Voice for Equality: David Hyde Pierce

David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian, best known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier. Pierce's first big television break came in the early 1990s with Norman Lear's political comedy The Powers That Be, after which his career soon take off playing the role of Niles Crane on the Cheers spin-off Frasier. For this role, Pierce was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for a record eleven consecutive years, winning in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2004. Pierce's movie credits include: Little Man Tate with Jodie Foster, Oliver Stone's Nixon, Down With Love and Sleepless in Seattle. He also 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 2005, Pierce joined Tim Curry and others in the stage production Spamalot and in August/September 2006, he starred in Curtains as Lietenant Frank Cioffi, a new Kander and Ebb musical at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, which transferred to Broadway in March 2007. 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 role in Curtains. He and Brian Hargrove were married in California on October 24, 2008, just before Proposition 8 was adopted as law, banning marriage equality in the state. On May 28, 2009, while he was a guest on The View, he publicly announced his marriage to Hargrove and expressed his anger over the Proposition 8 ruling. Learn more here.

David Hyde Pierce spoke out at Broadway Impact's Action = Marriage Equality Rally on May 17, 2009 in New York City. He told the story of how he and his partner had a change of heart in desiring to get married when they were exposed to anti-gay Prop 8 ads in California accusing gay people of being pedophiles and trying to undermine religion. There was a moment of truth when he and his partner thought, "...25 years together, if not us, who? If not now, when?" [Link]



Broadway Impact is a community of actors, directors, stage managers, fans, producers — "pretty much anyone who has ever seen, been in or worked on a Broadway show" — united by the simple belief that anyone who wants to should be able to get married. It is a place for "anyone and everyone out there who loves theatre, is passionate about equality, and wants to know how to sing out and make their voice heard." [Link]

Freedom to Marry salutes David Hyde Pierce as a Voice for Equality! Learn about other Voices for Equality here.

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