As William “Bill” Daniels and his wife Bonnie Bartlett prepare to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary, they say their ability to “adapt” is the secret to their marriage.
The oldest living couple in Hollywood admitted they tried an “open” marriage a few years after they married in June 1951, but quickly realized it wasn’t for them.
“Well, we were together for three years in college, so we’ve actually been together for 78 years. We met at Northwestern (University). Right, Bill? So, we’ve been together for a really long time,” Bartlett, who turns 97 next month, told Page Six via Zoom, looking at Daniels, who celebrated her 99th birthday in March.
“Life is all about adjustments. You’re always adjusting,” the “Little House on the Prairie” star continued.
“It’s gotten so hot here[in Los Angeles]that it’s hard to breathe and move around. You have to kind of adapt to the heat. And that’s what life is about. You adapt to whatever the situation is, however it goes. And certainly, there’s a lot of adaptation in marriage.”
Bartlett, who considers herself the more “introspective” of the two, said marriage requires some “room for adjustment.”
We then asked Daniels, who leans toward “humor and fun” in life, about the marriage advice he would give to the countless couples who no doubt seek him out.
“Stop it!” the “Boy Meets World” star quipped, even though his beloved wife claimed he was just “being funny” and trying to “make us laugh.”
Bartlett said her husband makes her laugh “every day, all the time.”
Despite having her own impressive IMDb page and multiple awards under her belt, the actress spent most of our conversation praising the actor.
While she acknowledged that some of her “automatic” reaction to “respect men” may be due to the “old-fashioned” way she was “raised,” Ms. Bartlett also just loves Daniels and knows that his fans do too.
“Even though he has forgotten so many things, I haven’t forgotten them,” she said softly, stressing that Daniels, who has recently become deaf and has difficulty walking, is “happy.”
The duo played on-screen lovers in three major television shows throughout their long acting careers. They are now selling autographed memorabilia, making cameos for fans, and spending quality time with their sons, Michael Daniels, 62, and Robert Daniels, 60 (their eldest son, William Daniels Jr., tragically passed away 24 hours after birth).
“We’re very fortunate to have two wonderful, wonderful sons. One of them, Michael, lives right down the road from us and he helps us out so much. He’s such a big help,” Bartlett marveled.
“And he has a family and we see them. We see him and his wife and all the kids, and it’s great. It’s great.”
