Biography

Daniel Davis

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This Arkansas native was born on 26 November 1945 to parents who owned a movie theater. He often felt that his desire to become an actor came from the fact that he spent so much time in the theater's "crying room" for babies - and listening to the likes of Tyrone Power and others. His first "professional" work came at the age of 11 when he became a member of the cast of a children's TV series broadcast from Little Rock - "Betty's Little Rascals". His formal acting training came from the Arkansas Arts Center (a fine arts conservatory with its own repertory company), followed by work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and 6 years with the American Conservatory Theatre, among many others. He also taught acting classes while at ACT. His love of the theater has continued through his career. He has played in nearly every Shakespeare play and an untold number of musicals (he's an accomplished singer) and straight plays. For the year 2000 Tony Awards, he was recognized with a nomination as best actor in a featured role for his performance in "Wrong Mountain". When The Nanny (1993) first went on the air, many people believed that the very British butler "Niles" was definitely being played by a British actor. This Southern boy was so convincing in his role that many fans wrote to the show and suggested that he teach Charles Shaughnessy (a true British native) how to improve his accent!
- IMDb mini biography by: anonymous

His take-off on Tom Cruise's underwear dance in the film Risky Business (1983) became one of The Nanny (1993)'s classic moments.
Acted and taught for seven years at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
Received a 2003 OBIE award as part of the acting company of Talking Heads, a series of six one-person shows.
Was nominated for Broadway's 2000 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "Wrong Mountain."
In 1988, appeared on Elementary, Dear Data (1988), which takes place on the U.S.S. Enterprise. In 1990, he played the captain of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise in The Hunt for Red October (1990).

I was attracted to Shakespeare before the drama teachers got to me. I was still a youngster when I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I realized that magical world of language and idea was for me.
[Shakespeare] didn't write to provide grist for scholarly mills. He wrote scripts! For actors! All the information we need is in the play. In the story. That should be the emphasis of the production. The words give us the characters, their relationships and emotions, the sense of time and place."
Once you've been bitten by the Shakespeare bug, it's a lifetime commitment.
[on getting cast on 'The Nanny'] I remember I had gone into the network for approval and I was there up against a famous actor called Roddy McDowall and I thought, 'Oh, why am I here? I don't have a prayer.'' And about three hours later, I got the call that I had the job.

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