Frank Cioffi in the Broadway musical Curtains He portrayed Henry Newman in the comedy film Wet Hot American Summer and reprised his role in two series from Netflix in and in For the latter two, Pierce was nominated for a Tony Award. Pierce was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. He originally majored in music with an emphasis in piano performance, but later changed to a double major in English literature and theater studies. After his graduation, Pierce moved to New York City, where during the s and early s 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 an off-Broadway production of Hamlet , with Kevin Kline in the title role, and made his Broadway debut in in Christopher Durang 's Beyond Therapy. 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.
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. Pierce received praise for his skilled physical comedy and rapid fire comedy reactions. The film was released three months before the start of Frasier. Henry Newman. Pierce has played a number of roles as a voice actor.
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 FrasierโNiles relationship. Robert Terwilliger Sr. Pierce provided the voice of Mr. Pierce narrated an audio tour guide, Napa Uncorked , in In , Pierce joined Tim Curry and others in the stage production of Spamalot. In , he was awarded an honorary degree from Skidmore College , located in his native Saratoga Springs.
He also starred as Assoc. The musical opened on April 20, , at the Shubert Theatre. The show was a critical and box office hit. The project is based on the film of the same name written by Tom McCarthy. In late , it was revealed that Pierce had declined to return as Niles Crane in the revival of Frasier , saying he didn't think there was much left for Niles to do. In , it was announced that Pierce would star as Major General W.
