Actress Bonnie Bartlett Daniels, 93, discusses the impact of an early open marriage

At the start of their 72-year marriage, Bonnie Bartlett Daniels and her husband, William Daniels, did not feel bound to fidelity. In a recent interview while promoting her new memoir, “Middle of the Rainbow,” the 93-year-old opened up about their relationship.

Bartlett Daniels admitted, “I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn’t work well.” She continued, “And it was a time when people were doing that. It was at a time in New York when there was a lot of sex and a lot of people doing all kinds of things, you know — very free.”

The couple, who married in 1951, encountered challenges. Bartlett Daniels confessed to having “an affair that lasted a few months” with an actor who was “slightly boring” around 1959. She expressed, “I never felt guilty because I never felt tied to fidelity, and neither did Bill.”

However, her husband’s affair with a producer in the ’70s left her “devastated” and changed the dynamic of their marriage completely.

By that point, the actress realized she “could no longer tolerate any kind of open marriage” and the couple moved “forward day-by-day” to repair their relationship.

Reflecting on their journey, she revealed, “It was very painful for the both of us. But it was something we had to go through because we never went through it.”

She added, “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.”

“[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.”

Related posts:

ncG1vNJzZmimlazAr7vWp6CgnaKerm%2B6xmiYnKyimsC0ecGopaehlWKvor7TpZytrF2Zrq%2B1xKWqZnFjYrGmwMCio6xlmKTEbq3NZpyaqpyuerC8xKdkppmip7ais8Rmo56epGK1pr6MnZyvmaOprrWxw2g%3D