Daniel Davis

Intro

Daniel Davis is familiar to television audiences as Niles in The Nanny and Professor James Moriarty in Star Trek. Those screen roles sit within a substantial theatrical career. The Broadway League’s database records him under Danny Davis, with Daniel Davis as an alternate name, and gives his birthplace as Gurdon, Arkansas. His polished English characters are performances by an American actor, a useful distinction when returning to the roles that made him familiar.

Career snapshot

His Broadway record reaches back to the Dauphin in King Henry V in 1969 and Lodovico in Othello in 1970. Later assignments included Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, Oscar Wilde and Bunthorne in The Invention of Love, George Bernard Shaw in The Frogs, and Georges in La Cage aux Folles. These credits connect classical drama, plays about writers, and musical comedy. They also show why a television-only account leaves out an important part of his work.

The entry point

In his 2014 StarTrek.com interview, Davis identified The Nanny as his longest television commitment: six seasons as the butler Niles. For a rewatch, pay attention to the timing of a response as well as its words. An ensemble comedy gives a supporting performer recurring relationships to develop, and an apparently small reaction can change a scene. The series offers a sustained point of comparison with the concentrated guest appearances of his Star Trek work.

Screen identity and style

Moriarty first appeared in The Next Generation’s Elementary, Dear Data and returned in Ship in a Bottle. In the 2023 official interview, the character is described as a holographic opponent who becomes aware of his situation and wants to leave the holodeck. This offers more than a conventional villain assignment: the scenes turn on intelligence and a demand for an existence beyond a programmed role. Watch how the dramatic question changes once the adversary understands the limits imposed on him.

Collaborations and patterns

Davis recalled working with costume designer Bob Blackman, whom he knew from the American Conservatory Theater, to establish Moriarty’s Victorian appearance. He also remembered The Hunt for Red October as a notable film experience. These recollections place the familiar television actor within a network of theatre and screen collaborators. They are his retrospective account, recorded in 2014, rather than a claim that every later role followed the same working process.

Era reflection

His return in Star Trek: Picard’s The Bounty came decades after the original appearances. Discussing it in 2023, Davis explained that the new scene used a version of Moriarty connected to Data rather than simply continuing the earlier holodeck story. That distinction matters when comparing the performances. The same face and costume can carry a different function in a later narrative; the return invites recognition while changing the context in which it occurs.

Legacy and rediscovery

Davis received a 2000 Tony nomination for featured actor in a play for Wrong Mountain, in which he played Maurice Montesor. IBDB also records Selsdon Mowbray in the 2016 Broadway revival of Noises Off. Together with Niles and Moriarty, these roles offer a career map built from comedy, theatrical craft and heightened dramatic worlds. The public photographs below show the actor in 2014 and 2016, not production scenes from those plays or series.

Selected screen roles

• The Nanny: Niles — Six seasons
• Wrong Mountain: Maurice Montesor — 2000
• Noises Off: Selsdon Mowbray — 2016

A career in pictures

Two public photographs from different years, with original credits retained. Select an image for a larger view.

Star Trek convention (2014)

Daniel Davis in Las Vegas

Photographed by Hanno Böck on August 3, 2014.

A later portrait (2016)

Daniel Davis

Photographed by Greg2600 on March 8, 2016.

Rewatch notes

• Davis is from Arkansas, despite several familiar English characters.
• He played Niles for six seasons of The Nanny.
• Wrong Mountain brought him a 2000 Tony nomination.
• His Moriarty appearances include The Next Generation and Picard.