
Dan Butler
Daniel Eugene Butler (born December 2, 1954) is an American playwright and actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series Frasier. Butler was born in Huntington, Indiana and raised in Fort Wayne; the son of Shirley, a homemaker, and Andrew Butler, a pharmacist. Openly gay, he starred in Terrence McNally's 1989 play The Lisbon Traviata and wrote an Off Broadway play about his life, The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me..., which derives its title from a comment Butler's father allegedly made when Dan came out to him. Though Butler never hid his homosexuality, he disclosed it publicly on Entertainment Tonight in 1994 during his run as a swaggering heterosexual on Frasier. His partner is acting teacher and director, Richard Waterhouse.
72 acting credits · 2 directing credits
Acting · 72

Supernatural
2005

The Blacklist
2013

House
2004

Columbo
1971

Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001

The X-Files
1993

Monk
2002

Elementary
2012

Frasier
1993

Without a Trace
2002

Star Trek: Voyager
1995

Malcolm in the Middle
2000

King of the Hill
1997

Crossing Jordan
2001

Banshee
2013

Blindspot
2015

Quantum Leap
1989

Touched by an Angel
1994

Hey Arnold!
1996

Just Shoot Me!
1997

From the Earth to the Moon
1998

Stars in the House
2020

Caroline in the City
1995

American Dreams
2002

Ally McBeal
1997

Monsters
1988

The Mysteries of Laura
2014

Life Goes On
1989

The Single Guy
1995

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
1987

'Til Death
2006

Crazy, Stupid, Love.
2011

Suddenly Susan
1996

Miss Match
2003

The Mist
2017

Rocket Power
1999

Tales of the City
2019

Quintuplets
2004

Enemy of the State
1998

Frasier
2023

Blonde
2022

Roseanne
1988

Cashmere Mafia
2008

The Silence of the Lambs
1991

Leg Work
1987

Dave
1993

More Tales of the City
1998

Prayers for Bobby
2009

Rising Sun
1993

The Fan
1996

Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie
2018

All My Life
2020

Sniper 2
2002

Captain Ron
1992

The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest
2002

I Love Trouble
1994

The Manhattan Project
1986

The Long Walk Home
1990

From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One
1992

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997

Frannie's Turn
1992

Longtime Companion
1989

The Rape of Doctor Willis
1991

The Sissy Duckling
1999

Chronic Town
2008

The Assassination File
1996

Live to Tell: The First Gay and Lesbian Prom in America
1995

Manhunter
1986

Karl Rove, I Love You
2007

Silver Fox
—

Fixing Frank
2002

All Boys
2024