Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
September 5, 1939
Place of Birth:
Albany, New York, USA
Social Media
William Devane
Biography
William Joseph Devane (born September 5, 1937) is an American film, television and theater actor, known for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing and as James Heller on the Fox serial drama 24, the role he reprised in Live Another Day. He is also known for his supporting roles in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Family Plot), Marathon Man, Rolling Thunder and Space Cowboys.
Devane began his acting career with the New York Shakespeare Festival where he performed in 15 plays. In 1966, Devane portrayed Robert F. Kennedy in the Off-Broadway spoof MacBird. He gained acclaim for his role as President John F. Kennedy in a television docudrama about the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Missiles of October, and again when he played blacklisted radio personality John Henry Faulk in the Emmy Award-winning TV movie Fear on Trial. He is widely known for his ten years as the ambitious and hardnosed politician-turned-corporate titan Greg Sumner on Knots Landing.
In 1994, Devane appeared as Al Capone in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in an episode entitled "That Old Gang of Mine". He also had a recurring role on the CBS show Early Edition as the lead character's father. Devane appeared in the films McCabe & Mrs. Miller; Lady Liberty; Family Plot; Marathon Man; Rolling Thunder; Yanks; Testament; Timestalkers; Forgotten Sins; Exception to the Rule; Payback; Hollow Man and Space Cowboys.
Devane has played members of the Presidential Cabinet on two evening dramas. In 2004, on The West Wing, he guest-starred as the Secretary of State and potential Vice-Presidential nominee. Devane appeared in several scenes with Martin Sheen; they also appeared together as President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, respectively, 30 years earlier in The Missiles of October. In 2005, he joined the cast of 24 as Secretary of Defense James Heller for seasons 4, 5 and 6.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise | Dr. Dix |
| 2015 | Truth | Gen. Hodges (voice) (uncredited) |
| 2014 | 50 to 1 | Leonard Doc Blach |
| 2014 | Bad Turn Worse | Big Red |
| 2014 | Interstellar | Williams |
| 2012 | Leprechaun's Revenge | Pop O'Hara |
| 2012 | Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt | Dr. Dix |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | President |
| 2011 | Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost | Dr. Dix |
| 2011 | Flag of My Father | Jake |
| 2011 | Good Morning, Killer | Everett Morgan Gray |
| 2010 | The Kane Files: Life of Trial | Thompson |
| 2010 | Jesse Stone: No Remorse | Dr. Dix |
| 2010 | The River Why | Dutch Hines |
| 2009 | The Least Among You | Alan Beckett |
| 2009 | The Dealership | Frank Carson |
| 2009 | The Fall | judge Stanley Seeban |
| 2009 | Jesse Stone: Thin Ice | Dr. Dix |
| 2008 | Stargate: Continuum | President Henry Hayes |
| 2007 | Jesse Stone: Sea Change | Dr. Dix |
| 2006 | Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise | Dr. Dix |
| 2004 | Deceit | Grove McCarthy |
| 2003 | Monte Walsh | Cal Brennan |
| 2002 | The Badge | The Judge |
| 2002 | A Christmas Visitor | George Boyajian |
| 2002 | Threat of Exposure | Col. Weldon |
| 2001 | Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story | Tom Kincaid |
| 2001 | Race to Space | Roger Thornhill |
| 2001 | Plotting 'Family Plot' | Self |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys | Eugene Davis |
