Daniel Davis is an American actor born on November 26, 1945 in Gurdon, Arkansas. Often mistaken for being British due to his ability to speak with a perfect Victorian accent, he became interested in the performing arts at a young age, partly due to his parents owning and operating a movie theater. His first acting experience was at the age of 11 in a local broadcast production titled Betty’s Little Rascals. Daniel Davis later on trained at the Arkansas Arts Center and the American Conservatory Theater. He has worked on television series and movies such as Highway to Heaven, Cheers, MacGyver, The Practice, The Prestige, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Niles is portrayed by Daniel Davis in the CBS comedy series The Nanny. The Sheffield family’s ever-present butler, he has been Maxwell’s valet for most of his life, coming along with him to live in America. Claiming at one point to have no surname, “Like Cher,” he served the household solemnly when Maxwell’s wife died, only taking pleasure from deriding business associate C.C. Babcock. He also bonded with Fran Fine when she began working as the nanny, though he kept up his tendency for dryly smug one-liners and jokes. He eventually slept with his archenemy C.C. and actually proposed marriage to her.


(Image courtesy of CBS)