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.

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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)

Origin

Portsmouth, Virginia, United States

Occupation

stage actor / television actor / film actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Tiger

University

University of Michigan

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%20Russ
• 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
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q924039

Tags

• Virginia
• stage actor
• television actor
• film actor

Last updated

September 18, 2026

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