| 2000 | Poor White Trash | Ron Lake |
| 2000 | The Man Who Used to Be Me | Older Sam Ryan |
| 2000 | Hollow Man | Dr. Kramer |
| 1999 | Payback | Carter |
| 1997 | Doomsday Rock | Dr. Karl Sorenson |
| 1997 | Exception to the Rule | Lawrence Kellerman |
| 1997 | The Absolute Truth | Sen. Emmett Hunter |
| 1996 | Forgotten Sins | Dr. Richard Ofshe |
| 1995 | Night Watch | Nick Caldwell |
| 1995 | Freefall: Flight 174 | Capt. Bob Pearson |
| 1995 | Virus | Dr. Harbuck |
| 1994 | For the Love of Nancy | Tom |
| 1994 | Lady in Waiting | Lt. Barrett |
| 1993 | Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story | Daniel 'Dan' Fields |
| 1993 | Rubdown | Harry Orwitz |
| 1992 | Obsessed | Ed Bledsoe |
| 1992 | Ancient Secrets of the Bible | Host & Narrator |
| 1992 | The President's Child | Elliot McSwain |
| 1991 | Nightmare in Columbia County | Sheriff Jim Metts |
| 1990 | Murder C.O.D. | Alex Brandt |
| 1990 | Vital Signs | Dr. Chatham |
| 1990 | Chips, the War Dog | Col. Charnley |
| 1989 | The Preppie Murder | Jack Litman |
| 1987 | Timestalkers | Scott McKenzie |
| 1984 | With Intent to Kill | Aaron Charney |
| 1983 | Testament | Tom Wetherly |
| 1983 | Hadley's Rebellion | Coach Ball |
| 1983 | Jane Doe | William Quinn |
| 1981 | The Other Victim | Harry Langford |
| 1981 | Red Flag: The Ultimate Game | Maj. Phil Clark |
| 1981 | Honky Tonk Freeway | Mayor Kirby T. Calo |
| 1979 | Yanks | John |
| 1979 | The Dark | Roy Warner, aka Steve Dupree |
| 1977 | Rolling Thunder | Major Charles Rane |
| 1977 | The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | Mike Leak |
| 1977 | Red Alert | Frank Brolen |
| 1976 | Marathon Man | Janeway |
| 1976 | Family Plot | Arthur Adamson |
| 1975 | Report to the Commissioner | Asst. D.A. Jackson |
| 1975 | Fear on Trial | John Henry Faulk |
| 1974 | The Missiles of October | President John F. Kennedy |
| 1974 | Judgment: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya — General Yamashita | |
| 1973 | The Bait | Earl Stokey |
| 1973 | Crime Club | Kilburn |
| 1972 | The Irish Whiskey Rebellion | LT. Ashley |
| 1971 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | The Lawyer |
| 1971 | Lady Liberty | Jock Fenner |
| 1971 | My Old Man's Place | Jimmy Pilgrim |
| 1971 | The 300-Year Weekend | Tom |
| 1971 | The Pursuit of Happiness | Pilot |
| 1967 | In the Country |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Bosch: Legacy | Whitney Vance |
| 2015 | The Grinder | Dean Sanderson Sr. |
| 2011 | Revenge | Edward Grayson |
| 2006 | Crumbs | |
| 2006 | Psych | Peters |
| 2003 | NCIS | Nicolas Mason |
| 2001 | 24 | James Heller |
| 2000 | The Michael Richards Show | Brady McKay |
| 1999 | Turks | Sergeant Joseph Turk |
| 1999 | The West Wing | Lewis Berryhill |
| 1997 | Stargate SG-1 | President Hayes |
| 1997 | Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac | Greg Sumner |
| 1996 | Early Edition | Bernie Hobson |
| 1995 | The Monroes | |
| 1995 | Hope and Gloria | William Devane |
| 1994 | Touched by an Angel | Benjamin Parker |
| 1993 | Phenom | Lou Della Rosa |
| 1993 | The X-Files | General Mark Suveg |
| 1993 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Al Capone |
| 1991 | A Woman Named Jackie | Black Jack Bouvier |
| 1979 | Knots Landing | Greg Sumner |
| 1979 | From Here to Eternity | Sgt. Milt Warden |
| 1978 | Black Beauty | John Manly |
| 1974 | The Missiles of October | John F. Kennedy - US President |
| 1973 | The Snoop Sisters | David Prine |
| 1969 | Medical Center | Dr. Ray Waltham |
| 1967 | Mannix | Al Kordic |
| 1962 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Moss Stratton |