William Devane took a leap of faith when he joined the show business as a teenager, five decades after he is still pushing boundaries even at his age. Devane is known famously for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera “Knots Landing”, he also appeared on Fox’s serial drama “24” as James Heller. Here’s everything you need to know about him.
William Devane: Age and early life
William Devane was born on September 5, 1939, in Albany, New York. The son of Joseph Devane, who was the chauffeur of Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was the Governor of New York. His Kate Devane was a homemaker. His father was of Irish descent and his mother had Dutch and German ancestry
William discovered his acting talent at an early stage of his life and his parents encouraged him to pursue it. His first acting gig was in the neighborhood theater in Albany during his high-school years.
In 1961, he graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and afterward launched his career with the New York Shakespeare Festival where he performed in 15 plays. He was noticed at the 1967 Off-Broadway play “MacBird” where he played the character of Robert Kennedy.
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William Devane is 80 years old.
William Devane: Career
William made a strong statement in his career when he portrayed the role of President John F. Kennedy in a television docudrama about the Cuban Missile Crisis, “The Missiles of October” in 1974. Prior to this appearance, he had already on ABC television crime drama series “N.Y.P.D”.
In 1975, he portrayed the character of a blacklisted radio personality John Henry Faulk in the Emmy Award-winning TV movie “Fear on Trial”. He appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film “McCabe and Mrs. Miller”. As his career advanced he moved from playing supporting roles to main roles which is every actor’s dream.
He landed the role of Greg Sumner a former politician who turned businessman after inheriting his father’s corporation in the prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS “Knots Landing”. William stayed on the show for ten years, his longest stay in a television series. In 1994, William Devane appeared as Al Capone in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” on ABC. He went ahead to appear in the suspense thriller film “Marathon Man”.
He continued his blistering acting form into the 2000s. In 2004, he guest-starred as the Secretary of State and potential Vice-Presidential nominee on NBC political drama “The West Wing”. He joined the cast of Fox’s drama series “24” as Secretary of Defense James Heller.
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In 2008, he starred in Russ Emanuel’s “Chasing the Green” alongside Jeremy London, Ryan Hurst, and Robert Picardo. He also appeared as a police officer turned psychologist Dr. Dix in the Jesse Stone mystery movies with Tom Selleck. Age had nothing on him as he played the role of a grandfather of a child kidnapped from Marine Corps Base Quantico in the NCIS episode “Worst Nightmare”.
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In 2012, he began a recurring role as Grandpa Edward Grayson on the ABC primetime soap opera “Revenge”. Devane also played the President of the United States in the Christopher Nolan film “The Dark Knight Rises”. Devane reprised his role as James Heller, now President, in the limited-run series “24: Live Another Day”. He is not very much active in the show business these days but for the years he spent making fans hate or love him, he won three Soap Opera Digest Awards for his work in the soap opera “Knots Landing” amidst other industry nominations.
William Devane is currently a spokesman for Rosland Capital.
William Devane has been married for more than 57 years. He married Eugenie in 1961 and together they have two sons. One of his sons is Joshua Devane is an actor. William’s marriage of more than 50 years to one partner is something that is going out of style nowadays in the show business. Hollywood has become the divorce capital of the world where marriages end too soon.
William Devane: Net worth and other facts
William Devane has been in the show business for five decades. Surely he has seen a lot and it is only fair to say that he has amassed a lot of money within these lengthy years. However, you know as they say, it is not always in the number of film credits but in the quality.
Again, it is not also a function of how long one has stayed in the show business that determines their financial worth. The actor has a net worth of 5 million dollars. He owns the California restaurant Devane’s along with his son. He also has a polo facility on his 140-acre ranch. Surely his retirement would not be boring as he has a handful of things to keep him busy.
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