[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daniels_bartlett_1986_emmys.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett at the 1986 Emmy Awards.]]

William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor, best known nowadays for his role as schoolteacher George Feeny on ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld''. He also played Dr. Mark Craig on ''Series/StElsewhere'' and provided the voice of KITT in ''Series/KnightRider''. His earliest claim to fame, however, was his role as irascible American revolutionary UsefulNotes/JohnAdams in the musical ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'', first on Broadway and then in the film adaptation. (The name of "John Adams High School" in ''Boy Meets World'' [[ActorAllusion is a nod to this]].)

He is easily recognized by his distinctive voice and no-nonsense personality, no matter what character he may be portraying.

Daniels met his wife, Creator/BonnieBartlett, when they were both freshmen at Northwestern University. They got married almost immediately after graduation, in June 1951, and have been together ever since, making them one of Hollywood's longest-lasting couples. They made MediaNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s history in 1986, winning Best Actor and Best Actress for their work as Mark and Ellen Craig on ''St. Elsewhere'' and becoming only the second married couple to win acting awards on the same night. They also [[RealLifeRelative played married or romantically-involved characters]] on two other occasions; once as guest stars on ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'', and again on ''Boy Meets World'', when Bartlett joined the cast as Lila Bolander, Dean of Pennbrook College. The Feeny and Bolander characters began dating and married in the season 6 finale "State of the Unions".

He served as president of the [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood Screen Actors Guild]] from 1999–2001.

''[[Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix "Oh, good God."]]''

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!!Works he's appeared in with TV Tropes pages:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Films]]
* ''Film/AThousandClowns'' (1965) as Albert Amundson
* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' (1967) as Wynn Quantrill
* ''Film/TwoForTheRoad'' (1967) as Howard Manchester
* ''Film/TheGraduate'' (1967) as Mr. Braddock
* ''Film/{{Marlowe}}'' (1969) as Mr. Crowell
* ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'' (1972) as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams
* ''Film/ACaseOfRape'' (1974) as Leonard Alexander
* ''Film/TheParallaxView'' (1974) as Austin Tucker
* ''Film/BlackSunday'' (1977) as Harold Pugh
* ''Film/OhGod'' (1977) as George Summers
* ''Film/{{Sunburn|1979}}'' (1979) as Crawford
* ''Film/{{The Blue Lagoon|1980}}'' (1980) as Arthur Lestrange
* ''Film/{{Reds|1981}}'' (1981) as Jules Gerber
* ''Film/RehearsalForMurder'' (1982) as Walter Lamb
* ''Film/BlindDate'' (1987) as Judge Harold Bedford
* ''Film/HerAlibi'' (1989) as Sam
* ''Film/TheBenchwarmers'' (2006) as KITT (voice)
* ''Film/BladesOfGlory'' (2007) as Commissioner Ebbers
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TV series]]
* ''Series/CaptainNice'' (1967) as Carter Nash/Captain Nice
* ''Series/TheGhostAndMrsMuir'' (1 episode, 1968) as Blair Thompson
* ''Series/{{Cannon}}'' (1 episode, 1972) as Dave Corley
* ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle'' (1 episode, 1973) as Alan
* ''Series/{{Ironside|1967}}'' (1 episode, 1973) as Mr. Stillwald
* ''Series/{{McCloud}}'' (2 episodes, 1973–76) as Fred Pearson/Clayton Gillis
* ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker'' (1 episode, 1974) as Police Lt. Jack Matteo
* ''Series/BarbaryCoast'' (1 episode, 1975) as Harry Boyle
* ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' (1 episode, 1975) as Edgar T. Vickers Jr.
* ''Series/McMillanAndWife'' (1 episode, 1976) as Commander Campbell
* ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'' (2 episodes, 1976) as Thomas Caine/Gary Bevins
* ''Series/QuincyME'' (3 episodes, 1976–80) as various
* ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'' (1 episode, 1977) as Dr. John Bonifant
* ''Series/{{Soap}}'' (1 episode, 1978) as Heinrich Himmel
* ''Series/{{Family}}'' (1 episode, 1978) as Dr. Taylor
* ''Series/Galactica1980'' (2 episodes, 1980) as Norman Blore
* ''Series/TrapperJohnMD'' (1 episode, 1981) as Dr. Slater
* ''Series/PrivateBenjamin1981'' (1 episode, 1981) as Teddy
* ''Series/HartToHart'' (1 episode, 1982) as Simon Richardson
* ''Series/KnightRider'' (1982–86) as KITT (voice)
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (2 episodes, 1998–2004)
* ''Series/StElsewhere'' (1982–88) as Dr. Mark Craig
* ''Series/FaerieTaleTheatre'' (1 episode, 1986) as Narrator (voice)
* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' (1993–2000) as Mr. George Feeny
** ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' (2014–17)
* ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' (1996–2003) as Whit Russell/George
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (1 episode, 2000) as Hospital Ship 4-2, Allocation Alpha (voice, uncredited)
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' (1 episode, 2002) as Dr. Douglas
* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' (1 episode, 2004) as Philip Waldecott
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' (1 episode, 2004) as Robot Pilot (voice)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' (1 episode, 2005) as Scythe 2.0 (voice)
* ''Series/TheCloser'' (2 episodes, 2006) as Commissioner Andrew Schmidt
* ''Series/BostonLegal'' (1 episode, 2008) as Judge Milton Brody
* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' (5 episodes, 2012) as Dr. Craig Thomas
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video games]]
* ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions'' (2015) as KITT (voice)
[[/folder]]

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!!Tropes in his work:

* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: Though he's from Brooklyn, he trained himself to speak in a pitch-perfect mid-Atlantic accent, which became part of the reason for his {{Typecasting}} (see below).
* RoleReprise: Besides ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'', he portrayed UsefulNotes/JohnAdams in the 1979 miniseries ''The Rebels'' and voiced him in the 1994 documentary series ''The American Revolution''. He also played Adams's son UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams in the 1976 miniseries ''The Adams Chronicles'' and his cousin Samuel Adams in the 1978 TV movie ''The Bastard''.
* {{Typecasting}}: For much of his career, he was the go-to actor if you needed an uptight [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]], particularly a Yankee.

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