William Russ

For a certain generation, William Russ will always be Alan Matthews from Boy Meets World, the steady dad anchoring a sitcom across its 1993 to 2000 run, and I think that warmth is exactly what made him memorable. But what I appreciate is how much range sits behind that role: he turned up in The Right Stuff, the unsettling American History X, and soaps like Another World. A University of Michigan-trained actor from Portsmouth, Virginia who also moved into directing, he strikes me as the kind of reliable character actor the industry quietly runs on. Familiar face, deeper resume than people remember.

William Russ (born October 20, 1950) is an American actor and television director. He played Alan Matthews on the sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000) and appeared in the television series Wiseguy, the soap operas Another World and The Young and the Restless and the feature films The Right Stuff (1983), Pastime (1990) and American History X (1998).

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

William Russ

Name (Japanese)

ウィリアム・ラス

Reading

うぃりあむ・らす

Born

October 20, 1950 (age 75)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Tiger

Origin

Portsmouth, Virginia, United States

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

stage actor / television actor / film actor

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

University of Michigan

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9

Tags

• Virginia
• stage actor
• television actor
• film actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.