Niles Crane

Niles Crane

Niles Crane, M.D., Ph.D., A.P.A. is a fictional character on the American sitcom Frasier, a spin-off of the popular show Cheers. He was portrayed by David Hyde Pierce. Niles is the younger brother of Dr. Frasier Crane, the son of Det. Martin Crane and Dr. Hester Crane, husband of Daphne Moon, ex-husband of Maris Crane and Dr. Melinda Karnofsky, former brother-in-law to Nanette Guzman and Dr. Lilith Sternin, and uncle to Frederick Crane.

While it had originally been intended that Frasier be an only child, Pierce was hired because Frasier producers saw his headshot and commented on how much he looked like a young Kelsey Grammer. Unlike Frasier, part of whose background comes from Cheers, Niles' background is established over the course of Frasier.

Pierce described Niles as "what Frasier would be if he had never gone to Boston and never been exposed to the people at Cheers." In "The Show Where Sam Shows Up" Sam Malone said to Frasier, "He looks just like you did when I first met you." In "Cheerful Goodbyes", Carla Tortelli, Cliff Claven, and Norm Peterson all remark on how Niles resembled Frasier from when they first met him.