Bonnie Bartlett grew up in Moline, Illinois. Her father E.E. was a
failed Shakespearean actor who became an insurance salesman. Her mother
Carrie was a homemaker. At an early age, Bonnie became determined to
fulfill her father’s failed acting career. She went to Northwestern
University to study acting. In her freshman year, she met fellow
thespian William Daniels. Soon after graduation, the two were married and moved
to New York to seek acting opportunities. She studied under Lee Strasberg and
initially supported them.

In the 1950s she spent four years on the CBS soap Love of Life (1951) as Vanessa
Raven. In 1961, their first child was born, but died within 24 hours
due to complications in birth. This prompted the two to adopt two
children later. Son Michael (b. 1964) is now an assistant director and
stage manager in Los Angeles. Son Robert (b. 1966) is an artist and
computer graphics designer in New York City. Bonnie was a stay-at-home
mom through most of the 1970s, acting only occasionally in recurring
roles, but rejuvenated her career in the early 1980s, most notably in
the hit TV series St. Elsewhere (1982) and later in a recurring role in
Boy Meets World (1993)