William Russ

William Russ (born October 20, 1950) is an American actor and television director. He is perhaps best known for his role as Alan Matthews on the sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000). Russ is also notable for his roles 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). 2Life and career 3Early life Russ was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is the son of a naval officer. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the Michigan Cheer team, which was all male at the time. He was also a diver at U of M. 3Career Russ' acting first began on the New York stage before he embarked onto a television and film career. In 1977, he had his first supporting role in Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. This film would not be officially released until 2003. During the 1980s, Russ found work in more supporting roles such as Crisis at Central High (1981), a television film also starring Academy Award winning actress Joanne Woodward, The Border (1981), The Right Stuff (1983) as Slick Goodlin, St. Elsewhere (1986) and Crime Story (1986