Why American Daniel Davis was cast as The Nanny’s snooty British butler

He is remembered playing snooty English butler Niles in the classic ’90s sitcom The Nanny.

And American actor Daniel Davis spoke about his famous performance on The Morning Show on Friday, admitting he actually beat an Englishman for the role. 

Daniel, 74, who hails from Arkansas and put on a British accent for the show, revealed that producers had originally wanted to cast London-born character actor Roddy McDowall.

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‘I remember I had gone into the network for approval and I was there up against a famous actor called Roddy McDowall and I thought, “Oh, why am I here? I don’t have a prayer,”‘ he said. 

‘And about three hours later, I got the call that I had the job.’ 

Daniel added that his co-star Fran Drescher – who played the titular nanny, Fran Fine – had been responsible for him getting the job.   

He added: ‘About an hour later, Fran called me and said, “Hello, I bet you thought when you saw Roddy McDowall that he would be the butler? Well then it would be the Roddy McDowall show – but this is the Fran Drescher show!”

‘So at that point I knew exactly where I would be for the next six years.’

These days, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the character of Niles, who is beloved by fans around the world for his quick wit and snappy comebacks.      

Despite growing up in the American South, Daniel said his convincing British accent had been his secret weapon in the audition. 

He said: ‘Somehow I’m always cast in British roles even though I was born and raised in Arkansas, but I developed this knack for accents along the way.

‘They thought my British accent, which was phony, was more authentic than Roddy McDowall’s, so that helped me get the part.’