The longtime couple, whose 73rd wedding anniversary falls on June 30, opens up about their enduring love story.
William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett Daniels have reached a remarkable milestone as they celebrate 73 loving years of marriage. Even though they hold the record for Hollywood’s longest-lasting marriage, to them, it’s just another chapter in their cherished love story.
“It seems like we’re breaking records. I mean, we both broke a record when we got the Emmys on the same night for the same show. That was a record breaker, nobody had ever done that,” Bonnie, 95, shares in a joint interview with William, 97. “Now, it seems like in Hollywood there are no marriages that are 73 years old, so we seem to break records.”
“We never thought about it at all. It’s very kind of unimportant to us, but it’s important to other people,” Bonnie continues.
The couple met when they were both students at Northwestern University. After a few years of dating, they married in 1951 and became the proud parents of sons Michael and Robert. (Their firstborn, William Jr., tragically passed away shortly after birth.)
After all these years, the longtime pair are still discovering more about each other with each passing day.
“You never stop learning. You never stop being surprised. I never know,” Bonnie shares. “Every once in a while, he’ll do something, and I think, ‘Where did that come from? Where did that come from?’ Or, he the same with me. We never stop being surprised by what somebody does.”
Praising his wife of seven decades, William says, “She is a very competent woman. She’s smart, and I leave a lot of things up to her.”
“She’s kind of in charge of all the business, all the money, all of that,” the There I Go Again author adds. “She takes care of that.”
The actor also notes that it’s “important” that Bonnie is “very easy to live with,” calling that one of his favorite things about the Middle of the Rainbow author.
As for what Bonnie loves most about Williams, “His sense of humor. It’s just incredible. He says funny things all the time, always has,” she shares.
The twosome plan to spend their 73rd wedding anniversary alongside their family.
“Our oldest son is a great cook, and so he’ll probably [cook]. Or, we’ll go out,” she shares. “It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s family. My granddaughter’s here, Grace is here. My son’s new lady friend is here, so we’ll have a good time with all of them, all [the] people that we love.”
