Dan Butler

 ( 1954 Births ) 

Daniel Eugene Butler (born December 2, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series Frasier (1993–2004), later reprising the role in 2024; Art in Roseanne (1991–1992); for the voice of Mr. Simmons on the Nickelodeon TV show Hey Arnold! (1997–2002), later reprising the role in (2017); and for film roles in Enemy of the State (1998) and Sniper 2 (2001).

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Education Butler was born in Huntington, Indiana, and raised in Fort Wayne. He is the son of Shirley, a homemaker, and Andrew Butler, a pharmacist. While a drama student at Purdue University Fort Wayne in 1975, he received the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. From 1976 to 1978, he trained at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

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Career Butler is best known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe in the NBC sitcom Frasier, appearing in every season but one between 1993 and 2004. The character was a volatile, boorish, intensely macho sports presenter who hosted the show which followed Frasier's daily broadcast at the radio station KACL. Butler directed one episode during season five of Frasier. He is also one of two actors to play two characters in the Hannibal Lecter franchise. In 1986, he played the role of Jimmy Price, a technician in the film Manhunter; then, 5 years later, he played the role of Roden in 1991's The Silence of The Lambs. The other actor is Frankie Faison. In 1998, Butler played the role of NSA Director Admiral Shaffer in Enemy of the State and in 2006, Butler produced and starred in the faux documentary Karl Rove, I Love You (which he also co-wrote and co-directed). Other film work includes roles in Prayers for Bobby and Longtime Companion. Butler is an established stage actor. In 2018, he played Lenin in the Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard Travesties. Other recent appearances include as Truman Capote in American Repertory Theater's 2017 production of Rob Roth's Warhol/Capote and Jack in the 2013 Off-Broadway production of Conor McPherson The Weir.

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Personal life

Butler lives in Vermont and is married to producer Richard Waterhouse. He Coming out to his family when he was in his early 20s. He wrote a one-man show, The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me, which opened in Los Angeles in 1994 and also played in San Francisco and off-Broadway in New York. It was Butler's public coming out. The play had ten characters "just processing what gay means". He was nominated for the 1995 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.

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Filmography

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Film

as Dan E. Butler

as Dan E. Butler

as Dan E. Butler

Television film

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Television

1982	Remington Steele	Morgue attendant	Episode: "Your Steele the One for Me" Uncredited
1987	Leg Work	Peter Solinski	Episode: "Blind Trust"
1990	Monsters	David	Episode: "A New Woman"
1991–1993	Quantum Leap	Jake Dorleac Mutta	Episode: "Southern Comforts" Episode: "Mirror Image"
1991–1992	Roseanne	Art	3 episodes
1992	Columbo	Sergeant Goodman	Episode: "No Time to Die"
1993	Life Goes On	Ed	Episode: "Incident on Main"
	The Powers That Be	Walt Stevens	Episode: "Bradley Gets Fired"
1993–2004	Frasier	Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe	53 episodes
1993	Picket Fences	Joe Henley	Episode: "Duty Free Rome"
1995	The X-Files	Jim Ausbury	Episode: "Die Hand Die Verletzt"
1995–1997	Caroline in the City	Kenneth Arabian	2 episodes
1997–2002	Hey Arnold!	Mr. Sawyer / Robert Simmons	34 episodes Voice
1997–1998	King of the Hill	Attorney Daniel	Episode: "Jumpin' Crack Bass" Episode: "Death of a Propane Salesman"
1998	Tracey Takes On...	Priest	Episode: "Religion"
		Steth	Vis à Vis"
	From the Earth to the Moon	NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz	2 episodes
	Just Shoot Me!	Bill Slatton	Episode: "Eve of Destruction"
	More Tales of the City	Edward Bass Matheson	Episode: "Episode #1.2"
	Suddenly Susan	Dr. Richards	Episode: "War Games"
1999	Touched by an Angel	Dr. Ivar Kroneberger	Episode: "Anatomy Lesson"
	Ally McBeal	Attorney Bender	Episode: "Changes"
2002	Crossing Jordan	Arnold Hummer	Episode: "The Gift of Life"
2002–2003	American Dreams	Coach Ambros	4 episodes
2003	Without a Trace	David Wilkins	Episode: "The Source"
2005	Malcolm in the Middle	Norm	Episode: "Butterflies"
	Supernatural	Reverend Sorenson	Episode: "Hook Man"
2006	House	Dr. Philip Weber	Episode: "Distractions"
2007	Monk	Dr. Davis Scott	Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital"
	'Til Death	Paul	Episode: "Clay Date"
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Maxwell Tate	Episode: "Yours, Mine, and Hers"
2010		Congressman Price	Episode: "Lost Children of the Blood"
2014	The Mysteries of Laura	Calvin Gold	Episode: "The Mystery of the Sex Scandal"
2015	Blindspot	Paul Bolton	Episode: "Sent On Tour" Blindspot (episode: "Sent On Tour", 2015)
2016	Banshee	Senator Mitchum	2 episodes
2016	Blue Bloods	SBS President Randy Grant	Episode: "Blast from the Past"
2017	The Mist	Father Romanov	6 episodes
		Robert Simmons	Television film Voice
2018	Elementary	Denny Mulgrew	Episode: "Whatever Remains, However Improbable"
2019	Tales of the City		Episode: "The Price of Oil"
2023	The Blacklist	Attorney General Karl Stromberg	Episode: "Arthur Hudson"
2024	Frasier	Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe	Episode: "Thank You, Dr. Crane"

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External links

Categories: 1954 Births, 20th-century American Lgbtq People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Lgbtq People, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Gay Actors, American Male Film Actors, American Male Television Actors, Indiana University–purdue University Fort Wayne Alumni, Lgbtq People From Indiana, Living People, Male Actors From Fort Wayne, Indiana, People From Huntington, Indiana

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