What happened to Niles Crane actor David Hyde Pierce after Frasier?

Although he has worked on stage and screen before, most people were first introduced to David Hyde Pierce through his role as Neil Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier. In the long run, Pierce was the secret sauce that helped separate “Frasier” from “Cheers,” as Nail quickly became a fan favorite and was one half of the show's long-running “will they or won't they” romance that culminates in marriage and the birth of a baby between her and his father. home health care worker Dafni Moon. As much as audiences loved Pierce as Neal, it was clear the industry did too: He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Emmy 11 times, winning four times, including for the show's final season in 2004. But unlike Kelsey Grammer, who continued to play. Pearce opted mostly (but not entirely) for the world of sitcoms with countless (and much less successful) sequels. step back from the screen spotlight after the show ended over 20 years ago.

While “Frasier” itself has gone through the requisite Paramount+ reboot, with several of the show's original cast appearing in at least one episode, Nail has been a notable absence. (Funny when he was asked about the possibility of such a reboot years ago, Pierce assumed it would never happen.) Although his character's son is a regular on the new show, guaranteeing that both Neal and Daphne are mentioned in dialogue, we haven't seen Pierce yet. And the actor has publicly admitted that he chose not to appear on the show. Therefore, the question becomes even more urgent: what happened to Pierce after the end of “Frasier”? The short version is simple: for the most part, he chose to act on stage.

In some ways, it makes perfect sense. Pierce is far from the only “Frasier” cast member to have acted on stage; Pat Grammer starred in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Broadway after Frasier, which earned him a Tony nomination. But soon after “Frasier” ended in 2004, Pearce moved on to another famous comic property in the world of Monty Python. He played Sir Robin and other characters in the original Broadway version of Spamalot alongside actors such as Tim Curry as King Arthur and Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot. Of course, having well-known film and television actors on stage is nothing new, but Pierce was 11 years old when he was playing live games (if you think about the kind of humor and storytelling in “Frasier”). proving both his acting and singing skills on stage in a highly anticipated and widely loved stage musical. (It's also to Pearce's credit that now that he's aged a bit, you could easily see him playing King Arthur; he wouldn't just be a more cowardly character.) And unlike some famous actors and actresses who play on stage. show almost like a lark, it became almost a second life for Pierce. He won his first Tony Award, not for Spamalot, but for the next Broadway show he starred in, Curtains.

While you might not know “Curtains” as immediately as you recognize “Spamalot” from its origins in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the 2006 musical featured a pretty impressive cast alongside Pierce, including the composing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, best known for writing the music for the Broadway musical Chicago. In “Curtains,” Pierce played a detective on the case to solve a murder behind the scenes of a Boston musical while indulging his passion for musical theater.

Pierce would then go on to work on Broadway in shows such as “La Bete” and the recent “Hello, Dolly!” in a revival starring Bette Midler in the title role. And what's more, Pearce returns to the stage this year in a new version of the iconic comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance.

It's not that David Hyde Pierce has completely avoided appearing in film and television since the end of “Frasier,” but his choices have been few and far between, and they clearly speak more to his interests than the need to work and collect a paycheck. Perhaps his most notable work after “Frasier” was in Max's recent series “Julia,” in which he played Julia Child's husband, Paul, as she began her remarkable career as a celebrity television chef in the mid-1960s. (Frasier fans can no doubt recall that one of the show's other regulars, Bebe Neuwirth, played Frasier Crane's ex-wife Lilith.) Although Pierce looked the same in “Julia,” if a little older. His portrayal of the character (a husband who must contend with his wife's rise to fame while his own artwork is ignored) allowed him a level of complexity that wasn't always present in his excellent work on “Frasier.” Although the series was canceled after two seasons, he especially felt like a breath of fresh air for viewers who may not have caught him in some of the other shows. (The most notable of which would be a recurring role on CBS' “The Good Wife.”) Of course, the other breath of fresh air was the reboot itself, as Pierce returned to one of his most famous roles in the Netflix reboot “Wet.” American Hot Summer: First Day of Camp” for a few episodes, as well as a short-lived sequel, “Ten Years Later”.

David Hyde Pierce made himself a star as Niall Crane on “Frasier,” and the fact that his Emmy-winning work seems like such an impossible standard for other actors to match him is a testament to his quality as an actor. It's enviable to be one of the people who have seen him flourish on the Broadway stage over the past two decades, as the success of “Frasier” has allowed him to flex his muscles wherever he wants. If you haven't caught him in quick TV shows over the years or in the indie thriller The Perfect Host (in which he plays a somewhat more murderous version of Neal), know that he hasn't fallen off the map. completely and consider yourself lucky when he decides to appear again on the big or small screen.