William Devane

William Devane

Birth : 1939-09-05, Albany, New York, USA

History

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.

Profile

William Devane
William Devane
William Devane
William Devane
William Devane

Movies

Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise
Dr. Dix
Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises, unlikely suspects and grave danger. Though it's widely believed the murder was committed by an incarcerated serial killer, Jesse suspects another killer is at large and is hell-bent on bringing him to justice.
Truth
Gen. Hodges (voice) (uncredited)
As a renowned producer and close associate of Dan Rather, Mary Mapes believes she’s broken the biggest story of the 2004 election: revelations of a sitting U.S. President’s military service. But when allegations come pouring in, sources change their stories, document authenticity is questioned, and the casualties begin to mount.
Interstellar
Williams
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Bad Turn Worse
Big Red
Three teenage friends get in way over their head when they cross a down-home crime syndicate. They hope to make a break for it and escape their dead-end existence in a cotton-mill town but get sucked into the seedy underbelly of organized crime when one of them steals from the wrong man.
50 to 1
Leonard Doc Blach
A misfit group of New Mexico cowboys find themselves on the journey of a lifetime when they learn their crooked-footed racehorse qualifies to run in the Kentucky Derby. Based on the true story of Mine That Bird, the cowboys must overcome impossible odds even before they reach Churchill Downs and the land of Kentucky's blue bloods.
The Dark Knight Rises
President
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt
Dr. Dix
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
Leprechaun's Revenge
Pop O'Hara
An evil leprechaun who has been imprisoned within the roots of a majestic old oak tree, is accidentally set loose on St. Patrick's Day. Once free, he takes out his bloody revenge on the descendants of the people who originally imprisoned him.
Good Morning, Killer
Everett Morgan Gray
Follows FBI Special Agent Ana Gray as she hunts for a kidnapper. As Ana develops a rapport with the kidnapper's latest victim, the suspect suddenly changes his pattern. Now Ana must race to find him before he strikes again.
Flag of My Father
Jake
Serving her country is an honour for Judith (GiGi Erneta: Friday NIght Lights, Vernonica Mars), an army nurse whose Vietnam veteran father (William Devane: Knots Landing, 24) taught her the importance of sacrifice. After a tour in Iraq, she returns home and combats severe post-traumatic stress in the form of nightmares. She and her father share a loving bond strengthened by military camaraderie. Envious of their relationship, her brothers (led by John Schneider: The Dukes of Hazzard) shockingly rebuff her... a snub that intensifies when their father dies suddenly. Faced with the task of healing her family and mind, she relies on her faith to fight the battle. But she also battles post traumatic stress initiated by a P.O.W. experience when she fought for her life and the salvation of a fellow American solider while in captivity. When a secret is revealed, the brothers must find a way to humble themselves and make amends.
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost
Dr. Dix
Jesse investigates the suspicious death of a young friend while the police force deals with the arrogant new police chief who is the son-in-law of a town councilman.
The Kane Files: Life of Trial
Thompson
Scott Kane (Drew Fuller), a man with a checkered past is trying to live a clean life. When his son Owen falls ill, Kane finds his only option is to turn to Daniel Morgan (William Atherton), the local kingpin of the criminal underworld. Morgan offers to help Kane's family, but double-crosses him. When Morgan tries killing Kane by employing a dirty cop, Jace Olsen (Ethan Embry), Kane escapes from prison to seek his revenge and save his son. With the FBI (William Devane) and Police (Embry) on his tail, Kane must utilize all his deadly skills to save his family and himself.
Jesse Stone: No Remorse
Dr. Dix
Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.
The River Why
Dutch Hines
A young man abandons his family for a solitary life of fly-fishing. His goal was to find his own way in the fishing world and thereby find himself and love.
The Fall
judge Stanley Seeban
Two brothers are forced to confront a terrible crime that was hidden in their past.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice
Dr. Dix
Jesse Stone and Captain Healy are shot during an unauthorized stake-out in Boston. Meanwhile, a cryptic letter sent from Paradise leads the mother of a kidnapped child to Stone. Though her son was declared dead, she hopes he will reopen the case.
The Least Among You
Alan Beckett
Black college graduate Richard Kelly reluctantly accepts a plea bargain requiring him to spend two semesters at an all-white seminary after he's wrongly accused of crimes committed during the 1965 Watts riots. Facing bigotry on all sides, he's close to cracking until he meets an elderly custodian who helps him navigate the trials of racism.
Stargate: Continuum
President Henry Hayes
Ba'al travels back in time and prevents the Stargate program from being started. SG-1 must somehow restore history.
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Dr. Dix
Police Chief Jesse Stone's relationship with his ex-wife worsens, and he fears he's relapsing into alcoholism. To get his mind off his problems, Jesse begins working on the unsolved murder of a bank teller shot during a robbery. Also, his investigation of an alleged rape draws him into conflict with the town council — which hopes to preserve Paradise's reputation as an ideal seaside resort.
