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William Daniels

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For other people named William Daniels, see William Daniels (disambiguation).
William Daniels
Daniels in 1976
Born
William David Daniels

(1927-03-31) March 31, 1927 (age 97)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materNorthwestern University
OccupationActor
Years active1943–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1951)​
Children3
President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office
March 5, 1999 – October 15, 2001
Preceded byRichard Masur
Succeeded byMelissa Gilbert
Military career
Service / branchUnited States Army
Websitehttp://www.williamdanielstheactor.com

William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor who is known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig on the drama series St. Elsewhere, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT on the television series Knight Rider; and George Feeny on the sitcom Boy Meets World, which earned him four People's Choice Award nominations. He reprised his Knight Rider role in the sequel TV movie Knight Rider 2000 and his Boy Meets World role in the sequel series Girl Meets World. He also portrayed Carter Nash (the actual identity of the eponymous comedic superhero) in Captain Nice.

Daniels's film roles include Mr. Braddock (Benjamin Braddock's father) in The Graduate, Howard Maxwell-Manchester in Two for the Road, and John Adams in the musical film 1776. He was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1999 to 2001 and led the union's efforts during the 2000 commercial actors strike.

Daniels is also noted for having portrayed in film or on television the three most prominent members of the Adams political family: John Adams, his cousin and fellow founding father, Samuel Adams, and John Adams's son John Quincy Adams.

Early life

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William David Daniels was born on March 31, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York,[1] to Irene and David Daniels. His father was a bricklayer, and his mother was a telephone operator.[2] He has two sisters, Jacqueline and Carol.[3] He grew up in East New York, Brooklyn.[4]

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.[5] He graduated from Northwestern in 1949, and is a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.[6]

Career

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Daniels and other cast members of 1776 with Richard Nixon following a performance of the Tony Award-winning musical in the East Room of the White House (1971)

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.[7] He made his Broadway debut in 1943 in Life with Father,[8] 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.[9] in 1979 he again reprised his role as the outspoken John Adams in the film 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."[7]

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.[10] He reprised the role of KITT in the 2015 Lego-themed action-adventure video game Lego Dimensions.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[11] He made additional appearances in the second[12] and third seasons.[13]

In early 2023, he completed filming of the role of King Henry VI in the upcoming "Richard III".[14]

Personal life

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Daniels with wife Bonnie Bartlett at the 1987 Emmy Awards

Daniels has been married to actress and fellow Emmy Award winner Bonnie Bartlett since June 30, 1951; at 73 years, it is the longest active Hollywood marriage as of July 2024. In 1961, Bartlett gave birth to a son, who died 24 hours later. They adopted two sons: Michael, who became an assistant director and stage manager in Los Angeles, and Robert, who became an artist and computer graphics designer based in New York City.[15][16][17]

Bartlett and Daniels both served on the Screen Actors Guild's board of directors.[18]

Awards and honors

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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.[19] 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.[20]

From 1983 to 1987, Daniels' work in 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.[21]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 Ladybug Ladybug Mr. Calkins
1965 A Thousand Clowns Albert Amundson
1967 Two for the Road Howard Manchester
The Graduate Mr. Braddock
The President's Analyst Wynn Quantrill
1969 Marlowe Mr. Crowell
1972 1776 John Adams
1974 The Parallax View Austin Tucker
1977 Black Sunday Harold Pugh
Oh, God! George Summers
1978 The One and Only Mr. Crawford
Family Dr. Taylor
1979 Sunburn Crawford
The Rebels John Adams
1980 The Blue Lagoon Arthur Lestrange
1981 All Night Long Richard H. Copleston
Reds Julius Gerber
1987 Blind Date Judge Harold Bedford
1989 Her Alibi Sam
1994 Magic Kid 2 Manny
2006 The Benchwarmers KITT Voice, uncredited
2007 Blades of Glory Commissioner Ebbers
2020 Superintelligence KITT Voice

