William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett’s Relationship Timeline: From College Sweethearts to an Open Marriage and Beyond

Credit: Newscom/MEGA

William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett's Relationship Timeline: From College Sweethearts to an Open Marriage and Beyond

Boy meets girl! William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett are living proof that Hollywood marriages can last, with a love story spanning more than seven decades. The twosome met while studying acting at Northwestern University and tied the knot in 1951. Despite their commitment to each other, the duo has been candid about facing struggles during their relationship. "So much happens and you live ... you hurt each other," Bartlett told Forbes in March 2022. "We've hurt each other but you recover and you grow and you change and you adapt. You have to be able to adapt to the other person. You have to think of them first. It doesn't happen overnight. It took us years to get to a real companionship marriage." The Little House on the Prairie alum opened up about the infidelity that characterized the early years of their union in her 2023 memoir, Middle of the Rainbow. "I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn’t work well,” she recalled. "It was a time when people were doing that. 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 — very free. But I don’t know if there was a lack of commitment a little bit, and that’s not good." [jwplayer YwMoFhSG-zhNYySv2] Bartlett noted that keeping her marriage with Daniels open was “very painful for the both” of them, adding, “there was a lot of pain connected with any transgression.” In addition to extramarital affairs, the couple also endured a tragic loss. In 1961, the Twins actress gave birth to their son William Jr., who died 24 hours later. However, Daniels and Bartlett were determined to be parents, and they adopted sons Michael and Robert in 1964 and 1966, respectively. During a December 2020 interview with Forbes, Bartlett said that her husband’s parenting skills — as well as his sense of humor — were two of the things she admired most about him. “He makes me laugh. His sense of humor and his ability every day to find something funny is really good for me because I’m very intense. That and being a great father. He’s a great father,” she told the outlet. The lovebirds have been each other’s biggest cheerleaders as they’ve both pursued acting over the years. "We both have the same goals. We both liked acting. We both liked when the other one worked," Bartlett told Forbes in March 2022. Daniels chimed in, "There was never any jealousy between the two of us. We were happy when the other one was working." Scroll through for a look at Daniels and Bartlett’s relationship over the years:

Credit: Newscom/MEGA

William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett's Relationship Timeline: From College Sweethearts to an Open Marriage and Beyond

Boy meets girl! William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett are living proof that Hollywood marriages can last, with a love story spanning more than seven decades. The twosome met while studying acting at Northwestern University and tied the knot in 1951. Despite their commitment to each other, the duo has been candid about facing struggles during their relationship. "So much happens and you live ... you hurt each other," Bartlett told Forbes in March 2022. "We've hurt each other but you recover and you grow and you change and you adapt. You have to be able to adapt to the other person. You have to think of them first. It doesn't happen overnight. It took us years to get to a real companionship marriage." The Little House on the Prairie alum opened up about the infidelity that characterized the early years of their union in her 2023 memoir, Middle of the Rainbow. "I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn’t work well,” she recalled. "It was a time when people were doing that. 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 — very free. But I don’t know if there was a lack of commitment a little bit, and that’s not good." [jwplayer YwMoFhSG-zhNYySv2] Bartlett noted that keeping her marriage with Daniels open was “very painful for the both” of them, adding, “there was a lot of pain connected with any transgression.” In addition to extramarital affairs, the couple also endured a tragic loss. In 1961, the Twins actress gave birth to their son William Jr., who died 24 hours later. However, Daniels and Bartlett were determined to be parents, and they adopted sons Michael and Robert in 1964 and 1966, respectively. During a December 2020 interview with Forbes, Bartlett said that her husband’s parenting skills — as well as his sense of humor — were two of the things she admired most about him. “He makes me laugh. His sense of humor and his ability every day to find something funny is really good for me because I’m very intense. That and being a great father. He’s a great father,” she told the outlet. The lovebirds have been each other’s biggest cheerleaders as they’ve both pursued acting over the years. "We both have the same goals. We both liked acting. We both liked when the other one worked," Bartlett told Forbes in March 2022. Daniels chimed in, "There was never any jealousy between the two of us. We were happy when the other one was working." Scroll through for a look at Daniels and Bartlett’s relationship over the years:

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1951

The pair tied the knot after meeting as acting students at Northwestern University. 

During a December 2020 interview with Forbes, Daniels recalled how he asked his wife out for the first time.

