Frasier: What Bob 'Bulldog' Briscoe Actor Dan Butler Looks Like Today

When Frasier Crane first appeared on "Cheers" in 1984 as Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) love interest, he — an erudite psychiatrist — stood in stark opposition to the unsophisticated Sam Malone (Ted Danson), creating a televised love triangle for the ages. The creators of "Frasier" leaned into that same sort of contrast for the spin-off, which saw the psychiatrist returning to Seattle to live with his blue-collar father, Martin (John Mahoney).

Frasier and the similarly snobbish Niles (David Hyde Pierce) clash with their father's earthy sensibility, but Martin is a prince compared to Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe, played by Dan Butler. An abrasive, loud-mouthed womanizer, Bulldog is Frasier's coworker at KACL, where he hosts the popular "Gonzo Sports Show." Bulldog is a thorn in Frasier's side, frequently mocking Frasier for his less stereotypically masculine interests. He is also fixated on Roz (Peri Gilpin), with his affection bordering on harassment.

In the hands of another actor, Bulldog might be an obnoxious scourge. Thanks to Butler's performance, though, he is a character who fans love to hate. "I found him rude, boorish, and impossible not to love!" wrote u/SporadicWink on Reddit. "He was a great foil to the brothers' snobbery." In another post, they added, "Dan Butler brought comedy and sincerity that blunted some of Bulldog's sharper edges and made him weirdly endearing."

Butler may still resemble Bulldog, but the actor has distanced himself from his brusque character.

Before Dan Butler made his "Frasier" debut in Season 1, Episode 2, he appeared in episodes of "Roseanne" and "Quantum Leap" as well as movies like "Longtime Companion" and "The Silence of the Lambs." Bulldog, however, is still the actor's best-known role, as he appeared in 53 episodes of "Frasier" from 1993 to 2004. Even after his character was fired from KACL at the end of Season 6, Butler returned periodically, including a Season 7 episode in which he confesses his love for Roz.

Even at the height of Butler's "Frasier" fame, it was acknowledged that the actor was nothing like Bulldog. "He's nothing like that in real life," wrote The Daily Bruin in 1996. "He's actually a modest, soft-spoken individual." While he was on "Frasier," Butler was able to pursue theatrical roles, including his one-man show "The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me..."

The play details Butler's experience coming out to his family, though he didn't out himself publicly until "Frasier" was on the air. "I think it's ironic," Butler said in the same Daily Bruin piece. "I think it's funny because people told me they heard there was a gay character [on 'Frasier'] and my character was the last one they would have chosen."

Butler continued to be involved in theater throughout his career, appearing in productions of Tom Stoppard's "Travesties" and as Truman Capote in 2017's "Warhol/Capote." At the same time, Butler has maintained an on-screen presence in "Supernatural," "Blue Bloods," "The Black List," and countless other shows. His most recent film at the time of writing was 2022's "Blonde."