# Dan Butler
**Dan Butler** (Daniel Eugene Butler) is an American actor, writer, and director best known for playing the boorish sports disc jockey Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the [NBC](https://www.edgepedia.org/nbc) sitcom *Frasier* (1993–2004). Born in 1954 in Indiana, he built a parallel stage career on Broadway and off-Broadway and wrote and performed a one-man play about gay life that drew national attention in the mid-1990s.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954, Indiana; birth name Daniel Eugene Butler. TV Insider gives Fort Wayne, IBDB gives Huntington.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/) • [3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937) |
| Signature role | Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on *Frasier*, 53 episodes from 1993 to 2004[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873) |
| Screen debut | Supporting role on an episode of *Remington Steele* (NBC, 1982–87)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/) |
| Notable films | *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991, Roden), *The Fan* (1996, Garrity), *Enemy of the State* (1998, Shaffer), *Crazy, Stupid, Love*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Dan-Butler/) |
| One-man show | *The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me...*, 14 vignettes; 1995 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding One-Person Show[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html) • [3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937) |
| Broadway credits | *The Hothouse* (1982), *Biloxi Blues* (1985–86), *Twentieth Century* (2004), *Travesties* (2018)[3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937) |
| Recent work | Guest role as Bulldog in the 2023 *Frasier* revival; starred in the off-Broadway play *Another Shot* in 2024[6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/dan-butler/) • [7](https://apnews.com/article/1123af4d17d99f2c44f5856f1f6a741b) |
## Training and early career
Butler studied drama at [Indiana University](https://www.edgepedia.org/indiana-university), where he won the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, a competition sponsored by the Kennedy Center. He then trained at the [American Conservatory Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-conservatory-theater) in San Francisco from 1976 to 1978 and moved to New York in 1980.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/) • [8](https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/things-only-getting-better-for-dan-butler-2966563.php) He had already performed on stage as a child, making his debut in a local production of *The Music Man* in his hometown at age 7.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html)
His New York stage work in the 1980s included *Biloxi Blues*, *True West*, and [Terrence McNally](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-mcnally)'s *The Lisbon Traviata*, which he brought to San Francisco's Marines Memorial Theatre in 1990. He also appeared on Broadway in *The Hothouse* in 1982, playing Lamb, and served as a replacement in the role of Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey in the original Broadway run of *Biloxi Blues* (1985–86).[8](https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/things-only-getting-better-for-dan-butler-2966563.php) • [3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937)
His onscreen career began in 1982 with a supporting role on an episode of *Remington Steele*. Through the 1980s and early 1990s he took supporting parts in film and television, including *Longtime Companion* (1989), a multi-episode arc on *Roseanne*, and the 1986 film *[Manhunter](https://www.edgepedia.org/manhunter-film)*, an adaptation of [Thomas Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-harris)'s Hannibal Lecter novel.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/) • [9](https://www.slashfilm.com/1508344/dan-butler-frasier-bulldog-got-start-years-before-remington-steele/)
## Frasier and Bulldog Briscoe
In 1993 Butler first appeared as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe, the aggressive, womanizing sports host at the radio station where [Frasier Crane](https://www.edgepedia.org/frasier-crane) works, in an episode of the show's first season. He played the character across the series' full run, appearing in 53 episodes between 1993 and 2004, and also directed episodes of the show.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/)
Butler described the part as deliberately over the top. "When I read the part, they had this funny, quirky, angry bit — over the top, maniacally heterosexual," he told the *Los Angeles Times* in 1994, calling Bulldog a counterpoint to "Frasier and the rest of the intelligentsia."[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html) The role appeared in the show's opening credits only during part of the run, and he left the full-time cast to pursue theater and film work, returning as a guest star.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-04-ca-46421-story.html)
The character became his most recognizable work. When the *Frasier* revival premiered on [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) in 2023, Butler reprised Bulldog in a guest appearance alongside other returning supporting players.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/dan-butler/) • [7](https://apnews.com/article/1123af4d17d99f2c44f5856f1f6a741b)
