William

NOTE: This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title If an article link referred you here, you might want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page.

This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page. Also, if you wanted to search for the term "William", click here.

CastOther Disambiguations

William B. DavisWilliam C. VaughanWilliam DanielsWilliam MolloyWilliam Samples

William
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Val Chambers
Date of Birth:	January 13, 1938
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	87
Nationality:	CAN
Related Media
		@ BW Media
[{{{site}}} Official Site]
IMDb profile

William B. Davis is the actor who portrayed Val Chambers in the Caprica pilot. The producers noted that the casting for the role was inspired by former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Davis is an actor, writer, director, and editor. In 1959, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in philosophy. He was formerly a drama professor at Bishop's University, Canada, before opening up William Davis Centre for Acting Study. In addition, he is a spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society, and a Canadian national champion water-skier.

One of his most well-known roles was "The Cigarette-Smoking Man" in the television series The X-Files, a role the Caprica producers were aware of when he was cast.

References

William
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	J. Finnegan (credited as "Finn")
Date of Birth:	1984
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Related Media
		@ BW Media
[{{{site}}} Official Site]
IMDb profile

William C. Vaughan (born 1984) is the actor who portrayed J. Finnegan in Re-imagined Series' "The Face of the Enemy" webisodes and the unidentified "Fan Boy" in Caprica's "The Dirteaters".

External Links

• Blog

William
Performer1980
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Norman Blore
Date of Birth:	March 31, 1927
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	98
Nationality:	USA
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Official Site
IMDb profile

William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor who portrayed Norman Blore in the Galactica 1980 episodes "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I" and "Part II".

Early Life

Born on Hull Street in Brooklyn, New York, Daniels was the son of David Daniels, a bricklayer, and his wife Irene, a telephone operator. Growing up in a blue-collar, middle-class area during the Depression, Daniels recalled in a 2019 interview: "Hull Street was where I was born and played. I went back a few years ago and I was shocked to find that Hull Street was only two blocks long. It seemed much bigger to me as a child."

He and his two sisters, Jacqueline and Carol, were immersed in entertainment from a very early age. At four and a half years old, he was performing on stage, and by age eight, he was a showbiz veteran, performing in a song-and-dance team with his five-year-old sister Jacqueline on early television variety shows like The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. The siblings were later joined by their sister Carol for their own radio show, "The Daniels Family."

Daniels' mother, Irene, was instrumental in launching her children's performing careers. She took Daniels and his sister Jackie to audition for Nick Kenny, who had a daily column in the New York Daily Mirror. After being told their tap dancing wouldn't work for radio, she taught them to sing; when told to sing in harmony rather than unison, she persisted and taught them harmony singing. On the third attempt, they were accepted onto the show. Years later, Daniels acknowledged in therapy that it took him a long time to get over the resentment of being pushed into show business by his mother.

At age 15, Daniels served as understudy for the two juvenile male actors in the touring production of Life with Father before taking on their roles in the Broadway production, which ran for two and a half years. During this time, Daniels attended a performers' school with other child actors, though he admitted he rarely participated in actual classes. In a 2016 interview, he recalled: "I went to a performers' school, with all the kids who were in shows, but it was run out of somebody's apartment and there was nothing going on there. I was never in class; I'd go in, say I had an appointment, and then go and read the New York Times."

In 1945, Daniels was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Livorno, Italy, where he served as a disc jockey at an Army radio station for two years. Reflecting on his military service, Daniels stated: "It was a great help to me because we were all much too close" as a family, and the experience "kind of freed me from the family."

When applying to Northwestern University, Daniels faced a unique challenge: he had never properly attended classes at his performers' school. When the school administrator called to ask about his grades for the university application, he explained that all records had been lost in a fire. Daniels recalled: "A light went on in my head. I said, 'Yeah, I think I do.' We went down the whole list and made up a whole bunch of numbers. I'd never had American History, and I gave myself an 88."

At Northwestern University, Daniels met fellow drama student Bonnie Bartlett in a classroom during auditions for a play. Daniels, who had already worked on Broadway and was "a cocky kid at that time," listened critically to other students auditioning before hearing Bartlett's voice. He recalled: "I heard a voice in the back. The director called out Bonnie and he had her read and I heard an actress... It was the voice of an actor and I heard it immediately." He waited at the door and asked her for coffee, to which she replied, "You are too short." He persisted, and they have been together ever since. They married after graduation in 1951.