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Dr. Dix
When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled teens.
Monte Walsh
Cal Brennan
Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins are long-time cowhands, working whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse." Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Monte has a long-term relationship with prostitute Martine Bernard, while Chet has fallen under the spell of the widow who owns the hardware store. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days, until one of the hands, Shorty Austin, loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.
A Christmas Visitor
George Boyajian
The Boyajian family learned of 18-year-old John's death in the Persian Gulf War on Christmas Eve eleven years earlier and have not celebrated Christmas since. They have been so consumed by his death that they have forgotten the joys of the holidays, until a mysterious visitor enters their lives and rekindles the spirit of the season.
Threat of Exposure
Col. Weldon
A man poses as a hypnotherapist's patient to find the truth about his missing brother.
The Badge
The Judge
A sheriff begins an investigation into the death of a local transsexual after hearing that high ranking politicians may have been involved. Although he is homophobic, his investigation causes him to be rejected by others, forcing him to seek help from the people he once despised.
Race to Space
Roger Thornhill
In the 1960s a young woman works at NASA as an animal trainer responsible for the chimpanzee who will go into space.
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
Tom Kincaid
A staunch professional executive and his wife coerce their rebellious teens and their older sister to take a plane trip for a weekend in the mountains. The older sister does not make it to the plane in time and the family leaves without her. Their small private plane then develops trouble and crashes away from any people. This forces the group to band together to survive the wilderness conditions, including an avalanche.
Plotting 'Family Plot'
Self
Documentary about the making of Alfred Hitchcock's "Family Plot".
Hollow Man
Dr. Howard Kramer
Cocky researcher Sebastian Caine is working on a project to make living creatures invisible. Determined to achieve the ultimate breakthrough, Caine pushes his team to move to the next phase — using himself as the subject. The test is a success, but when the process can't be reversed and Caine seems doomed to future without flesh, he starts to turn increasingly dangerous.
Space Cowboys
Eugene Davis
Frank Corvin, ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and ‘Tank’ Sullivan were hotdog members of Project Daedalus, the Air Force's test program for space travel, but their hopes were dashed in 1958 with the formation of NASA and the use of trained chimps. They blackmail their way into orbit when Russia's mysterious ‘Ikon’ communications satellite's orbit begins to degrade and threatens to crash to Earth.
The Man Who Used to Be Me
Older Sam Ryan
A burned-out ex-cop travels back in time and teams up with his younger self to catch his father's murderer.
Poor White Trash
Ron Lake
Mike and Lenny are two buddies who dream of getting out of the trailer park. Out of desperation they resort to burglary as a means of financing Mike's college education. Their dream is jeopardized one summer day when their ploy to shoplift Near Beer begins a crime spree and a series of mishaps during which they are threatened with jail.
Payback
Carter
With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
Doomsday Rock
Dr. Karl Sorenson
Dr. Paul Sorenson, a noted astronomer, believes that an approaching comet will collide with earth based on his study of an ancient civilization's prophetic timeline. Frustrated by his inability to convince other scientists of the threat, Sorenson and a band of followers take over a nuclear missile silo. The FBI enlists the help of Sorenson's daughter Katherine, who is also a respected scientist, with the hope she can convince her father to surrender the missile silo. Katherine's research supports her father's thesis. She enlists the help of Paul, an FBI agent assigned to keep her under guard, in her quest to convince the scientific community of the imminent threat to the planet. Written by Dennis Lewis
The Absolute Truth
Sen. Emmett Hunter
A TV news producer learns that a Presidential candidate sexually harassed one of her friends.
Exception to the Rule
Lawrence Kellerman
An aggressive woman tries to blackmail a married gem trader who had an affair with her.
Forgotten Sins
Dr. Richard Ofshe
A county sheriff is accused by his daughter of having abused her. Her accusation gets more and more elaborate, involving satanic rituals. As nearly everyone around him seems to believe he's guilty, he starts breaking up and questioning his own innocence.
Freefall: Flight 174
Capt. Bob Pearson
True story of a brand-new Canadian airliner running out of fuel in-flight and forced to glide to the nearest airfield.
Night Watch
Nick Caldwell
UN agents Mike Graham and Sabrina Carver are sent by their director Nick Caldwell to investigate the theft of Rembrandt's painting, "The Night Watch". The trail takes them from Amsterdam to Hong Kong and involves them in not only art theft and forgery, but the high-tech schemes of Martin Schraeder and his Korean cohort Mao Yixin
Virus
Dr. Harbuck
Who could have deliberately released a rare and deadly African plague that is now spreading uncontrollably throughout America's largest urban areas? A lone determined doctor desperately and fearlessly searches for the truth, but she soon finds herself targeted for death as well. With time running out to save human kind, Dr. Marissa Blumenthal discovers that the strange disease may have actually been unleashed by the medical establishment itself.
