Bonnie Bartlett Reflects On “Little House,” And Other Iconic Roles

I’ve written a book, and a lot of memories are in the book. One of the things I found out later was sad; I found out a few sad things that I didn’t know. When we would sit down for lunch, Michael was always there. He was always kind of wandering around. He was like a shepherd taking care of his flock, but he never sat down and ate anything. He just drank something, and I didn’t know — I thought it was coffee or something. It turns out that it was vodka, and Michael drank much too much, and so did Victor. I’m extremely concerned about what that does to people, how it shortens people’s lives, and it’s sad. That’s the sad part of Little House, that those two men, these two wonderful guys, both went very early.

Michael only wanted to help people. Of course, he wanted to be successful, but it really meant something to him to have a positive effect on people. It meant something to him very much.

Your husband, William Daniels, also inspired my generation with his role as Mr. Feeny in Boy Meets World. What has it been like to meet all the Boy Meets World and Little House fans at conventions?

Bonnie Bartlett: I love it. They’re very different people. My fans are older women, and they related to Little House. So mostly, my fans will be sweet, very sweet, older women. William’s fans are younger. An incredible amount of people watch Boy Meets World, and love Mr. Feeny, and they ask him for advice. Billy [William] does the best he can. My son helps him, and William does his best to be positive. He’s very proud of the fact that so many people have been inspired to become teachers. He really thinks that’s a great thing to do for your country, for your people. We need good educators.