David Hyde Pierce

After his graduation, Pierce moved to New York City, where during the 1980s and early 1990s he was employed in various jobs, such as selling ties at Bloomingdale's and working as a security guard, while pursuing an acting career and studying at Michael Howard Studios. During this period he played Laertes in a popular off-Broadway production of Hamlet, with Kevin Kline in the title role, and made his Broadway debut in 1982 in Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy.[11]

Pierce's first big television break came in the early 1990s with Norman Lear's political comedy, The Powers That Be, in which Pierce played Theodore, a Congressman.[12] Despite positive reviews from critics, the show was canceled after a brief run. This did free Pierce up for his breakthrough role in Frasier, and the producers of that show did in part hire Pierce based on his performance in The Powers That Be.[13]

Pierce at the 1994 Emmy Awards

In part owing to his close facial resemblance to Kelsey Grammer,[14] the producers of the Cheers spin-off Frasier created the role of Niles Crane (Frasier Crane's younger brother) for him.[12] Although prior to Frasier going into production, Pierce had petitioned the Screen Actors Guild to change his billing to David Pierce, the name he had used on the stage, the use of his middle name in the show's credits helped reinforce the actor's and the character's "snooty" image.[14] For his work on Frasier, Pierce was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy a record eleven consecutive years, winning in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2004. Pierce received praise for his skilled physical comedy and rapid fire comedy reactions. David Bianculli or New York Daily News declared, "Not since Jack Benny has TV seen such a great reactive comedian such as Pierce, and whenever he and [Kelsey] Grammer share the same stage, Frasier is undiluted magic.[15]

Pierce also appeared alongside Jodie Foster in Little Man Tate, with Anthony Hopkins in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), and with Ewan McGregor in Down With Love (2003).[12] He provided the voice for Doctor Doppler in Disney's 42nd animated feature, Treasure Planet, Slim, a stick insect in Pixar's A Bug's Life and Abe Sapien in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy. In his role in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Pierce played the brother of Meg Ryan's character, a professor at Johns Hopkins University. The movie was released three months before the start of Frasier.[12] In 2001, he starred in the cult 1981-set summer camp comedy Wet Hot American Summer, as the befuddled astrophysicist, Prof. Henry Newman.

Pierce is known for his distinctive voice and, like his Frasier co-star, Kelsey Grammer, is often called upon to provide voice work. His roles include the narrator of the movie The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human in 1999, the walking stick insect "Slim" in A Bug's Life, Dr. Delbert Doppler in Disney's film Treasure Planet, and amphibian Abe Sapien in Hellboy.[12] Pierce declined to be credited for his Hellboy role because he felt it was the performance of Doug Jones, and not his own voice, which ultimately brought the character of Abe Sapien to life.[16] He was the voice for "Drix", a cold pill, in the animated comedy Osmosis Jones.

In a deliberate in-joke, he voiced Cecil, the brother of Kelsey Grammer-voiced Sideshow Bob, in The Simpsons episode "Brother from Another Series", in which the two characters parallel the Frasier–Niles relationship. At one point in the episode, Cecil mistakes Bart for Maris, the unseen wife of Niles on Frasier. He returned as Cecil in the Season 19 episode "Funeral for a Fiend" where Frasier co-star John Mahoney voices Dr. Robert Terwilliger Sr., the father of Cecil and Sideshow Bob.

Pierce provided the voice of Mr. Daedalus in the 1998 Disney show Hercules: The Animated Series. Pierce narrated an audio tour guide, Napa Uncorked, in 2002.[17] In 2006, he co-starred in the animated pilot for The Amazing Screw-On Head as the Screw-On Head's nemesis Emperor Zombie; however, the series was not picked up. His commercial voiceover work included ads for the Tassimo coffee system, Seattle's Metro Transit, and home furnishings retailer Ikea Canada.[18]

In 2005, Pierce joined Tim Curry and others in the stage production of Spamalot.[12] In August and September 2006, he starred as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in Curtains, a new Kander and Ebb musical staged at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. In March 2007, Curtains opened on Broadway[12] and on June 10, 2007, Pierce won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical at the 61st Tony Awards for his performance.[12] In his acceptance speech, Pierce said the first words he spoke on a Broadway stage were, "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."[19]

On November 19, 2007, Pierce was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Niagara University in Lewiston, New York. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary degree from Skidmore College, located in his native Saratoga Springs. Pierce was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in 2010 for his narration of The Phantom Tollbooth.

In 2010, Pierce appeared in a revival of David Hirson's play La Bête directed by Matthew Warchus. The production debuted on London's West End before moving to New York.[20] Also in 2010, Pierce had his first starring film role as Warwick Wilson in the dark comedy/psychological thriller The Perfect Host. From 2014 to 2015 Pierce appeared in The Good Wife as Frank Prady on CBS. He also starred as Assoc. Prof. Henry Neumann in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015) on Netflix. Pierce directed the Broadway production of the musical It Shoulda Been You. In 2015 he directed the Manhattan Theater Club production of David Lindsay-Abaire's play Ripcord Off-Broadway at City Center.[21] Pierce appeared in the Off-Broadway limited engagement of A Life by Adam Bock. The play premiered at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on October 24, 2016, directed by Anne Kauffman, and closed on November 27.[22]

Hyde Pierce with Bette Midler at Hello, Dolly! on Broadway in 2017

In 2017 he returned to television in the limited docudrama series about LGBT rights, When We Rise as Dr. Jones. He also appeared as himself with Julie Andrews in Julie's Greenroom on Netflix. Pierce co-starred with Bette Midler in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!. The musical opened on April 20, 2017, at the Shubert Theatre. The show was a critical and box office hit. Pierce himself received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance.[23] Pierce received a 2017 Drama League award nomination for Hello, Dolly! and A Life.[24]

In 2020, Pierce replaced Tom Hollander as Paul Cushing Child in the biographical series Julia which premiered on HBO Max in March 2022. The cast includes Sarah Lancashire, Bebe Neuwirth, and Isabella Rossellini.[25] In October 2021 he starred as Walter in the musical The Visitor at The Public Theatre. The project is based off the 2007 film of the same name written by Tom McCarthy. In late 2022 it was revealed that Pierce had declined to return as Niles Crane in the revival spin-off series Frasier (2023).[26]

Pierce is set to star in the final musical from Stephen Sondheim entitled Here We Are (2023) which will be performed at The Shed in New York City. Pierce will be acting alongside Bobby Cannavale, Amber Gray, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O'Hare, and Steven Pasquale.[27] The production involves a book by David Ives and will be directed by Joe Mantello. It's reportedly based on the Luis Buñuel films The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962).