As far as actors William Daniels of Boy Meets World and Bonnie Bartlett of Little House on the Prairie are concerned, the subject of their formerly open marriage is pretty much closed. The couple, now both in their 90s, were married in 1951. They will mark their 75th wedding anniversary on June 20. The Daily Mail applauded what they called "Tinseltown's most enduring marriage." However, the pair have had their share of rough patches. Per the outlet, they weathered the crushing loss of a child and experimented early on with an open marriage. They both affirmed their love for each other to the Daily Mail.
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Daniels affectionately shared, "I wouldn't be with anyone else in my life than this woman sitting next to me," As for Bartlett, she said, "It just happened. You don't plan for it. You really don't plan for it. I'm not at all romantic or anything like that. I'm a big believer in today, you know? And then all of the sudden it's 75 years. It's kind of amazing, I must say. It is amazing, especially in our business."
The Open Aspect of Their Early Marriage Was Not Sustainable
Bonnie Bartlett, who is 96, set the record straight about the relaxed terms of their relationship at the beginning of their married life. She downplayed its significance. "It's funny, the press will pick up on something and make more of it than it was. There was never any discussion as to what we were going to do, but in 75 years, the two of you together, you know, it would be abnormal if you... weren't attracted occasionally to other people."
Bartlett added, "It was non-spoken. Bill and I never sit down and make rules. We never sit down and talk about these things...We just live our lives. And if he's away for a year, he's away for a year. Our lives just went on, but we never got unhinged.... We never got unhinged, but our lives did go in different directions occasionally."
Per Page Six, in her 2023 book, Middle of the Rainbow, Bartlett acknowledged that she participated in "an affair that lasted a few months." That was in 1959, eight years after she and William Daniels got hitched. For his part, Daniels allegedly had a fling in the 1970s. Bartlett was apparently "devastated" about that. Therefore, the open phase of their marriage was done.