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1952 A Woman for the Ages John Quincy Adams TV movie
1956 Robert Montgomery Presents Donald Kemper Episode: "Three Men From Tomorrow"
1956,
1960,
1961 		Armstrong Circle Theatre Leonard Gregory Episode: "Five Who Shook the Mighty"
Episode: "Separate Parents"
Episode: "The Spy Next Door"
1959 Brenner Larry Dyer Episode: "Man in the Middle"
1961,
1962 		Naked City Herbert Grafton
Harry Culverin 		Episode: "A Kettle of Precious Fish"
Episode: "Idyllis of a Running Back"
1962,
1964 		The Defenders Malloy
Mike Herman 		Episode: "The Locked Room"
Episode: "A Voice Loud and Clear"
1963 East Side/West Side Principal Costigan Episode: "I Before E Except After C"
1963,
1965 		The Doctors and the Nurses Vernon Kane
Buddy 		Episode: "Field of Battle"
Episode: "A Couple of Dozen Tiny Pills"
1965 For the People Fred Rice Episode: "Any Benevolent Purpose"
1966 T.H.E. Cat Tony Webb Episode: "The Ring of Anasis"
1967 Captain Nice Carter Nash / Captain Nice Main cast; 15 episodes
1968 The Good Guys Arnold Schreck Episode: "Let 'em Eat Rolls"
1968 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir Blair Thompson Episode: "Mr. Perfect"
1969 Judd, for the Defense Harry Stratton Episode: "Epitaph on a Computer Card"
1972 Cannon Dale Corey Episode: "Hear No Evil"
1973 Love, American Style Alan Segment: "Love and the Old Lover"
1973 Ironside Stillwald, the Bank Manager Episode: "All Honorable Men"
1973 Murdock's Gang Roger Bates TV movie
1973 The Fabulous Doctor Fable Elliot Borden TV movie
1973,
1976 		McCloud Clayton Gills
Fred Pearson 		Episode: "Butch Cassidy Rides Again"
Episode: "The Day New York Turned Blue"
1974 Kolchak: The Night Stalker Police Lt. Jack Matteo Episode: "The Vampire"
1974 A Case of Rape Leonard Alexander TV movie
1975 Insight Mike Madden Episode: "Hunger Knows My Name"
1975 Barbary Coast Boyle Episode: "Irish Luck"
1975 The Bob Newhart Show Edgar T. Vickers Jr. Episode: "Fathers and Sons and Mothers"
1975 Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic Matt Hodges TV movie
1975 One of Our Own Dr. Moresby TV movie
1976 Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident Bissell TV movie
1976 That Was the Year That Was – 1976 Sketch Actor TV movie
1976 The Adams Chronicles John Quincy Adams (age 50–81)
1976 McMillan & Wife Commander Campbell Episode: "Point of Law"
1976 The Rockford Files Thomas Caine
Gary Bevins 		Episode: "The Italian Bird Fiasco"
Episode: "So Help Me God"
1976–1977 The Nancy Walker Show Lt. Commander Kenneth Kitteridge Main cast; 13 episodes
1976,
1979,
1980 		Quincy, M.E. Paul Reardon
Charlie Trusdale
Dr. Charlie Volmer 		Episode: "A Star is Dead"
Episode: "Dark Angel"
Episode: "Last Rights"
1977 The Incredible Hulk Dr. John Bonifant Episode: "Death in the Family"
1977 Killer on Board Marshall Snowden TV movie
1977 The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer Colonel Marcus Reno TV movie
1978 Soap Heinrich Himmel Season 1, Episode 16
1978 Family Dr. Taylor Episode: "Counterpoint"
1978 Grandpa Goes to Washington Gov. Bronx Episode: "Pilot"
1978 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Chasrubal Episode: "Joshua and the Battle of Jericho"
1978 The Bastard Samuel Adams TV movie
1978 Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus Lawrence Stepwell III TV movie
1978 Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force Father Veller TV movie
1979 Blind Ambition G. Gordon Liddy
1979 The Chinese Typewriter Devlin TV movie
1979 The Rebels John Adams TV movie
1980 The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo Dr. Walter Taylor Episode: "Who's the Sexiest Girl in the World"
1980 Galactica 1980 Norman Blore Episodes: The Night the Cylons Landed Part 1 & 2
1980 City in Fear Freeman Stirbling TV movie
1980 Father Damien: The Leper Priest Bishop Koeckemann TV movie
1980–1981 Freebie and the Bean District Attorney Walter W. Cruikshank Recurring role; 4 episodes
1981 Trapper John, M.D. Dr. Slater Episode: "Second Sight"
1981 Private Benjamin Teddy Episode: "Bye, Bye Benjamin"
1981 The Million Dollar Face Henry Burns TV movie
1982 Hart to Hart Simon Richardson Episode: "Hartless Hobby"
1982 Rehearsal for Murder Walter Lamb TV movie
1982 Rooster Dr. DeVega TV movie
1982 Drop-Out Father Draper Wright TV movie
1982–1986 Knight Rider KITT Voice role; 84 episodes
1982–1988 St. Elsewhere Dr. Mark Craig Main cast; 137 episodes
1986 Faerie Tale Theatre Narrator Episode: "The Princess Who Had Never Laughed"
1987 The Little Match Girl Haywood Dutton TV movie
1989 Howard Beach: Making a Case for Murder Slaney TV movie
1990 On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story John Nicks TV movie
1991 General Motors Playwright Theater Detective Lieutenant Fine Episode: "Clara"
1991 Knight Rider 2000 KITT TV movie; voice
1992 Back to the Streets of San Francisco Judge Julius Burns TV movie
1993 Nurses Norm Kaplan Episode: "Family Outing"
1993–2000 Boy Meets World George Feeny Main cast; 148 episodes
1994 The American Revolution John Adams Documentary[22]
Voice
1996 The Lottery Reverend Hutchinson TV movie
1996,
2003 		Touched by an Angel Whit Russell
George 		Episode: "Birthmarks"
Episode: "And a Nightingale Song"
1998,
2004 		The Simpsons KITT Voice
Episode: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"
Episode: "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
2000 Star Trek: Voyager Hospital Ship 4–2, Allocation Alpha Voice; Episode: "Critical Care"
2002 Scrubs Dr. Douglas Episode: "My Sacrificial Clam"
2003 Lost at Home Arthur Episode: "Our Town"
2003 The Lyon's Den Judge Franklin Campbell Episode: "Blood"
2004 The King of Queens Philip Waldecott Episode: "Icky Shuffle"
2004 Kim Possible Robot Pilot Voice; Episode: "Ron Millionaire"
2005 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Scythe 2.0 Voice; Episode: "Runaway Pants/Scythe 2.0"
2006 The Closer Commissioner Andrew Schmidt Episodes: "Serving the King Part 1 & 2"
2008 Boston Legal Judge Milton Brody Episode: "Smoke Signals"
2012 Paulilu Mixtape Dr. Vanderhoof Episode: "Ghost Tits"
2012 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Craig Thomas 5 episodes
2014–2017 Girl Meets World George Feeny Recurring role; 5 episodes

