1. William David Daniels was born on March 31,1927 and is an American actor who is known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig on the drama series St Elsewhere, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT on the television series Knight Rider; and George Feeny on the sitcom Boy Meets World, which earned him four People's Choice Award nominations.
William Daniels reprised his Knight Rider role in the sequel TV movie Knight Rider 2000 and his Boy Meets World role in the sequel series Girl Meets World.
William Daniels portrayed Carter Nash in Captain Nice.
William Daniels was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1999 to 2001 and led the union's efforts during the 2000 commercial actors strike.
William Daniels is noted for having portrayed in film or on television the three most prominent members of the Adams political family: John Adams, his cousin and fellow founding father, Samuel Adams, and John Adams's son John Quincy Adams.
William David Daniels was born on March 31,1927, in Brooklyn, New York, to Irene and David Daniels.
William Daniels's father was a bricklayer, and his mother was a telephone operator.
William Daniels was drafted into the US Army in 1945 and stationed in Italy, where he served as a disc jockey at an Army radio station.
At the suggestion of Howard Lindsay, co-author of Life with Father, who recommended he use the GI Bill to attend a college with a good drama department, William Daniels enrolled at Northwestern University.
William Daniels graduated from Northwestern in 1949, and is a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
William Daniels began his career as a member of the singing William Daniels family in Brooklyn.
William Daniels made his television debut as part of a variety act in 1943, on NBC, then a single station in New York.
William Daniels made his Broadway debut in 1943 in Life with Father, and remained a busy Broadway actor for decades afterwards.
William Daniels received an Obie Award for The Zoo Story.
In 1969, William Daniels starred as John Adams in the Broadway musical 1776; he appeared in the film version in 1972.
William Daniels starred in the short-lived series Captain Nice as police chemist Carter Nash.
William Daniels appeared as acid-tongued Dr Mark Craig in St Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988, for which he won two Emmy awards.
William Daniels reprised the voice-only role of KITT in 1991 for the television movie Knight Rider 2000, and again in the theatrical comedy movie The Benchwarmers.
William Daniels reprised the role of KITT in the 2015 Lego-themed action-adventure video game Lego Dimensions.
William Daniels portrayed strict but loving educator George Feeny at John Adams High School in Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000.
In 2012, William Daniels appeared in the ninth season of Grey's Anatomy as Dr Craig Thomas, an unlikely mentor to the character of Dr Cristina Yang played by actress Sandra Oh.
In 2014, William Daniels reprised his role as Mr Feeny in the pilot episode of the Boy Meets World spinoff, Girl Meets World.
William Daniels cameoed in the final scene, praising the adult Cory Matthews for his parenting.
William Daniels made additional appearances in the second and third seasons.
William Daniels has been married to actress and fellow Emmy Award winner Bonnie Bartlett since June 30,1951; at 73 years, it is the longest active Hollywood marriage as of April 2025.
Bartlett and William Daniels both served on the Screen Actors Guild's board of directors.
William Daniels refused the 1969 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Musical in 1776 due to his insistence that the part of John Adams was a leading role rather than supporting.
William Daniels was ruled to be ineligible for the Best Actor nomination because of the technicality that his name was not billed above the title of the show.