Career

Theater

Daniels pursued his acting dreams for several years without much success until Tennessee Williams selected him to play Brick in the national touring company production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof from 1957 to 1958. His theater career quickly blossomed, with an Obie win for Edward Albee's The Zoo Story in 1960 and leads in A Thousand Clowns and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever among his numerous stage credits.

In 1969, Daniels originated the role of John Adams in the Broadway musical 1776, a performance widely praised by critics. However, Daniels initially had reservations about the project. He recalled in a 2016 interview: "I read the script with a bunch of people at somebody's apartment. Sherman Edwards was a former schoolteacher from New Jersey, and he had written not just the songs, but the script. It was a little stiff; I remember thinking, We're in the middle of Vietnam, for Christ's sake, and they're waving the flag? I really had to be talked into doing it."

What changed Daniels' mind was playwright Peter Stone's revision of the script. Daniels explained: "When the script came back to me, Peter Stone had taken ahold of it, and he'd gone back to the actual conversations in the Second Continental Congress. He had written them out on little cards and injected them into the script, and it made all the difference in the world. It added humor and conciseness and truth."

Because his name was not billed above the play's title, Daniels was ineligible for a Tony as Best Actor, and he refused the compromise of a Best Featured Actor nomination. In a 2019 interview, he explained his reasoning: "Our show opened on Broadway after we had been out of town in Boston. But it opened in the spring. The producers had already met and nominated shows that they had already seen and they had not seen our show. Obviously, I was the lead in 1776, but they offered me a supporting actor nomination and I turned it down. They said, 'Why?' I said, 'Who am I supporting?' And they didn't have an answer for that." When asked if he regretted the decision, Daniels was adamant: "No, I haven't regretted it at all. I think I was right in insisting that I am the leading role because, obviously, in 1776 John Adams is the leading role."

The role of John Adams became one of the highlights of Daniels' acting career. He recalled the power of the opening: "Doing John Adams was one of the highlights of my acting career: you come out in front of the curtain, and the people are sitting there rustling their papers, and the men are probably wondering why they bought these tickets—and then you start, 'By God, I have had this Congress!' And it was always Con-gress. Sherman Edwards said, 'You have to say Con-gress.' That whole speech was done in front of the curtain, and then the curtain opened up and this whole choir of voices sang, 'Sit down, John!' That really grabbed them."

In February 1970, President Nixon invited the show to play at the White House, making it the first full-scale Broadway musical ever to do so. However, the invitation came with controversy—the Nixon Administration initially wanted the production to cut the song "Cool, Cool Conservative Men." When asked why, Daniels explained simply: "Because it was about them." Producer Stuart Ostrow refused, insisting they would not do the show without performing the complete production.

Daniels initially resisted performing at the White House for Nixon. He recalled: "When Stuart called and said they'd asked us to come to the White House, I said, 'For Nixon?! You must be out of your mind.' Most of the cast were Democrats, and felt the same way. There were about three Republicans. At any rate, we did go, and performed in the East Room." Despite his political reservations, the performance was memorable, with members of the Senate and House giving a standing ovation at the end.

Film

Daniels' motion picture debut came in Frank Perry's harrowing Ladybug Ladybug (1963), about the tragic effect a false civil defense alarm has on school children. In 1965, he reprised his Broadway role as a child welfare worker in the screen version of A Thousand Clowns.

His most notable film role came in 1967 when he appeared as the father of Dustin Hoffman's character in The Graduate. Interestingly, Daniels is only ten years older than Hoffman in real life.

In 1972, Daniels and much of the original Broadway and replacement cast were featured in the film version of 1776. His performance ingrained him in the minds of producers and moviegoers as the obstinate, forthright Adams, and he would later play the second President of the United States, as well as his son John Quincy Adams and cousin Samuel Adams, in projects ranging from the miniseries The Adams Chronicles (PBS, 1976) to the sudsy John Jakes adaptations The Bastard (1978) and The Rebels (1979).

Television

Daniels made his adult television debut in a 1952 episode of the Hallmark Hall of Fame as John Quincy Adams.

