William Devane

William Devane is an American actor primarily known for his role on the primetime soap opera ‘Knots Landing’ as Greg Sumner and on the drama series ‘24’ and ‘24: Live Another Day as James Heller. His other notable performances include Family Plot (1976), Marathon Man (1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), Payback (1999), and Space Cowboys (2000). Born in 1939, in Albany, New York, Devane started his career as a high schooler by taking on varying roles in a neighborhood theatre. He did his graduation from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, in 1962, after which he performed in various plays at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Devane is highly sought after in the industry for his Kennedyesque Boston accent, making him suitable for political roles. Interestingly, he is famous for playing US President John F Kennedy in a Broadway parody, ‘Macbird.’ In 1974, he got to portray Kennedy again in the television docudrama ‘The Missiles of October’ for which he was heartily praised. His latest works are Red Clover (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Bad Turns Worse (2013), and Interstellar (2014). He was also seen in the television series, The Grinder and Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise in 2015. He got married to Eugenie Devane in 1961, and the couple has two sons. Even after a successful career, he continues to work as an actor, screenplay writer, and television director.