 42nd animated feature,
Treasure Planet.

Some of his voice work includes the Walking Stick insect "Slim"
in A Bug's Life and the amphibian Abe Sapien in Hellboy (of note is
the fact that Pierce refused credit for his Hellboy role, because he
felt that it was Doug Jones' performance, and not his own voice,
which ultimately brought the character of Abe Sapien to life). In a
deliberate in-joke, he has also voiced Sideshow Bob's brother, Cecil,
in one episode of The Simpsons, in which he and Grammer essentially
recreated the Frasier/Niles relationship. The episode was humorously
titled Brother from Another Series.

Throughout the 11-year run of Frasier (1993-2004), Pierce was
nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor each year. He
has won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four
times (1995, 1998, 1999, 2004). He holds the record for an actor most
nominated for an Emmy in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category.