"Bill Daniels is the personification of the humor, the humility, the humanity, and the dignity of the acting profession. Read his book.” —Warren Beatty There I Go Again is a celebrity memoir like no other, revealing the life of a man whose acting career has been so rich that millions of Americans know his face even while they might not recognize his name. William Daniels is an enigma—a rare chameleon who has enjoyed massive success both in Hollywood and on Broadway and been embraced by fans of successive generations. Few of his peers inspire the fervor with which buffs celebrate his most iconic roles, among them George Feeny in  Boy Meets World,  KITT in  Knight Rider,  Dr. Mark Craig in  St. Elsewhere , and John Adams in the play and film  1776 . Daniels guides readers through some of Hollywood’s most cherished productions, offering recollections of entertainment legends including Lauren Bacall, Warren Beatty, Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Mike Nichols, Jason Robards, Barbra Streisand, and many more. Looking back on his seventy-five-plus-year career, Daniels realizes that although he never had the courage to say “no” to being an actor, he backed into stardom. With his wife, actress Bonnie Bartlett, by his side, he came to realize that he wound up exactly where he was supposed to be: on the screen and stage.    "Will find an audience in family, friends and ardent fans."— Wall Street Journal Published On: 2017-04-07 “Bless you, Bill Daniels! Thanks to your wonderful book, I get to live the best years of my life over again—the magical ’80s when we did St. Elsewhere . And not just those wonderful times—I get to relive Two for the Road , The Graduate , and 1776 in the bargain. What a treat!”—Ed Begley Jr. Published On: 2016-09-07 “Bill Daniels is the personification of the humor, the humility, the humanity, and the dignity of the acting profession. Read his book.”—Warren Beatty   Published On: 2016-09-07 “ There I Go Again is an American success story of a boy who thought he’d be tap dancing on radio, only to end up excelling in theater on Broadway, motion pictures, television, and ultimately becoming the president of the Screen Actors Guild. . . . There I Go Again is honest, smart, witty, and intelligent. I enjoyed every moment of it.”—Elliott Gould  Published On: 2016-09-07 “Sharing Bill Daniels’s triumphs and disappointments is a deeply satisfying experience. His candor is as refreshing as it is admirable, while his portrait of an actor’s life both onstage and on TV is as entertaining as it is illuminating. And his gripping depiction of his two years as president of the Screen Actors Guild is practically worth the price of the book!”—Sheldon Harnick, lyricist who helped create Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof Published On: 2016-09-07 “A wonderful journey through the life of one of our finest actors. Bill Daniels has always been at the head of our class. But those who are lucky enough to spend time with him know he’s in a class by himself.”—Michael Jacobs, writer and producer Published On: 2016-09-07 "A must-read in my book."—Danielle Solzman, solzyatthemovies.com Published On: 2021-04-07 William Daniels is an actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He won two Emmy Awards for his role as Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere and reprises his role as Mr. Feeny in the Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World , the sequel series to Boy Meets World . There I Go Again How I Came to Be Mr. Feeny, John Adams, Dr. Craig, KITT, and Many Others By William Daniels UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS Copyright © 2017 William Daniels All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-61234-852-0 Contents List of Illustrations, Preface, Acknowledgments, 1. I'd Rather Be Elsewhere, 2. Life with Mother, 3. Life with Father, 4. Offstage in the Theater of War, 5. Go West, Young Man, to Northwestern, 6. If I Can Make It There, 7. I've Been to the Zoo, 8. Sing Out, Louise!, 9. A Thousand and One Clowns, 10. On a Clear Day You Can See Paris, 11. Buck and Mike, 12. 1776, 13. Hooray for Hollywood, 14. Home Sweet Homes, 15. Boy Oh Boy, 16. Mr. President, 17. Epilogue?, Appendix: The Legacy of 1776: A Conversation with William Daniels and Lin-Manuel Miranda, CHAPTER 1 I'd Rather Be Elsewhere In 1985 I was nominated for a third straight Emmy award for St. Elsewhere, the NBC series I did from 1982 to 1988. Having lost twice, I didn't want to go to the Emmy Awards show and lose a third straight time, but there I was with my wife Bonnie, dressed to the hilt, starting out in the limousine but not getting very far. Halfway between the Coldwater Canyon and Laurel Canyon exits on the freeway the limo conked out. The motor went dead — and there we sat. Since Bonnie's gown was even less conducive to hiking through the Valley heat than my tuxedo, she stayed in the car with the driver and I walked the half mile to the Laurel Canyon exit. As I trudged