[1] The character was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who developed, wrote and executive-produced the series, and was portrayed by American actor Gale Harold during the show's five-year run.

Handsome and masculine, Brian is a successful advertising executive who owns a lavish Pittsburgh loft and leads a glamorous and self-indulgent lifestyle.

[4] His storylines on the show revolve around his refusal to adhere to these ideals, often putting him at odds with his gay friends who yearn to get married and start families of their own.

Despite his feelings, Brian does father a child via artificial insemination with his close friend Lindsay, a lesbian, and ultimately develops a romantic and sexual relationship with young artist Justin Taylor, which is central throughout the series.

However, he ultimately tells his father on his deathbed, and his mother accidentally finds out after seeing Justin Taylor in Brian's bedroom during a visit to his loft.

In one episode, Emmett Honeycutt's elderly boyfriend George Shickle describes Brian as "the love child of James Dean and Ayn Rand."

Despite Brian's seemingly uncaring and amoral nature, he is shown as loving his friends and will often make great sacrifices for them, even though he won't admit it.

He takes care of him in different ways: letting him move into his loft after Justin is kicked out of his parents' home, going after him to NYC after he runs away, paying his college tuition, and advising him on school situations—thus by his actions, repeatedly disproving his own verbal declarations of not wanting him around.

No one, except Jennifer Taylor and the nursing staff, knows that Brian stands secret vigil outside Justin's hospital room every night for weeks.

During the third season, Brian's success as an advertising executive comes into opposition with his beliefs when he is asked to head up the mayoral campaign of Jim Stockwell, the conservative, anti-gay police chief.

Despite his lack of income, Brian maxes out all his credit cards to buy television ads exposing Stockwell's prior misdeeds, directly leading to his defeat in the mayoral election.

He battles testicular cancer, especially tough because of his vanity and narcissism over his sexual prowess, and he attempts – unsuccessfully – to keep his diagnosis and treatment a secret from everyone.