"That was very painful": William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett's relationship explored as latter opens up on 'open marriage'

American actress Bonnie Bartlett opened up about her marriage of 72 years to her actor husband, William Daniels.

While promoting her new memoir, Middle of the Rainbow, the 93-year-old star told Fox News Digital that she and Daniels struggled as a couple after getting married in 1951.

"I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn't work well. And it was a time when people were doing that. It was at a time in New York when there was a lot of s*x and a lot of people doing all kinds of things, you know – very free."

She added that the "lack of commitment" in their marriage was "not good."

"So there was a lot of pain connected with any transgression, with any extramarital thing."

Daniels and Bartlett tied the knot in 1951. In 1986, the duo made history by winning Emmy Awards for their performance in the drama series St. Elsewhere on the same night.

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William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett's relationship explored

William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett currently reside in a house in southern California. While speaking with Forbes in May 2022, the Boy Meets World star revealed that he "confidently" asked out Bartlett while the two were studying together at Northwestern University.

They have been inseparable ever since. As per Fox News Digital, in her new book, Bonnie Bartlett shared that she "never felt guilty" about their open marriage because she and William "never felt tied to fidelity."

The Golden Girls star herself was entangled in an affair with a "slightly boring" actor sometime around 1959, which "lasted a few months." However, her take on open marriage changed after her husband's affair with a New York-based producer in the 1970s left her "devastated."

Bartlett stated afterward that she could "no longer tolerate any kind of open marriage."

Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels worked on their broken relationship "day by day."

“It was very painful for the both of us. But it was something we had to go through because we never went through it.”

Bartlett stated that the two were able to mend their relationship as they grew up and evolved together.

“It was something we had to go through because we never went through it. When we got together, I was 18. Bill was my first boyfriend… We just had to go through all that and still, we loved each other very much and always have.”

She also added:

“[We] have always been there for each other. That’s what matters — if you’re there for the person and help [them] along in a relationship, [have] respect for them and what they’re doing and being there for them… [You have to] be together on the other side.”

Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels are parents to two sons, Michael and Robert. The former was born in 1964 and is an assistant director and stage manager in Los Angeles. Robert, born in 1966, is based in New York and is a computer graphics designer.