In 1967, he starred in the short-lived superhero sitcom Captain Nice as police chemist Carter Nash. In both identities, Nash was a mild-mannered mama's boy who was pressured into a crime-fighting career by his mother. He was clumsy as a hero and had a crippling fear of heights. The series lasted only 15 episodes.

St. Elsewhere

From 1982 to 1988, Daniels starred as surgeon Dr. Mark Craig in the medical drama St. Elsewhere, set at St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston. The series lasted for 137 episodes and garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Daniels won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1985 and 1986 for his portrayal of Dr. Mark Craig. In 1986, Daniels and his wife Bonnie Bartlett, who played his wife Ellen Craig on the series, both won Emmys for their work on the show—becoming the second married couple in history to win Emmy Awards on the same night, after Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965.

Knight Rider

Concurrent with his work on St. Elsewhere, Daniels provided the voice of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), an artificially intelligent computer in a modified Pontiac Trans Am, on the action series Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986.

Daniels initially took the role as a favor to producer Glen A. Larson, but was highly skeptical of the concept. In a 2019 interview, he recalled: "At that time I thought, 'A car that talks? Give me a break.' I was ready to walk away from it." However, he agreed to record a few pages of lines at Universal Studios. He recalled on his official website: "As a favor to producer Glen Larson, I did a few pages of lines in a Universal Studios recording room for a detective/adventure series that would feature a talking car. I was incredulous, but figured the session would be short. I was advised to sound like a robot or a telephone operator. I ignored the suggestions and continued in my own voice."

When NBC bought the series, Daniels was asked to continue voicing the car. Since he was already working on St. Elsewhere, the network was willing to work around his schedule. Daniels explained: "I was doing St. Elsewhere and they knew that. It was the same network and they were willing to work around it. When I had a day off, I would go over and do KITT." He took it as "a nice extra paycheck that would take little time from my main job at St. Elsewhere."

The recording process was unusual. Daniels didn't meet star David Hasselhoff for a long time because Hasselhoff was on the road shooting the series. Daniels recalled: "I didn't meet David Hasselhoff for a long time. He was on the road shooting it. I would record KITT's voice and they would play my recording to Hasselhoff out on the road. It seemed to work out. I finally met him at the Christmas party. Neither one of us could believe what a hit it had become."

Daniels took no billing and figured no one would recognize his voice, but was proven wrong. Thirty years later, people were still recognizing his voice as that of the Trans Am on Knight Rider.

The day after the show premiered, Daniels was taking a walk in his neighborhood when a stranger standing on his lawn yelled, "Hey, congratulations on your new show!" Daniels noted: "How the heck had he figured it out? I mumbled some kind of acknowledgement which I hope managed to combine a note of gratitude and hurried on. Apparently, I was the last to know that my voice was such a signature--there was no hiding."

Daniels reprised the voice role of KITT in the 1991 television movie Knight Rider 2000.

Boy Meets World

From 1993 to 2000, Daniels portrayed George Feeny, the strict but loving teacher at John Adams High School in the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World. The series lasted for 158 episodes, and Feeny became one of Daniels' most recognizable roles.

Daniels initially turned down the role because he felt the name "Mr. Feeny" was funny and he didn't want to make fun of teachers. In a 2019 interview, he explained: "I turned that role down because to me the name Mr. Feeny was a very funny name and I didn't want to make fun of teachers. They are underpaid and they're terribly important to all of us." Creator Michael Jacobs asked Daniels to meet with him to discuss his concerns. Daniels recalled: "He said, 'Why did you turned it down?' I said, 'The name is funny and I don't want to make fun of teachers.' He said. 'Wait a minute. I based this Mr. Feeny on a teacher of mine in high school who became a mentor of mine and who was a very important person in my life. I expect to treat Mr. Feeny with that kind of respect.' I said, 'Well, in that case I will do it.'"

Working with a predominantly young cast presented unique challenges for Daniels. In a 2022 appearance on the Pod Meets World podcast, he explained his approach: "You all were young and having fun and I was much more serious. 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."

