Birthday: 1939-09-05
Birthplace: Albany, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned
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.
Year | Title | Character | |
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2015-10-18 | Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise | Dr. Dix |
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2015-10-16 | Truth | Gen. Hodges (voice) (uncredited) |
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2014-11-05 | Interstellar | Williams |
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2014-08-15 | Bad Turn Worse | Big Red |
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2014-03-21 | 50 to 1 | Leonard Doc Blach |
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2012-07-17 | The Dark Knight Rises | President |
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2012-05-19 | Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt | Dr. Dix |
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2012-03-17 | Leprechaun's Revenge | Pop O'Hara |
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2011-12-13 | Good Morning, Killer | Everett Morgan Gray |
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2011-11-01 | Flag of My Father | Jake |
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2011-05-21 | Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost | Dr. Dix |
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2010-10-02 | The Kane Files: Life of Trial | Thompson |
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2010-05-09 | Jesse Stone: No Remorse | Dr. Dix |
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2010-04-09 | The River Why | Dutch Hines |
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2009-10-30 | The Fall | judge Stanley Seeban |
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2009-03-01 | Jesse Stone: Thin Ice | Dr. Dix |
2009-01-12 | The Least Among You | Alan Beckett | |
2009-01-01 | The Dealership | Frank Carson | |
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2008-07-29 | Stargate: Continuum | President Henry Hayes |
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2007-05-22 | Jesse Stone: Sea Change | Dr. Dix |
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2006-04-30 | Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise | Dr. Dix |
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2004-03-15 | Deceit | Grove McCarthy |
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2003-01-17 | Monte Walsh | Cal Brennan |
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2002-11-24 | A Christmas Visitor | George Boyajian |
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2002-11-07 | Threat of Exposure | Col. Weldon |
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2002-09-07 | The Badge | The Judge |
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2001-10-31 | Race to Space | Roger Thornhill |
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2001-06-22 | Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story | Tom Kincaid |
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2000-12-01 | Poor White Trash | Ron Lake |
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2000-08-04 | Space Cowboys | Eugene Davis |
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2000-08-04 | Hollow Man | Dr. Kramer |
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2000-07-16 | The Man Who Used to Be Me | Older Sam Ryan |
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1999-02-05 | Payback | Carter |
1997-08-23 | Doomsday Rock | Dr. Karl Sorenson | |
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1997-04-30 | The Absolute Truth | Sen. Emmett Hunter |
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1997-01-01 | Exception to the Rule | Lawrence Kellerman |
1996-03-07 | Forgotten Sins | Dr. Richard Ofshe | |
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1995-10-10 | Freefall: Flight 174 | Capt. Bob Pearson |
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1995-10-04 | Night Watch | Nick Caldwell |
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1995-05-08 | Virus | Dr. Harbuck |
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1994-12-07 | Lady in Waiting | Lt. Barrett |
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1994-10-02 | For the Love of Nancy | Tom |
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1993-09-15 | Rubdown | Harry Orwitz |
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1993-05-04 | Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story | Daniel 'Dan' Fields |
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1992-10-27 | The President's Child | Elliot McSwain |
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1992-09-26 | Obsessed | Ed Bledsoe |
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1991-12-10 | Nightmare in Columbia County | Sheriff Jim Metts |
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1990-09-24 | Murder C.O.D. | Alex Brandt |
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1990-04-13 | Vital Signs | Dr. Chatham |
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1990-03-24 | Chips, the War Dog | Col. Charnley |
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1989-09-24 | The Preppie Murder | Jack Litman |
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1987-03-10 | Timestalkers | Scott McKenzie |
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1984-10-24 | With Intent to Kill | Aaron Charney |
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1983-11-04 | Testament | Tom Wetherly |
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1983-09-30 | Hadley's Rebellion | Coach Ball |
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1983-03-12 | Jane Doe | William Quinn |
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1981-11-04 | The Other Victim | Harry Langford |
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1981-10-03 | Red Flag: The Ultimate Game | Maj. Phil Clark |
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1981-08-21 | Honky Tonk Freeway | Mayor Kirby T. Calo |
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1979-09-01 | Yanks | John |
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1979-04-27 | The Dark | Roy Warner, aka Steve Dupree |
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1977-11-02 | Rolling Thunder | Major Charles Rane |
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1977-07-08 | The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | Mike Leak |
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1977-05-18 | Red Alert | Frank Brolen |
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1976-10-08 | Marathon Man | Janeway |
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1976-04-09 | Family Plot | Arthur Adamson |
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1975-10-02 | Fear on Trial | John Henry Faulk |
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1975-02-05 | Report to the Commissioner | Asst. D.A. Jackson |
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1974-12-18 | The Missiles of October | President John F. Kennedy |
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1974-06-11 | Judgment: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya — General Yamashita | |
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1973-03-13 | The Bait | Earl Stokey |
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1973-03-06 | Crime Club | Kilburn |
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1972-01-10 | The Irish Whiskey Rebellion | LT. Ashley |
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1971-12-22 | Lady Liberty | Jock Fenner |
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1971-06-29 | My Old Man's Place | Jimmy Pilgrim |
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1971-06-24 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | The Lawyer |
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1971-02-26 | The 300-Year Weekend | Tom |
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1971-02-23 | The Pursuit of Happiness | Pilot |
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1967-01-01 | In the Country |