William Daniels Through the Years: ‘The Graduate,’ ‘St. Elsewhere,’ ‘Boy Meets World,’ Married Life and More

usmagazine.com:

A long career. William Daniels had been in the film and TV industry for decades when he began portraying the beloved teacher Mr.

Feeny on the coming-of-age sitcom Boy Meets World in 1993.“Mr. Feeny’s appeal was due to the fact that he was a friend, a mentor and an advisor all rolled into one,” Daniels wrote in his March 2017 memoir There I Go Again: How I Came to Be Mr.

Feeny, John Adams, Dr. Craig, KITT & Many Others.The New York native added that more than a decade after the series finale, he was still receiving mail “from (now-grown) fans who tell me how important the show and the role I played were to them in their formative years.”The effect that Feeny had on audiences is something that Daniels never saw coming; on the contrary, he initially turned down the role, fearing that it might be offensive to educators.“I asked for a meeting [with showrunner Michael Jacobs] because I turned it down and he wanted to know why,” the Captain Nice alum recalled during a July 2022 appearance on “Pod Meets World,” which is hosted by fellow Boy Meets World alums Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle. “I said ‘Well, that’s a funny name and I don’t want to make fun of teachers.

I respect them and they’re unpaid and all that.’ Then he told me what my role was based on, which was a mentor of his when he was in high school.”In order to view the video, please allow Manage CookiesHe continued: “I was afraid [Feeny] would be the butt of the joke [but then] I realized the plot would be written with respect.”Before his time on the hit ABC series, Daniels was a Broadway actor, appearing in productions including Life With Father, 1776, A Thousand Clowns, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and A Little Night Music.