Daniels deliberately avoided being judgmental with his younger co-stars. He stated: "I stayed away from being judgmental. I took whatever you gave me and I tried to work with it and it worked out very well." His wife Bonnie Bartlett, who joined the podcast interview, explained his philosophy: "I said, 'Do you help them?' He said, 'No, they're on my level. They're the same level I am. I can't tell them.'"

Reflecting on the experience years later, Daniels expressed some regret about his serious approach. He told the podcast hosts: "You guys were having a ball and I'd taken it very seriously. Frankly, I wish I were one of you."

His wife, Bonnie Bartlett, appeared in the series as a college dean who employed Feeny, and their characters later married in a 1999 episode.

Screen Actors Guild Presidency

From 1999 until 2001, Daniels served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. The decision to run was reportedly an impulsive one, spurred largely by hearing stories by other Guild members about their disappointment in the two-time presidency of actor Richard Masur. Daniels defeated the incumbent in a major upset.

During Daniels' tenure, the Guild conducted the longest strike in entertainment union history, over radio and television commercials, lasting from May through October 2000. His presidency also saw the release of two major studies, The African-American Television Report and Still Missing: Latinos in and Out of Hollywood; debuted CastSag on the website; and hired a new National Executive Director/CEO, A Robert "Bob" Pisano, from outside the Guild for the first time in the organization's 68-year history.

Daniels decided not to seek the presidency a second time when his two-year term ended in 2001, but served as a temporary board replacement.

Personal Life

Daniels met fellow drama student Bonnie Bartlett at Northwestern University, and they married on June 30, 1951. In 1961, Bartlett gave birth to a son who died 24 hours later. The couple subsequently adopted two sons: Michael, who became an assistant director and stage manager in Los Angeles, and Robert, an artist and computer graphics designer based in New York City.

As of 2024, Daniels and Bartlett have been married for 73 years, making theirs one of the longest marriages in Hollywood history. Both have been candid about the challenges they faced in their marriage, including periods of infidelity early in their relationship that they ultimately overcame through mutual respect and commitment.

External Links

• William Daniels article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
• William article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.

References

William
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Red (uncredited)
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Nationality:	USA
Related Media
		@ BW Media
[{{{site}}} Official Site]
IMDb profile

William Molloy is an American character actor who portrayed Red in Galactica 1980's "Spaceball".

Career

Molloy's professional acting career spans over a decade, with his first credited role appearing in 1972.

Film Work

Molloy's film credits include The Manhandlers (1974), where he portrayed the character Buckley (credited as William Malloy), an exploitation film produced by Ed Carlin and directed by Lee Madden. His most notable film role came in the Roger Corman-produced thriller Jackson County Jail (1976), where he played Deputy Lyle Peters alongside Yvette Mimieux and Tommy Lee Jones.

Television Work

Molloy appeared in several genre television series during the late 1970s. His television credits include a guest appearance in Logan's Run (1978), where he played "Second Man" in the episode "Carousel." He also appeared in The Incredible Hulk (1978), playing a Registration Clerk in the episode "The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas."

Additional television credits include appearances in This Is the Life (1978), where he portrayed a Pastor, and the television movie Outside Chance (1978), reprising his role as Deputy Lyle Peters from Jackson County Jail.

In Galactica 1980, Molloy appeared in the episode "Spaceball" as an uncredited irate employee, Red. His appearance in this episode marked his connection to producer Glen A. Larson's television productions.

Theatrical Background

Beyond his screen work, Molloy was a performer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, a renowned regional repertory theatre founded in 1935. He worked alongside numerous other actors who were part of the Festival's company during his tenure there.

References

Production History

External Sources

External Links

• William Molloy at the Internet Movie Database

William
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Captain Jules Tarney
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Related Media
		@ BW Media
[ Official Site]
IMDb profile

William Samples is the actor who portrays Captain Jules Tarney in "Crossroads, Part I" and "Crossroads, Part II", where he is credited as "Judge Number Two".

Samples has had guest roles in television shows such as MacGuyver, Highlander, Smallville, Andromeda, Earthsea and Masters of Horror.

For other disambiguations, please see:

• Bill (disambiguation)
• William Adama (disambiguation)
• Willy (disambiguation)

For direct navigation sans the tabbed navigational aid above, please select one of the following article links:

• William B. Davis
• William C. Vaughan
• William Daniels
• William Molloy
• William Samples