William Devane is a retired American theater, television and film actor, who became widely known for playing the character of Greg Sumner in CBS’ primetime soap opera “Knots Landing”, as James Heller in Fox’s drama series “24”, and his portrayal from the US. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy in TV and movies because of his “Kennedyesque” appearance.
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Early life and family
William Joseph Devane was born on September 5, 1939 in Albany, New York State, to Joseph Devane’s father of Irish descent, and a mother whose name has not been revealed, but of German and Dutch descent. His father would be the driver of the 32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was the governor of New York, and his mother is said to be a bar owner. Not much other information is available about his growing up life, nor about his family.
Education background
He reportedly attended four high schools in Albany in four years, but there is no information as to which one he enrolled in. Devane graduated in 1962 from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in Manhattan, New York City.
Career
First steps
After high school, Devane went to New York and worked as a carpenter and electrician for Joseph Papp, who was a theater director, producer, and founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival (NYSF), now known as Shakespeare in the Park. He begged Papp until he put him on stage; he would watch and learn from George C. Scott’s performance. William starred in Shakespeare’s plays by Papp Production on the public school circuit and in 15 plays at NYSF. It was said that his first role was that of a doorman in “Macbeth”, and he had his first speaking role in “The Merchant of Venice”.
In 1967 he played the part of Robert Kennedy, or Robert Ken O’Dunk in the Off Broadway play, “MacBird.” This was a satire sketch by Barbara Garson, who together with director/writer Roy Levine turned it into a full-length play in which the 35e The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the story of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, namely ‘Macbeth’, ‘Richard III’ and ‘Hamlet’. It premiered on February 22, 1967, just four years after Kennedy’s assassination, at The Village Gate theater, presumably the only one to stage the play. The highly successful but controversial piece closed after 386 performances on January 21, 1968.
He made his film actor debut in 1967 with “In the Country,” written and directed by Robert Kramer.
His television debut was in an episode of ABC’s crime drama series “NYPD,” featuring stories based on real-life New York City police cases, and he appeared in two more episodes between 1967 and 1969. Devane made his Broadway debut in 1969 in Lyle Kessler’s “The Watering Place”, but it was not a success and had to close after just one performance.
It was after “MacBird” and while he was playing plays at the Shakespeare Festival, when actor Warren Beatty and director/screenwriter Robert Altman came to cast him for the role of lawyer, Clement Samuels, in the revisionist western or anti-western film,” McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (1971). The film was critically acclaimed and considered “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant,” so it was selected by the Library of Congress for safekeeping in the National Film Registry.
further success
Movies
He played the character of Jock Fenner in the Franco-Italian comedy “Lady Liberty” in 1971, co-starring Sophia Loren. Susan Sarandon and Danny DeVito were also featured in the film, which was shot in Rome and New York, but received negative reviews from critics. In 1976, Devane was cast as the missing heir turned kidnapper in the last film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the comedy thriller, ‘Family Plot’. This movie starring Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris and Karen Black grossed $13.2 million against a budget of $4.5 million. He also appeared in the suspense thriller ‘Marathon Man’ in 1976 with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. It was well received not only by the critics but also by the viewing public with a gross of more than $28 million against a budget of $6.5 million.
“Rolling Thunder” in 1977 was an action thriller starring Devane, along with Tommy Lee Jones. It was both commercially successful, grossing approximately $130 million against a $5 million budget, and critically with critical acclaim. Other notable films he made were the 2000 adventure film ‘Space Cowboys’, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood; the 2000 sci-fi thriller, “Hollow Man,” starring Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue; and “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012.
His last film was in 2014 with a cameo role as NASA’s Williams in the sci-fi dystopian film “Interstellar”, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine. With a production budget of $165 million, it grossed over $650 million worldwide, and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 72% approval rating from over 300 reviews and a 74th out of 100 film ratings from 46 critics in Metacritic.
William made more than 45 films and played a different roles from 1967 to 2015.
