William Daniels

Early life

William David Daniels was born on March 31, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, to Irene and David Daniels. His father was a bricklayer, and his mother was a telephone operator. He has two sisters, Jacqueline and Carol. He grew up in East New York, Brooklyn.

Daniels was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 and stationed in Italy, where he served as a disc jockey at an Army radio station. At the suggestion of Howard Lindsay, co-author of Life with Father, who recommended he use the GI Bill to attend a college with a good drama department, Daniels enrolled at Northwestern University. He graduated from Northwestern in 1949, and is a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

Career

Daniels began his career as a member of the singing Daniels family in Brooklyn. He made his television debut as part of a variety act (along with other members of his family) in 1943, on NBC, then a single station in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1943 in Life with Father, and remained a busy Broadway actor for decades afterwards. His Broadway credits include roles in 1776, A Thousand Clowns, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and A Little Night Music. He received an Obie Award for The Zoo Story (1960).

Daniels's motion picture debut was as a school principal in the 1963 anti-war drama film Ladybug Ladybug. In 1965, he reprised his Broadway role as a child welfare worker in the screen version of A Thousand Clowns. In 1967 he appeared in The Graduate as the father of Dustin Hoffman's character. In 1969, Daniels starred as John Adams in the Broadway musical 1776; he also appeared in the film version in 1972. Two years later, he co-starred in Richard Donner's telefilm Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic. in 1978 and 1979 he again reprised his role as the outspoken John Adams in the films The Bastard and The Rebels, again about the American revolution, without seeming to ever break character. He is known as the quintessential John Adams.

Daniels's first network television appearance came in 1952 when he portrayed the young John Quincy Adams, eldest son of John and Abigail Adams in the Hallmark Hall of Fame drama A Woman for the Ages. In 1976, he reprised the role as the middle-aged and elder John Quincy Adams in the acclaimed PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles. He starred in the short-lived series Captain Nice as police chemist Carter Nash. He appeared as acid-tongued Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988, for which he won two Emmy awards. Concurrently, he provided the voice of KITT in Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986. Daniels said in 1982, "My duties on Knight Rider are very simple. I do it in about an hour and a half. I've never met the cast. I haven't even met the producer."

Daniels reprised the voice-only role of KITT in 1991 for the television movie Knight Rider 2000, and again in the theatrical comedy movie The Benchwarmers. He performed the role in AT&T and GE commercials about talking machines, and twice in The Simpsons as well as at the Comedy Central Roast of his co-star David Hasselhoff. He reprised the role of KITT in the 2015 Lego-themed action-adventure video game Lego Dimensions.

Daniels portrayed strict but loving educator George Feeny at John Adams High School in Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000. In addition to the previously mentioned 1967 superhero sitcom Captain Nice, he was a regular on the 1970s TV series Freebie and the Bean and The Nancy Walker Show.

A familiar character actor, he has appeared as a guest star on numerous TV comedies and dramas, including Soap, The Rockford Files, Quincy, M.E., Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and many others. In 2012, Daniels appeared in the ninth season of Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Craig Thomas, an unlikely mentor to the character of Dr. Cristina Yang played by actress Sandra Oh. His character, Dr. Thomas, died in the operating room while performing a procedure to repair a heart defect midway through the season, which forced Yang to move back to Seattle.

In 2014, Daniels reprised his role as Mr. Feeny in the pilot episode of the Boy Meets World spinoff, Girl Meets World. He cameoed in the final scene, praising the adult Cory Matthews for his parenting. He made additional appearances in the second and third seasons.

In early 2023, he completed filming of the role of King Henry VI in the upcoming "Richard III".

On October 14, 2025, at 98 years old, he appeared as a surprise guest on Dancing with the Stars.

Personal life

Daniels has been married to actress and fellow Emmy Award winner Bonnie Bartlett since June 30, 1951; at 74 years, it is the longest active Hollywood marriage as of January 2026. In 1961, Bartlett gave birth to a son, who died 24 hours later. They adopted two sons. They also have four grandchildren, two through their son Michael, and another two through their other son Robert.

Bartlett and Daniels both served on the Screen Actors Guild's board of directors.

Awards and honors

Daniels refused the 1969 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Musical in 1776 due to his insistence that the part of John Adams was a leading role rather than supporting. He was ruled to be ineligible for the Best Actor nomination because of the technicality that his name was not billed above the title of the show.

From 1983 to 1987, Daniels' work on St. Elsewhere earned him five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1985 and 1986. In 1986, Daniels and Bartlett, who played his fictional wife on St. Elsewhere, won Emmy Awards on the same night (Bartlett for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series), becoming the first married couple to accomplish the feat since Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965 for a production of The Magnificent Yankee for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Broadway

Source:

Additional credits

Books

• Daniels, William (2017). There I Go Again: How I Came to Be Mr. Feeny, John Adams, Dr. Craig, KITT, and Many Others. Potomac Books, Inc.

References

References

1. "William Daniels".
2. "William Daniels' Celebrated Career and Life in Photos".
3. (March 11, 2017). "Sex sparked Mr. Feeny's real-life marriage — William Daniels, Bonnie Bartlett reflect on relationship". [[World News Network]].
4. "From Brooklyn to Boy Meets World: A Chat With William Daniels". BKMag.
5. (November 27, 1985). "William Daniels, In Character". The Washington Post.
6. "Prospective Members = Notable Sigma Nu Members".
7. [[Associated Press]] wire service story published in the Toronto Star, November 19, 1982, Page D1
8. "Official Site for Actor William Daniels".
9. (January 19, 2019). "Sarah T. – Portrait Of A Teenage Alcoholic (Blu-ray Review)".
10. "William Daniels profile". IMDb.
11. "Girl Meets World".
12. "Girl Meets Gravity".
13. "Girl Meets Goodbye".
14. (February 17, 2023). "William Daniels Joins RICHARD III Film From Christopher Carter Sanderson".
15. "William Daniels, 98, 'Boy Meets World'{{'s}} Mr. Feeny, Makes Surprise Appearance on 'Dancing with the Stars'".
16. (June 11, 2013). "Ageless Amazing Women Interview – Bonnie Bartlett". [[Beverlye Hyman Fead]], Aging in High Heels.
17. Weiskind, Ron. (March 6, 1987). "Bonnie Bartlett goes 'downscale'". [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]].
18. "William Daniels {{!}} SAG-AFTRA".
19. "Overview for William Daniels". TCM.
20. "Biography for William Daniels".
21. King, Susan. (May 9, 2015). "In 'Girl Meets World,' William Daniels reprises Mr. Feeny". [[Los Angeles Times]].
22. "The American Revolution (1994)".
23. "The Office – Broadway Play – Original". The Broadway League.
24. "William Daniels – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB".
25. (15 January 1960). "Theatre: A Double Bill Off Broadway; ' Krapp's Last Tape' and 'Zoo Story' Staged Donald Davis Acts in Play by Beckett". New York Times.
26. (15 November 1960). "Theatre: Faultless Acting". New York Times.
27. (1972). "1776". Starlight Musicals.
28. (1972). "54th Annual Season". St. Louis Municipal Opera.