Line #31 Creator/WilliamDaniels


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daniels_bartlett_1986_emmys.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett at the 1986 Emmy Awards.]]
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4	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]].)
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6	He is easily recognized by his distinctive voice and no-nonsense personality, no matter what character he may be portraying.
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8	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".
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10	He served as president of the [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood Screen Actors Guild]] from 1999–2001.
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12	''[[Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix "Oh, good God."]]''
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14	----
15	!!Works he's appeared in with TV Tropes pages:
16	[[foldercontrol]]
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18	[[folder:Films]]
19	* ''Film/AThousandClowns'' (1965) as Albert Amundson
20	* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' (1967) as Wynn Quantrill
21	* ''Film/TwoForTheRoad'' (1967) as Howard Manchester
22	* ''Film/TheGraduate'' (1967) as Mr. Braddock
23	* ''Film/{{Marlowe}}'' (1969) as Mr. Crowell
24	* ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'' (1972) as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams
25	* ''Film/ACaseOfRape'' (1974) as Leonard Alexander
26	* ''Film/TheParallaxView'' (1974) as Austin Tucker
27	* ''Film/BlackSunday'' (1977) as Harold Pugh
28	* ''Film/OhGod'' (1977) as George Summers
29	* ''Film/{{Sunburn\|1979}}'' (1979) as Crawford
30	* ''Film/{{The Blue Lagoon\|1980}}'' (1980) as Arthur Lestrange
31	* ''Film/{{Reds\|1981}}'' (1981) as Jules Gerber
32	* ''Film/RehearsalForMurder'' (1982) as Walter Lamb
33	* ''Film/BlindDate'' (1987) as Judge Harold Bedford
34	* ''Film/HerAlibi'' (1989) as Sam
35	* ''Film/TheBenchwarmers'' (2006) as KITT (voice)
36	* ''Film/BladesOfGlory'' (2007) as Commissioner Ebbers
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:TV series]]
40	* ''Series/CaptainNice'' (1967) as Carter Nash/Captain Nice
41	* ''Series/TheGhostAndMrsMuir'' (1 episode, 1968) as Blair Thompson
42	* ''Series/{{Cannon}}'' (1 episode, 1972) as Dave Corley
43	* ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle'' (1 episode, 1973) as Alan
44	* ''Series/{{Ironside\|1967}}'' (1 episode, 1973) as Mr. Stillwald
45	* ''Series/{{McCloud}}'' (2 episodes, 1973–76) as Fred Pearson/Clayton Gillis
46	* ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker'' (1 episode, 1974) as Police Lt. Jack Matteo
47	* ''Series/BarbaryCoast'' (1 episode, 1975) as Harry Boyle
48	* ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' (1 episode, 1975) as Edgar T. Vickers Jr.
49	* ''Series/McMillanAndWife'' (1 episode, 1976) as Commander Campbell
50	* ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'' (2 episodes, 1976) as Thomas Caine/Gary Bevins
51	* ''Series/QuincyME'' (3 episodes, 1976–80) as various
52	* ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk\|1977}}'' (1 episode, 1977) as Dr. John Bonifant
53	* ''Series/{{Soap}}'' (1 episode, 1978) as Heinrich Himmel
54	* ''Series/{{Family}}'' (1 episode, 1978) as Dr. Taylor
55	* ''Series/Galactica1980'' (2 episodes, 1980) as Norman Blore
56	* ''Series/TrapperJohnMD'' (1 episode, 1981) as Dr. Slater
57	* ''Series/PrivateBenjamin1981'' (1 episode, 1981) as Teddy
58	* ''Series/HartToHart'' (1 episode, 1982) as Simon Richardson
59	* ''Series/KnightRider'' (1982–86) as KITT (voice)
60	** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (2 episodes, 1998–2004)
61	* ''Series/StElsewhere'' (1982–88) as Dr. Mark Craig
62	* ''Series/FaerieTaleTheatre'' (1 episode, 1986) as Narrator (voice)
63	* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' (1993–2000) as Mr. George Feeny
64	** ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' (2014–17)
65	* ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' (1996–2003) as Whit Russell/George
66	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (1 episode, 2000) as Hospital Ship 4-2, Allocation Alpha (voice, uncredited)
67	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' (1 episode, 2002) as Dr. Douglas
68	* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' (1 episode, 2004) as Philip Waldecott
69	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' (1 episode, 2004) as Robot Pilot (voice)
70	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' (1 episode, 2005) as Scythe 2.0 (voice)
71	* ''Series/TheCloser'' (2 episodes, 2006) as Commissioner Andrew Schmidt
72	* ''Series/BostonLegal'' (1 episode, 2008) as Judge Milton Brody
73	* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' (5 episodes, 2012) as Dr. Craig Thomas
74	[[/folder]]
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76	[[folder:Video games]]
77	* ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions'' (2015) as KITT (voice)
78	[[/folder]]
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80	----
81	!!Tropes in his work:
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83	* 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).
84	* 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''.
85	* {{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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Context Creator / WilliamDaniels