## *The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me...*
In 1993 Butler workshopped a one-man play at the Road Theater in [Van Nuys](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-nuys) and then performed it to sold-out audiences at Theatre Geo in Hollywood. The show, *The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me...*, consists of 14 vignettes connected by the theme of homosexuality, in particular his parents' coming to terms with their son's coming out.[8](https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/things-only-getting-better-for-dan-butler-2966563.php) • [5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html)
The title derives from a comment his father made when Butler came out to him.[11](https://auteurgraph.com/person/dan-butler/ratings) [Characters](https://www.edgepedia.org/characters) in the show included Leslie, a garrulous Southern actor whom Butler befriended while volunteering at Project Angel Food, a gay man confronting name-callers, and Butler's own parents.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html) The production moved to New York, where Butler was nominated for the 1995 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.[3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937) That year he joined Candace Gingrich as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign Fund's 1995 National Coming Out Day Project.[12](https://archive.wislgbthistory.com/media/print/instep/issues-v11-15/instep_v12-12.pdf)
Butler is openly gay, and the contrast between the macho Bulldog and his own life drew press coverage throughout the 1990s; in a 1994 interview he discussed the double standard in casting heterosexual actors as gay characters and the reverse.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-04-ca-46421-story.html)
## Screen and stage work after Frasier
Butler's film credits include [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro)'s boss Garrity in *The Fan* (1996), Shaffer in *[Enemy of the State](https://www.edgepedia.org/enemy-of-the-state-film)* (1998), *Crazy, Stupid, Love*, and smaller roles in *Karl Rove, I Love You*, which he also co-wrote and co-directed, *Chronic Town*, and *Fixing Frank*. Television work in the 1990s and 2000s included [Gene Kranz](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-kranz) in the miniseries *From the Earth to the Moon* (1998), recurring and guest appearances on *Ally McBeal*, *Star Trek: Voyager*, *The X-Files*, *Monk*, *Law & Order: Criminal Intent*, and *The Blacklist*, and a long-running voice role as Mr. Simmons on *Hey Arnold!*, a character he returned to in *Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie* (2017).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/dan-butler/) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Dan-Butler/)
On Broadway he played [Owen O'Malley](https://www.edgepedia.org/owen-omalley) in the 2004 revival of *Twentieth Century* and Lenin in the 2018 revival of *Travesties*. Off-Broadway and regional credits include *The Weir* at Irish Repertory Theatre, *Irish Curse* at Soho Playhouse, and *WarholCapote* at the American Repertory Theater.[3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Dan-Butler/)
In 2024 he starred in the off-Broadway comedy *Another Shot* by Spike Manton and Harry Teinowitz at the Pershing Square Signature Theatre, playing a radio DJ in recovery, a part he joked was "sort of like Bulldog goes to rehab." He is a co-founder of Fuller Road, an artist residency in Vermont.[7](https://apnews.com/article/1123af4d17d99f2c44f5856f1f6a741b) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Dan-Butler/)
## Personal life
Butler has been married to Richard Waterhouse since 2010.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873)
## References
1. [Dan Butler – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/dan-butler/)
2. [Dan Butler (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124873)
3. [Dan Butler – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dan-butler-86937)
4. [Dan Butler – Broadway & Theatre Credits, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Dan-Butler/)
5. [Stepping Out in Play About Gay Life, Los Angeles Times (May 31, 1994)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-31-ca-64266-story.html)
6. [Dan Butler, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/dan-butler/)
7. [There's a ton of Hollywood stars on and off Broadway these days, AP News (2024)](https://apnews.com/article/1123af4d17d99f2c44f5856f1f6a741b)
8. [Things Only Getting Better for Dan Butler, SFGate (1995)](https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/things-only-getting-better-for-dan-butler-2966563.php)
9. [Dan Butler Got His Start On A Beloved '80s Show Years Before Becoming Bulldog On Frasier, SlashFilm (2024)](https://www.slashfilm.com/1508344/dan-butler-frasier-bulldog-got-start-years-before-remington-steele/)
10. [Q&A: Butler's Out to Reorient the Take on Gay, Straight Roles, Los Angeles Times (October 4, 1994)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-04-ca-46421-story.html)
11. [Dan Butler Ratings, AuteurGraph](https://auteurgraph.com/person/dan-butler/ratings)
12. ["Frasier" Star Dan Butler New Coming Out Day Spokesman, In Step](https://archive.wislgbthistory.com/media/print/instep/issues-v11-15/instep_v12-12.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Br to B*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license