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2015 LEGO Dimensions K.I.T.T Voice

Theatre

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Broadway

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Year Title Role Venue Notes
1945 Life With Father Clarence Bijou Theatre Replacement
1952 Seagulls Over Sorrento Sub-Lt. Granger, R.N. John Golden Theatre Credited as Bill Daniels
1959 The Legend of Lizzie Assistant D. A. Cooper 54th Street Theatre
1962 A Thousand Clowns Albert Amundson Eugene O'Neill Theatre
1963 Dear Me, The Sky is Falling Dr. Robert Evans Music Box Theatre
1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Dale Harding Cort Theatre
1965 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Warren Smith Mark Hellinger Theatre
1967 Daphne in Cottage D Joseph Longacre Theatre
1969 1776 John Adams 46th Street Theater
1974 A Little Night Music Fredrik Egerman Shubert Theatre Replacement

Source: [23]

Books

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "William Daniels". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Cho, Diane. "William Daniels' Celebrated Career and Life in Photos". People. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "Sex sparked Mr. Feeny's real-life marriage — William Daniels, Bonnie Bartlett reflect on relationship". World News Network. March 11, 2017.
  4. ^ "From Brooklyn to Boy Meets World: A Chat With William Daniels". BKMag. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  5. ^ Mathews, Jay (November 27, 1985). "William Daniels, In Character". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "Prospective Members = Notable Sigma Nu Members". Sigma Nu Fraternity. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Associated Press wire service story published in the Toronto Star, November 19, 1982, Page D1
  8. ^ "Official Site for Actor William Daniels". www.williamdanielstheactor.com. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  9. ^ "Sarah T. – Portrait Of A Teenage Alcoholic (Blu-ray Review)". Why So Blu?. January 19, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  10. ^ "William Daniels profile". IMDb. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  11. ^ "Girl Meets World". Girl Meets World. June 22, 2014. Disney Channel. (Originally uploaded to iTunes on June 16, 2014, as a free download)
  12. ^ "Girl Meets Gravity". Girl Meets World. May 11, 2015. Disney Channel.
  13. ^ "Girl Meets Goodbye". Girl Meets World. January 20, 2017. Disney Channel.
  14. ^ Major, Michael (February 17, 2023). "William Daniels Joins RICHARD III Film From Christopher Carter Sanderson". Broadway World. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "Ageless Amazing Women Interview – Bonnie Bartlett". Beverlye Hyman Fead, Aging in High Heels. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  16. ^ "Bonnie Bartlett". NNDB. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Weiskind, Ron (March 6, 1987). "Bonnie Bartlett goes 'downscale'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 19. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  18. ^ "William Daniels | SAG-AFTRA". www.sagaftra.org. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  19. ^ "Overview for William Daniels". TCM. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  20. ^ "Biography for William Daniels". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  21. ^ King, Susan (May 9, 2015). "In 'Girl Meets World,' William Daniels reprises Mr. Feeny". Los Angeles Times.
  22. ^ "The American Revolution (1994)". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "William Daniels – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
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