Daniel Davis (1945–)

Actor Daniel Davis is best known for portraying the character of Niles the butler on the television comedy series The Nanny, which ran from 1993 to 1999. He is also noted for memorable guest appearances as part of the Star Trek franchise as Professor Moriarty on Star Trek: The Next Generation and reprising the character on Star Trek: Picard. In his roles on both The Nanny and in the Star Trek universe, the Arkansas-born actor spoke in an upper-class British accent so convincing that many people mistook it for his native tongue. He was recognized at the Tony Awards in 2000 with a nomination for best actor in a featured role for his performance in the Broadway play Wrong Mountain, and he received a 2003 OBIE award as part of the acting company of Talking Heads, an Off-Broadway series of one-person shows.

Daniel Davis was born on November 26, 1945, in Arkadelphia (Clark County) and grew up in Gurdon (Clark County). His parents Milton Davis and Patricia Banes Davis owned a movie theater where Davis later said he spent a lot of time in the theater’s “crying room,” a then popular feature at cinemas where parents could take fussy babies and watch the feature in a small glassed-in room so that other filmgoers were not disturbed. There, Davis absorbed the work of popular movie actors of the day, fueling his desire to join the profession.

After his father bought the family a television, Davis became an avid viewer of a children’s show on KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock (Pulaski County). The program, Betty’s Little Rascals, began in 1955 and was directed by local entertainer Betty Fowler. When Daniel Davis was eleven years old, his father accepted a job in Little Rock. Davis later said that he wrote a letter to Betty Fowler stating that his family was moving to Little Rock and asking to be on her show since he could sing, dance, and do impersonations of movie stars. Fowler wrote back, instructing Davis to have his mother contact the studio and arrange a meeting, which she did. Davis was cast immediately, and he credits Fowler with starting his career. Young cast members on Betty’s Little Rascals were occasionally invited to be part of Little Rock community theater productions. Davis was used often in plays because he could easily memorize lines, a skill he had learned by memorizing Bible passages to recite at church.

He attended Hall High School in Little Rock, where he was active in several student groups, particularly the drama club. While at Hall, Davis worked with a speech teacher to drop his Southern accent in hopes of diversifying the roles he could play. His fellow members in the Class of 1963 voted him “Wittiest Boy.”

Davis took classes at the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts), the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He then worked with various professional theater groups including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Stratford (Connecticut) Shakespeare Festival, and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. By 1980, he was active in television work, including a stint as Eliot Carrington on the daytime drama Texas, a spin-off of Another World.

He and his wife Caroline, who is an artist, married in a private ceremony in 1985.

From 1980 to 1983, he was the stand-by for the character of Antonio Salieri in the original Broadway production of Amadeus. He toured with Katharine Hepburn in Coco in 1971 and also played Salieri in a touring company of Amadeus in 1982. Other Broadway credits include Wrong Mountain (2000), The Invention of Love (2001), La Cage Aux Folles (2004–2005), and Noises Off (2016).

Feature film work by Davis includes The Prestige, Havana, and The Hunt for Red October. His extensive guest appearances on television include The A-Team, The Blacklist, Cheers, Columbo, Dynasty, Elementary, The Good Fight, MacGyver, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, New Amsterdam, The Practice, and Remington Steele.

Davis played his most famous character, Niles the butler, on the television series The Nanny throughout its run from 1993 to 1999, as well as appearing in cameo flashbacks on the show’s 2004 reunion special. Along with his deadpan one-liners, his characterization involved a convincing English accent. He attributed his convincing accent to his training and experience in classical theater.

Star Trek fans also heard his English accent when he portrayed Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty on two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Elementary, Dear Data” (1988) and “Ship in a Bottle” (1993). Davis reprised the Moriarty role in an episode titled “The Bounty” on the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023). Appealing to other science fiction enthusiasts, in 2012 he recorded the audiobook of the Star Wars franchise novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis.

He also performed voice work on such television projects as Rugrats (1991), AAAHH!!! Real Monsters (1994), The Nanny Cartoon Christmas Special (1995), Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1996), The New Adventures of Zorro (1997), and Longhair & Doubledome (2000), as well as the movie Thru the Moebius Strip (2005).

For additional information:
Beirne, Emily. “The Play’s the Thing: Life and Career of Daniel Davis.” AY, June 29, 2021. https://aymag.com/the-plays-the-thing-life-and-career-of-daniel-davis/ (accessed April 18, 2025).

Cohen, Corine. “Interview with Daniel Davis.” Broadway Showbiz, February 5, 2016. https://broadwayshowbiz.com/interview-with-daniel-davis/ (accessed April 18, 2025).

“Daniel Davis.” Internet Broadway Database. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/daniel-davis-79170 (accessed April 18, 2025).

“Daniel Davis.” Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0204425/ (accessed April 18, 2025).

“Happy Birthday to Hall High and Arkansas Arts Center Alum, Award Winning Actor Daniel Davis.” Little Rock Culture Vulture, November 26, 2018. https://lrculturevulture.com/2018/11/26/happy-birthday-to-hall-high-and-arkansas-arts-center-alum-award-winning-actor-daniel-davis/ (accessed April 18, 2025).

Storey, Michael. “Reflecting on Inflections of Drescher, Davis.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 16, 2011. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/aug/16/reflecting-inflections-drescher-davis-20110816/ (accessed April 18, 2025).

“Where Is Niles from The Nanny Today? See Daniel Davis Now!” International Buzznews Today, September 22, 2024.

Williams, Helaine. “‘Big Rascal’ Betty Fowler Celebrates 89th with Friends.” Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 14, 2014. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2014/sep/14/big-rascal-betty-fowler-celebrates-89th/  (accessed April 18, 2025).

Nancy Hendricks
Garland County Historical Society