Lady in Waiting
Lt. Barrett
A divorced cop investigating the sadistic murders of high-class prostitutes discovers that the prime suspect is his ex-wife's new boyfriend...
For the Love of Nancy
Tom
The parents of an anorexic woman fight to save her life.
Rubdown
Harry Orwitz
A rich man offers his masseur, a former baseball player with damaged knees, $50,000 to have an affair with his wife so she'll be in violation of their pre-nuptial agreement and he can divorce her without losing his fortune. The masseur agrees although he is already having an affair with the wife, and they together work out a way to set up her husband in order that she does get his fortune. But when the client is murdered and the real wife shows up the masseur has to clear his own name, and as he begins to piece together the evidence he realises that he's been played by yet another man who still holds a grudge from years before.
Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story
Daniel 'Dan' Fields
The take-down of an infamous leader of a small polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group, who ordered assassinations of his opponents.
The President's Child
Elliot McSwain
James Guthrie is a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Eight years ago he fell in love with Elizabeth Hemming, nowadays a famous hostess/reporter. Guthrie doesn't know Jason, her kid, is his son. When his unscrupulous campaign-leader finds out about Jason, he goes all out to keep it a secret from the public
Obsessed
Ed Bledsoe
Lorie Brindel works at an insurance company and falls in love with one of her clients, the much older Ed Bledsoe. Spending weeks of passion together, Lorie is convinced that Ed is the man of her life and that he would marry her. When Ed decides to break up the relationship, Lorie does not accept it and tries to win him back, falling from her extreme love into an equally extreme hatred.
Ancient Secrets of the Bible
Host & Narrator
Jesus Christ is the center of the worldwide Christian faith. Is there any historical, archaeological, or scientific confirmation that Jesus did in fact live and grow to manhood in the obscure Judean village of Nazareth? Is Jesus Christ the living Son of God? Or a myth sustained for 2,000 years? The astonishing evidence for the life of Christ is explored in light of recent discoveries.
Nightmare in Columbia County
Sheriff Jim Metts
The recounting of a terrible crime that wracked a family and galvanized police in South Carolina in the 1980's. Southern beauty pageant winner Dawn Smith is targeted by a sadistic stalker whose obsession with her leads him to kidnap her younger sister.
Murder C.O.D.
Alex Brandt
Someone is killing people in Portland, Oregon, and later blackmails the relatives, who profit most from the death, to pay him for this "service". Captain Murtaugh leads the police investigation. When his wife starts feeling stalked, he suspects his current case is related to his last one in Chicago. He never told his wife the whole truth about what happened - now he has to fear for her life.
Vital Signs
Dr. Chatham
As they enter their third year of medical school, a group of young students must prepare to decide what they intend to specialize in. Somehow, they must impress the Chief of Surgery while learning how to survive the life-and-death area of medicine and the complexity of their everyday lives.
Chips, the War Dog
Col. Charnley
In this made-for-tv movie, misfits Danny Stauffer and Chips (a chicken-chasing German shepherd) are teamed up in the Army's "Dogs for Defense" program during WWII.
The Preppie Murder
Jack Litman
This is the story of a young woman who was found dead. Now the police investigate, and evidence points to a man she was seen leaving a party with. Now when questioned, he claims that her death was accidental, as a result of rough sex. Now her family doesn't believe this, so they press the district attorney's office to try him for murder, but he has a good lawyer who plays his defense right down to putting the dead girl on trial.
Timestalkers
Scott McKenzie
History professor Scott McKenzie makes an anachronistic discovery in a photograph from the Old West and he is soon joined by beautiful time-traveler Georgia in a time-skipping adventure to stop her colleague from the future from erasing her from existence.
With Intent to Kill
Aaron Charney
A high school football hero Bo Reinecker tries to piece together the events leading up to murder of his girl friend Lisa Nolen. Claiming to have experienced a total blackout, Bo is ultimately found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity and placed in an institution for four years. Meanwhile, the dead girl's father, Tom Nolen, and her sister Wynn, bitterly prepare a campaign to put Nolen away in prison for life. Things come to a boil when Bo is released--and Tom and Wynn take "due process" into their own hands.
Testament
Tom Wetherly
It is just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
Hadley's Rebellion
Coach Ball
After he transfers to a new school, Hadley is victimized and ostracized by his too-cool classmates. To prove his worth, our hero takes up wrestling, and before long he’s the school champ, thanks to the input of coach Ball, a washed-up alcoholic who finds redemption through Hadley’s example.
Jane Doe
William Quinn
A young amnesiac who was left for dead following a brutal assault is now being stalked by her assailant who wants to finish the job before she can remember the circumstances of the crime.
The Other Victim
Harry Langford
