NICEST bloke to hit town in a long time was Logies guest Daniel Davis, who plays butler Niles in Ten's The Nanny.He had to cut his visit short after his dad suffered a mild stroke back in Texas. "I'm sort of nervy about not being there," he told Insider before flying out.One of the joy's of Daniel's success has been the financial security because it has given him "the opportunity to help my parents - to return the favour."However, when he recently hired someone to help his 75-year-old mum around the house, she sacked the woman after one day. "She couldn't stand anyone else doing things in her house," he says with a laugh.Daniel and his younger sister Diane had a tough childhood in Little Rock, Arkansas (the home town of US president Bill Clinton), although they didn't always understand why."I was 19 when mum was finally diagnosed a manic depressive. She had been the typical southern belle, with a very fragile psyche. My dad was Willy Loman (the dysfunctional hero of Arthur Miller's working-class play Death of A Salesman) - he was a travelling salesman for a cereal company for 30 years."They were complicated people and as a result I'm a complicated person myself. For that reason I try to keep things as simple as I can, try to avoid the trappings of success. For the first three years I was in The Nanny I still did my own washing, ironing, cooking, house-cleaning. It was my therapy."Daniel, 51, has only recently bought his first house in Brentwood, LA, and "has begun nesting", he jokes.But generally, as a single person he lives a family life through his sister. She and her husband run a radio station in Texas and have three boys aged between 11 and 25."I'm a very attentive uncle - they're my surrogate family", he says. And they enjoy his success? "Very much so. They live vicariously through me in that way."All in all, these days Daniel Davis is a happy chap - and it certainly shows.Sunday Herald Sun, 25/05/1997
Go back to the Nanny Nest!!
Go back to Nanny Nest Articles!!
Email: msff@hotmail.com
