Millions of ’90s kids know Mr. Feeny as a source of sage advice for the Matthews family and friends on Boy Meets World. But it turns out the actor who played him was less about the palace of wisdom and more into the path of excess — at least early on.
William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett Daniels have been married for an impressive 72 years. But early on in the marriage, things weren’t exactly wine and roses. Bonnie, also an actress — you might know her from St. Elsewhere, is 93 years old now and looking back in a memoir called Middle of the Rainbow.
One recollection that will be hard for many fans of Feeny to hear is about the “painful” early years of their marriage. She told Fox News Digital while promoting the upcoming tell-all:
“I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful.”
Sorry, WHAT?! Mr. Feeny had an open marriage?? Bonnie continued:
“That didn’t work well. And 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.”
Right, they got married in 1951. While 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 a lot of the country in their bohemian ways. Plus that entire era is still relatively early for their relationship.
Related: Maitland Ward Reveals Which Boy Meets World Co-Stars Ghosted Her!
But it doesn’t sound like she was into it! Is it possible William was just kind of a f**kboy?? We mean, we aren’t talking about the sweet, avuncular man we know. This guy was only 23 years old when they got hitched. He was a different guy back then. As she puts it, he was “a very angry young man” back then. And frankly, the way Bonnie tells it, it kinda sounds like he was more into the open thing than she was. She explained:
“But I don’t know if there was a lack of commitment a little bit, and that’s not good. So there was a lot of pain connected with any transgression, with any extramarital thing.”
In the memoir, per Fox, she does tell of an affair she had for months. She writes that she “never felt guilty” about it because “I never felt tied to fidelity, and neither did Bill.” Wow, this is blowing our minds.
However, all of this changed after a few years. She writes about how Bill had an affair with a New York producer — and that one “devastated” her! It changed everything for them; she “could no longer tolerate any kind of open marriage.” They had to evolve, “had to grow up together” as she puts it — and they did. She told Fox:
“Bill always said we had three different marriages. We’ve been together for so long, more than 70 years — a long time…”
As painful as they were she doesn’t sound like she regrets the years of experimentation either:
“It was something we had to go through because we never went through it. When we got together, I was 18. Bill was my first boyfriend… We just had to go through all that and still, we loved each other very much and always have. [We] have always been there for each other. That’s what matters – if you’re there for the person and help [them] along in a relationship, [have] respect for them and what they’re doing and being there for them… [You have to] be together on the other side.”
She also said:
“Bill and I have moved forward day-by-day and eventually, the days added up. We’ve been happy together and sad together, and somehow stayed together for seven decades.”
Wow. What’s the toughest thing you and your life partner have made it through? Share your rough patch stories in the comments (below)!
[Image via Disney/YouTube.]
