William Daniels wasn’t just an onscreen mentor to the young cast of Boy Meets World in the 1990s as Mr. George Feeny — he became a real-life confidant throughout 30 years of friendship.
The legendary actor already had a 50-year career in Hollywood — including playing Dustin Hoffman’s father in 1967’s The Graduate and voicing K.I.T.T. the talking car in TV’s Knight Rider in the 1980s — when he was cast as Jefferson Elementary School (and later John Adams High School) teacher George Feeny in 1993.
Much like Boy Meets World stars Ben Savage, Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle, Daniels started his career as a child actor. He made his first stage appearance as a member of the singing Daniels family and debuted on Broadway at just 16 years old in Life with Father in 1943.
Speaking on “Pod Meets World” in 2022, he touched on using his own childhood experience when working with Strong, Fishel and Friedle — who played teens Shawn Hunter, Topanga Lawrence and Eric Matthews, respectively — on Boy Meets World.
“I stayed away from being judgmental,” the actor said. “I took whatever [they] gave me and I tried to work with it and it worked out very well.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at how Daniels bonded with the Boy Meets World cast over the years.
Meeting the ‘Boy Meets World’ Cast
Daniels admitted on “Pod Meets World” in 2022 that he had a very different approach to acting than his costars when they first started working on Boy Meets World.
“Well, you all were young and having fun and I was much more serious,” Daniels explained to Strong, Fishel and Friedle. “So I would hang out in my dressing room away from you all as you fooled around before the camera and then they said, ‘Mr. Daniels, we’re ready for you,’ and then I’d go out.”
He admitted, “You guys were having a ball and I’d taken it very seriously! Frankly, I wish I were one of you.”
Treating the Cast as Equals
William’s wife Bonnie Bartlett — who also appeared on Boy Meets World as Dean Lila Bolander — recalled how her husband always treated his younger costars with total respect.
“I said, ‘Do you help them?’” she said on the “Pod Meets World” podcast in 2022. “He said, ‘No, they’re on my level. They’re the same level I am. I can’t tell them [what to do].’”
Offscreen Mentor
Friedle and Strong credited Daniels with being “a model of professionalism’ on the Boy Meets World set, where the TV veteran set an example for his costars’ future in the industry.
“When we were kids, goofing off and having a good time, he was very much a Feeny-like presence, even when the cameras weren’t there, in terms of knowing his lines, being a complete professional, being on time,” Strong told People in 2022. “Those were things that we needed to see, and had to learn to emulate in order to be professionals in the industry.”
Friedle added, “That’s basically what I got from him too. He really taught me how to be a professional actor, and that matters.”
‘Boy Meets World’ cast in 1994. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
The Boy Meets World cast recognized years later that Daniels’ “hands-off” approach towards giving his young costars acting advice “was actually a huge form of respect.”
“He knew we were professionals, we were going to get it done, we had a different process than he did because we were 12 and 16, or 12, 13, 16, but he was going to let us come to it honestly,” Fishel said. “I think that’s something that I really learned from him now in my relationships with young actors. I direct for children’s TV almost exclusively now, and I treat them as if they were any other peer or equal of mine. I think I really learned that from Bill.”
‘Pearls of Wisdom’
In 2022, Friedle and Fishel confirmed that Daniels was still mentoring them more than two decades after they finished filming Boy Meets World.
“He’s still giving [advice],” Friedle revealed to People. “[He’s] 95 years old and he still shoots out the pearls of wisdom. His wife, Bonnie, as well. Talking to them is still magical.”
Rider Strong, Ben Savage, Danielle Fishel and William Daniels on ‘Boy Meets World’ Scott Humbert/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Fishel recalled Daniels’ thoughtful response when he was asked how to “make a marriage last.” (Daniels and Bartlett have been married since 1951. Fishel was married to Tim Belusko between 2013 to 2016, before tying the knot with her second husband, Jensen Karp, in 2018.)
“His advice was actually just really great for all relationships. He said open communication and honesty and respect. I was like, yeah. I think that’s exactly why the three of us have remained this close over the course of 30 years,” she said.”So if you’re willing to listen, Bill is dropping gems left and right.”
Pop Culture Phenomenon
Mr. Feeny was more than the principal of John Adams High — he became “America’s principal” thanks to Boy Meets World reruns and the show’s eventual streaming success on Disney+. Daniels reprised the iconic role for Disney Channel spinoff show Girl Meets World in 2015, which introduced Mr. Feeny to a whole new generation of kids.
Daniels explained during a panel at Comic Expo that he was unaware of how popular the character had become until one fateful day in New York City.
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 […]
“I never came to realize that Mr. Feeny became a familiar figure to people,” he admitted. “I had an experience that stays with me when I was walking down 8th Avenue in New York and a school bus was emptying the students.”
“I was passed them but the students saw me,” he remembered. “They said, ‘Feeny!’ … The staunch person that I am, I fled right around the block. I just ran away!”
Reunions
Daniels has met up with his Boy Meets World costars many times over the years. In June 2024, he shared “a little reunion with [his] favorite students” when he and Bartlett posed with Strong, Fishel and Friedle via Instagram.
While the couple keep in touch with the Boy Meets World cast, Bartlett admitted that her husband missed working with them following the cancellation of Girl Meets World in 2017.
“Bill adores them all. He really does,” Bartlett told People in May 2025. “He misses that experience with them. He likes to be part of a group. That’s what really keeps you going — community.”
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Tribute
Fishel announced on her “Danielle With the Stars” podcast in October 2025 that Daniels would join her on stage for a Boy Meets World homage as part of DWTS’ Dedication Night. (Fishel joined the ABC reality competition for its 34th season and was paired with professional dancer Pasha Pashkov.)
“Mr. Feeny himself is going to be on the ballroom floor with me,” she teased. “[He] is going to be on the ballroom floor with us and he’s going to participate in the dance as well.”
Danielle Fishel doesn’t mind receiving constructive criticism from the Dancing With the Stars judges. In fact, she’s grateful for it. “We’re going to continue to take the judge’s feedback. They’re really good at giving us very specific notes,” Fishel, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly after the Tuesday, October 7, live show. “Last week, Carrie Ann […]
Fishel admitted it was “crazy” that she was going to perform a ballroom dance to the Boy Meets World theme song, but felt it was crucial to celebrate Daniels’ impact on the cast.
“It’s really a dedication to Bill and the role he has played in my life and the role Boy Meets World has played in my life,” she told listeners. “He’s just such an inspiration to so many of us. And to be able to say thank you to him and to give him this kind of a platform for him to receive the love that he deserves is going to be very memorable.”