“I waited for her at the door of the classroom until she came by, and I said, ‘How about a cup of coffee?’ And she said, ‘You’re too short.’ I said, ‘Come on, have a cup of coffee.’ She said, ‘OK.’ Turns out, she heard I had been on Broadway. She had been following me around campus and I didn’t even know it.”

Credit: Douglas C Pizac/AP/Shutterstock

1959

In her 2023 memoir, Middle of the Rainbow, Bartlett revealed that she had “an affair that lasted a few months” with an actor who was “slightly boring” around 1959. 

“I never felt guilty because I never felt tied to fidelity, and neither did Bill,” she wrote.

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1961

Bartlett gave birth to the couple’s first child, son William Jr., but the newborn died just 24 hours later. 

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1964

The actors adopted son Michael. 

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1966

Daniels and Bartlett completed their family with the adoption of their son Robert. 

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

1970s

In Middle of the Rainbow, the Wisconsin native wrote that her husband’s affair with a New York-based producer in the early 1970s left her “devastated.”

At that point, she changed her outlook on their relationship and realized that she “could no longer tolerate any kind of open marriage.” 

Credit: Television Academy/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

1980s

The pair played real-life married couple Dr. Mark Craig and Ellen Craig on the medical drama St. Elsewhere, which ran from 1982 to 1988. 

In 1986, Daniels and Bartlett both won Emmy awards for the show on the same night, becoming the first married couple to do so since Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965.

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1990s

The Northwestern University alums got to share the screen again when Bartlett played a college dean who employed her husband’s character (George Feeny) in Boy Meets World. Their characters later got married in a 1999 episode. 

During a December 2022 interview with Forbes, Bartlett shared that it was hard for her husband to grasp why Mr. Feeny is so beloved by fans of the coming-of-age sitcom.

“He doesn’t understand why people love him that much. He really doesn’t understand it,” the V alum said.

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2000s

The duo continued to be at each other’s side as they pursued different acting opportunities. Daniels appeared in the ninth season of Grey’s Anatomy in 2012 and reprised his role as Mr. Feeny in the pilot episode of the Boy Meets World spinoff, Girl Meets World. Bartlett, for her part, guest starred on shows including General Hospital, Boston Legal and NCIS.

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Twitter

2015

Daniels shared a photo via Twitter of him with his wife, sons and grandchildren.

“Bonnie, the boys and the grandkids over Easter weekend,” the New York native captioned the snap. 

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2016

“Workout Wednesday! Every week, my wife, Bonnie, and I hit our little gym,” the Knight Rider alum captioned an October Instagram photo of him and Bartlett on exercise machines. “She’s faster than me,” he added.”

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2018

The St. Elsewhere alums took a trip to New York City together in May.

“I got to show off my California tulip to the New York tulips a few weeks ago. They didn't stand a chance,” Daniels captioned an Instagram picture of him and Bartlett sitting beside a flower garden. 

Credit: Splash News

2018

The married couple were nearly the victims of a home robbery in October, but they managed to inadvertently scare the perpetrator away.

“We were asleep and I heard bang, bang, bang. … I lit the light and Bonnie screamed and this person fled and that’s the whole damn story,” Daniels explained during a Good Morning America interview the day after the incident.

“We were stunned,” Bartlett added. “Nothing like that has ever happened.”

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2020

The twosome opened up about their relationship during a December interview with Forbes.

“I think our relationship is based on mutual respect and I think she is smarter than me [and a] better actor than me, so I just hang on and try to get along,” Daniels told the outlet. 

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2021

Daniels shared snaps of him and Bartlett celebrating their granddaughter Grace’s high school graduation.

“Feeling proud never ends with this family of mine. A huge congrats to my granddaughter Grace for graduating high school and heading off to NYU in the fall. I’ll try not to follow you there 😉,” he captioned the June Instagram post.

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2022

The Emmy winners spoke to Forbes in March in honor of Daniels’ 95th birthday.

When asked about the secret to their long-lasting marriage, the Graduate actor replied, “What you really have to do is learn to respect the other person and their feelings and try to be as easy to live with as you possibly can.”

Credit: Courtesy of William Daniels/Instagram

2023

Bartlett candidly wrote about her and Daniels having “an open marriage at first” in her memoir, Middle of the Rainbow.

Although the Golden Girls alum described the arrangement as “very painful” for both her and her husband, she explained that the experience helped them grow.

"When we got together, I was 18. Bill was my first boyfriend," she explained. "We just had to go through all that and still, we loved each other very much and always have."