Television
William played the role of President John F. Kennedy, starring Martin Sheen as U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, in the made-for-television documentary drama “The Missiles of October” in 1974. It was based on the book “Thirteen Days.” : A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis”, by Robert Kennedy, in which he compared Barbara W. Tuchman’s book “The Guns of August” (1962) on the events leading up to World War I to the Cuban Missile Crisis between the US and the Soviet Union with Cuba at the center, which came close to starting a global nuclear war, and how they averted it.Devane was praised for his portrayal of the president in this two-and-a-half-hour production.
William landed the role of John Henry Faulk in the 1975 TV movie Fear on Trial, based on Faulk’s 1963 book of the same name. It was about his experience of being blacklisted on the radio in the 1950s because he was falsely accused as a communist by the organization AWARE, Inc; he filed a lawsuit against them and won. This helped end the Hollywood blacklisting era promoted by Senator McCarthy’s anti-communist hearings. The CBS TV movie won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Special Program, and his performance was also recognized for being nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series.
“Buttons Landing”
CBS’ prime-time soap opera, “Knots Landing,” was a spin-off of the 1978 CBS hit series “Dallas.” The story revolves around four married couples who live in the fictional cul-de-sac Sea View Circle in a suburban area. from Los Angeles.
It premiered on December 27, 1979, and William joined the soap as part of the main cast in season five (1983-1984) as Greg Sumner, a U.S. senator turned businessman, and continued until the end of the series in season 14 (1992-1993). ). His role as the male antagonist was only supposed to last eight to 10 episodes, but his character was well received and loved by the viewers, and he survived to the end. The soap opera had 14 seasons (1979-1993) with 344 episodes and Devane was in 10 seasons with 269 episodes. The show’s ratings peaked in its fifth season around the time it became part of the soap. The four-hour miniseries, “Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac,” was released in two parts in May 1997, retaining most of the cast members, including Devane, with the story set four years after the end of the series. soap opera began.
William Devane
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He was also part of the 2005 reunion special, “Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again,” which featured most of the original cast reminiscing about working on the show, as well as featuring bloopers and out-takes from the series.
“24”
William was cast to play the role of United States Secretary of Defense James Heller in this real-time action drama “24”, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, an agent of the Counter-Terrorist Unit. The series premiered on November 6, 2001 and ran for eight seasons with 192 episodes, the last airing on May 24, 2010. It won the Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2004 and the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 2006. Devane joined the series in season four, and was in 20 episodes (2005-2007). The TV series returned in 2014 as “24: Live Another Day”, which began four years after the events of the last episode of the previous series. William now played President James Heller and was in all 12 episodes of the series.
He portrayed a variety of characters in nearly 70 television series, specials, and TV movies from 1967 to 2015.
Private life
William and Eugenie had known each other for a year before they decided to get married in 1961 – they had two sons, but lost their eldest, Bill, in a car accident. Joshua, the youngest, is also an actor.
The couple have been together for 59 years and have more than 30 years on their ranch in thermal in the Coachella Valley, near Palm Springs, California. It is a facility for polo players and trainers, where polo matches are played and horses are bred. According to Devane, the ranch is 140 acres, but they live on just five acres, not as the landlord but as the developer. They have about 300 horses and 15 ranches all dedicated to polo. They also have an Owners Association.
Interesting facts and rumors
- William often changed his dialogue in his scenes in ‘Knots Landing’, and this was allowed by the creator and co-executive producer, David Jacobs, who was very supportive of his actors and would tell the writers to trust the actors’ instincts. . However, this caused conflict with the show’s writers. Once on the script that was handed to him, there was a note that said, “Not a word of this can be changed on the floor.” According to him, he only changed the script to a certain extent to give more depth to the character and the scene, but he didn’t change the story. He even wrote a few episodes of the series.
- He didn’t watch a single episode of “Knots Landing” before joining the soap. When asked in an interview if he’s a TV viewer, he said he only tries to watch real things, adding, “I like to watch real people in real situations because I learn from them.”
- He has been a member of PGA West for some 30 years and has frequently played golf for charities.
- A New York Times article published in 1975 mentioned that William changed his name from Devaney to Devane.
Appearance
William is 1.78 m tall. He has white hair and blue eyes.
Net value
He is a successful film, television and theater actor, and according to sources, his estimated net value is about $6 million.
