Millions of ’90s kids know Mr. Feeny as a source of sage advice for the Matthews family and friends Boy Meets World. But it turns out that the actor who plays him is less about the palace of wisdom and more towards the path of excess – at least initially.
William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett Daniels have been married for an impressive 72 years. But at the beginning of marriage, it’s not exactly wine and roses. Bonnie, also an actress – you may know her Sthas been 93 years now and looking back at the so-called memoirs Middle of the Rainbow.
One memory many Feeny fans will have a hard time hearing is about the early years of their “painful” marriage. He told me Fox News Digital while promoting all the upcoming news:
“I thought it was an open marriage at first, but it hurt a lot.”
Sorry, WHAT?! Mr. Feeny married openly?? Bonnie continued:
“That didn’t work very well. And it was a time when people were doing it. At that time in New York there were many types and many people doing different things, you know – very free.
Right, they got married in 1951. That was before the free love movement of the ’60s and ’70s, we’re talking about actors in NYC here – they were probably a decade before many countries in their bohemian way. Plus the whole era is still relatively early for a relationship.
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But it doesn’t sound like he’s involved! Could it be that William is just kind of an af**kboy?? I mean, we’re not talking about the sweet, avuncular people we know. This man was only 23 years old when he was arrested. He was a different person. As he put it, he was a “very angry young man”. And frankly, the way Bonnie tells it, it sounds like she’s more open than he is. He explains:
“But I don’t know if there’s a lack of commitment, and that’s not good. So there’s a lot of pain associated with any violation, with anything related to marriage.
In his memoirs, each Fox, she opened up about her months-long affair. He wrote that he “never felt guilty” because “I was never bound by loyalty, and neither was Bill.” Wow, this is blowing our minds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlPBz-dwsq0
However, all this changed after a few years. He wrote about how Bill had an affair with a New York producer – and that “ruined” him! It changed everything for them; he “could not tolerate any marriage.” They had to develop, “they had to grow together” as they say – and they did. He told me Fox:
“Bill always said we had three different marriages. We’ve been together for a long time, over 70 years – a long time…
As sick as he was, he also did not regret his years of experimentation:
“This is something we have to do because we have never experienced it. When we got together, I was 18. Bill had my first boyfriend… We just had to go through everything and still, we love each other very much and always have. [We] have always been there for each other. The important thing is that you are there for people and help [them] together in a relationship, [have] appreciate him and what he did and was there… [You have to] together on the other side.”
He also said:
“Bill and I have progressed every day and finally added. We have been happy together and sad together, and somehow we have stayed together for seventy years.
wow What is the most difficult thing you and your partner have been through? Share your rough patch stories in the comments (below)!
[Image via Disney/YouTube.]