William Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild (from 1999 to 2001). He is known for his performances as John Adams in 1776, as Mr. Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, the voice of KITT in Knight Rider, and winning two Emmy Awards for the role of Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere.
Daniels was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1949 where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He has been married to actress and fellow Emmy Award-winner Bonnie Bartlett since June 30, 1951. They have two children.
In 1969, Daniels starred as John Adams in the musical 1776, as well as appearing in the movie version in 1972. Two years later, he co-starred with Larry Hagman, Linda Blair and Mark Hamill in Richard Donner's telefilm Sarah T...Portrait Of a Teenage Alcoholic. In 1976, Daniels portrayed eldest son John Quincy Adams in the acclaimed PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles (George Grizzard played John Adams). He provided the voice of KITT in Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986, again in 1991 (He requested not to be credited for that work) again in the movie The Benchwarmers, and twice in The Simpson's episodes . He appeared as acid-tongued (but well-meaning) Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988, for which he won two Emmy awards. Daniels then portrayed the teacher George Feeny at John Adams High School in Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000.
In 1986, both Daniels and his wife Bonnie Bartlett, who also played his fictional wife on St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World, won Emmy Awards on the same night, becoming the first married couple to accomplish the feat since Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965. Lunt and Fontanne were the first to win Emmy Awards for a film, and Bartlett and Daniels were the first couple to win for a series.
Northwestern University's annual William Daniels Awards (the "Willies") honors the top performers, directors, choreographers, etc. in campus theatre productions throughout the year.
