\nThis Famous Hollywood Couple Endured the Loss of Their Son & Have Been Together for 73 Years \u2013 Inside Their Relationship\n
Their marriage began without romance, nearly unraveled from betrayal, and was saved by a cross-country move \u2014 but after 73 years together, William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett are still each other’s greatest love story.\n
In an industry known for breakups, William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett defied the odds. However, from their early days as ambitious students to becoming beloved fixtures in American pop culture, their journey has been anything but picture-perfect.\n
Infidelity and the heartbreak of losing a child tested their relationship in ways that could have easily broken it. And yet, they held on. Here’s a look inside their extraordinary relationship and a love story that has endured for over seven decades.\n
How a College Audition Sparked a Lifelong Love
\nDaniels and Bartlett have built a legacy in Hollywood that spans decades. He is best known for his roles as George Feeny in “Boy Meets World,” Dr. Craig in “St. Elsewhere,” and the voice of KITT in “Knight Rider.”\n
Bartlett, an acclaimed actress in her own right, earned accolades for her performances in shows like “St. Elsewhere” and “Little House on the Prairie.” However, their story began long before their fame.\n
The two first crossed paths at Northwestern University, where both were studying acting. Daniels recalled their first meeting vividly. In a class where the teacher was casting a play, he remembered watching what he described as “dreadful” auditions.\n
Then, a voice from the back of the room that sounded like an actress caught his attention. He turned around and recalled seeing “this lovely blonde.”\n
After class, Daniels waited by the door for Bartlett. “I said, ‘How about a cup of coffee?’ And she said, ‘You’re too short.’ I said, ‘C’mon, have a cup of coffee.’ She said, ‘OK,'” he shared.\n
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Unbeknownst to Daniels at the time, Bartlett had already taken notice of him. “Turns out she heard I had been on Broadway,” he explained. “She had been following me around campus, I didn’t even know it.” Bartlett responded to his recollection, saying:\n
“True. I didn’t want to [be] a stalker. I didn’t want to interfere with his life and I never thought for a minute he’d be interested in me. So when I said, ‘You’re too short,’ I thought ‘Oh no, we’re wrong. You don’t want me.'”\n
Despite their awkward but charming first exchange, their connection quickly grew. They discovered a shared passion for acting and mutual respect for each other’s talent and ambition. “We both have the same goals. We both liked acting,” Bartlett said.\n
“We both liked when the other one worked,” she continued. Daniels echoed her sentiment, adding, “There was never any jealousy between the two of us. We were happy when the other one was working.” That early understanding would become the foundation of a marriage that would later endure many trials and triumphs.\n
Weathering the Storm\n
\nThough Daniels and Bartlett’s marriage ultimately stood the test of time, instability, painful betrayals, and emotional reckoning marked its early years.\n
“That I’d spend my life with him, that never occurred to me. There was no plan. We were actors and trying to get work, and we liked being together,” Bartlett confessed.\n
The actress revealed in her memoir “Middle of the Rainbow” that she had an affair that lasted a few months in 1959.
\nTheir decision to marry wasn’t rooted in romance so much as practicality. “And when we got married, I thought we just got married so that we could have sex really,” the actress shared.\n
“We got married for the expediency of it. This was not a romantic thing. It was probably as much mental and sexual. It was just a meeting of the minds and a meeting of the bodies,” she added.\n
After marrying in 1951, Daniels credited his wife’s presence as vital to his success in school, admitting, “If I hadn’t met Bonnie, I don’t think I would have gotten through.”\n
However, the couple faced years of turmoil while living in New York. During that time, both were unfaithful. “I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn’t work well. And it was a time when people were doing that.” Bartlett revealed. She added:\n
“It was at a time in New York when there was a lot of sex and a lot of people doing all kinds of things, you know \u2014 very free. But I don’t know if there was a lack of commitment a little bit, and that’s not good. So there was a lot of pain connected with any transgression, with any extramarital thing.”\n
The actress revealed in her memoir “Middle of the Rainbow” that she had an affair that lasted a few months in 1959. However, Daniels’ affair with a New York-based producer in the early 1970s still left her wrecked. Despite the heartache, they stayed together.\n
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