There I Go Again: How I Came to Be Mr. Feeny, John Adams, Dr. Craig, KITT, and Many Others

I love William Daniels - if I could, I'd adopt him as my TV grandad. He is the voice of my childhood, but not as Mr Feeny of Boy Meets World, and when I say 'childhood', I mean from the age of 6 right through until now. William Daniels will always be KITT, the artificially intelligent car from the hokey 80s series Knight Rider, for me. That show, and the character, mean so much to me that I was actually a little bit apprehensive to even start reading Mr Daniels' autobiography, but I needn't have worried - he is absolutely lovely. Modest, witty, honest, he remains my ideal TV grandad.Having reached that 'OK Google. Is William Daniels still alive?' stage of his life and career, the experienced actor takes us right back to the beginning, as a child 'entertainer' - forced into tap dancing and singing by his pushy mother - in the 1930s. Born in Brooklyn, he traded his natural accent for the cultured, slightly stuffy 'Boston' voice that has become his trademark, and made him instantly identifiable as KITT, even though he asked not to be credited - although he doesn't mention here that his inspiration was the actor playing 'Father' in the play 'Life With Father' that he acted in during his teens.Having survived his mother's 'promotion' as a child star, Bill then went onto college, where he met his (very patient and understanding) wife, Bonnie Bartlett, and served in the army for the last couple of years of the Second World War, DJing in Italy. He and Bonnie then found theatre work - she more successful than him at first - and even trained with Lee Strasberg (Bill name drops working with Marilyn Monroe at these sessions, along with his good friend Gene Wilder, who stood in for Bill during the adoption of his first son, and an early, inspirational meeting with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson!) TV and film success, from The Graduate to St Elsewhere and, yes, Knight Rider ("Is this the voice of a car?" he asks Glen Larson incredulously, during a first test reading). He's been constantly in work, and hard-working, even since.His story had me smiling, laughing and occasionally close to tears (the death of his baby son), to the point where I raced through every chapter and actually hugged the book when I finished. Perhaps for fans only - people might know his voice, but I doubt few would recognise his name - but definitely worth a read. William Daniels is a humble star and a lovable personality, 90 years young.