After his wife is raped, a man struggles to find ways to express the anger and helplessness which the crime has instilled in him.
Red Flag: The Ultimate Game
Maj. Phil Clark
Two fighter pilots, Phil Clark and Jay Rivers, who flew together in Vietnam are assigned to the elite Air Force Fighter Weapons School (known as "Red Flag") at Nellis AFB, Nevada, about a decade after the war. Brash, self-confident Clark is an instructor, while quieter, family man Rivers is the student. At first, the two men resume their friendship. But as the student starts to show the master a thing or two, tensions develop. Can their relationship survive the stresses of one of the military's top schools?
Honky Tonk Freeway
Mayor Kirby T. Calo
Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not to put an exit into the town. The people of Ticlaw, leaded by its Mayor, will do anything in order to convince the governor to alter the project.
Yanks
John
During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls. One relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times.
The Dark
Roy Warner, aka Steve Dupree
At night the Mangler stalks the streets of Los Angeles, killing and mutilating random victims. On the trail are a TV reporter, the father of one of the victims, and a police detective, but despite their efforts only the mysterious psychic DeRenzy knows what the killer is and how to stop it.
Rolling Thunder
Major Charles Rane
A Vietnam veteran, Charles Rane, returns home after years in a POW camp and is treated as a hero. When thugs invade his home to steal the silver coins he received for his service, they mangle his hand and leave him and his family for dead. Rane survives and becomes obsessed with getting revenge. Aided by his loyal friend Johnny Vohden, Rane, now wielding a hook for a hand, sets out on his mission of vengeance.
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
Mike Leak
A troubled, rebellious teen drives his rambunctious baseball team out to Houston where they play an exhibition game and the boy meets his estranged father, and hires him as the teams coach.
Red Alert
Frank Brolen
A computer at a nuclear power plant malfunctions and receives erroneous information of a radiation leak. It seals off the compound, trapping the crew inside.
Marathon Man
Janeway
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
The Million Dollar Rip-Off
Writer
An electronics genius, who is an ex-con, and four of his lady friends devise a plot to steal millions of dollars from the Chicago Transit Authority. A detective, who had been keeping tabs on him since he got out of prison, suspects that he is up to something and tries to catch him at it.
Family Plot
Arthur Adamson
Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her taxi driver/unemployed actor boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Fear on Trial
John Henry Faulk
The story of John Henry Faulk, a radio/TV personality of the 1950s, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Faulk sued the organization that was behind the blacklisting, and the resultant trial, and Faulk's victory, helped to put an end to the blacklisting period.
Report to the Commissioner
Asst. D.A. Jackson
Police officer Patty Butler, alias "Chicklet," is the live-in girlfriend of Thomas 'Stick' Henderson to gather evidence. Detective Bo Lockley is instructed to try to find her, not knowing she's also a cop.
The Missiles of October
President John F. Kennedy
Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy's book, "Thirteen Days," this film profiles the Kennedy Administration's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Bait
Earl Stokey
Tracy Fleming is a widowed police officer, with a young son, who has risen to the role of plainclothes operative. After six women have been raped and killed, Fleming agrees to go undercover in an effort to make herself a target for the killer. The climax places her in a life-and-death struggle with the killer.
Crime Club
Kilburn
A group of public and private investigators looks into the suspicious death of the son of one of its members' wealthy girlfriends.
The Irish Whiskey Rebellion
LT. Ashley
An Irish radical turns East Coast bootlegger during Prohibition.
Lady Liberty
Jock Fenner
The story concerns the difficulties and reactions of Maddalena (Sophia Loren), an Italian visitor to New York City. She has come to the country carrying a huge mortadella sausage which she intends as a gift for her fiancé. But Customs do not allow processed meat to enter the U.S., so she is held at JFK airport...
My Old Man's Place
Jimmy Pilgrim
Two soldiers return from Vietnam with serious PTSD. They decide to go for a couple of days to a peaceful farm owned by the father of one of the men. A psychotic sergeant who also did tours in Nam, joins them. Personalities clash hard.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Lawyer
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
The 300-Year Weekend
Additional Dialogue
A doctor spends 24 hours in a clinic with a group of patients. Each character has his or her own story to tell, about their fathers, mothers, or spouses who don't understand them, and how they've turned instead to drugs.
The 300-Year Weekend
Tom
A doctor spends 24 hours in a clinic with a group of patients. Each character has his or her own story to tell, about their fathers, mothers, or spouses who don't understand them, and how they've turned instead to drugs.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Pilot
William Popper is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter.
In the Country
During the Vietnam War, a young revolutionary, isolated with his lover in a country house, struggles to comprehend his self-inflicted inactivity and his alienation from former political associates.