William Devane

Infobox actor


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birthdate = birth date and age|1937|9|5
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birthplace = Albany, New York, U.S.
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William Devane (born September 5, 1937) is an American film and television actor.

He was born in Albany, New York, the son of Joseph (Joe) Devane, who was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04EFD61339F936A25753C1A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print COVER STORY;They Told Devane He'd Be Typecast As a Kennedy (But Which One?) - New York Times ] ] Devane graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Devane got his feet wet playing a member of the Kennedy clan, as Robert Kennedy in the Off-Broadway spoof MacBird in 1966. He became widely known for his ten years as the villainous Greg Sumner on the drama series "Knots Landing", and his role as President Kennedy in the TV film "The Missiles of October", about the Cuban Missile Crisis. He appeared in the films "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971), "Family Plot" (1976), "Marathon Man" (1976), "Rolling Thunder" (1977), "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" (1977), "Testament" (1983), "Forgotten Sins" (1996), "Payback" (1999), and "Space Cowboys" (2000).

Devane has played members of the United States Cabinet on two different evening dramas. In 2004, he guest-starred as United States Secretary of State and potential vice-presidential nominee Lewis Berryhill on "The West Wing." In 2005, he joined the cast of "24" as United States Secretary of Defense James Heller in the show's fourth season. During the middle of the season, however, Devane was one of several cast members to be written out of the series. He returned for one more episode later that season, and again in the show's fifth and sixth seasons (2006). In his role on "The West Wing," Devane appeared in several scenes with the show's fictional President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. Devane and Sheen also appeared together as President Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy, respectively, 30 years earlier in "The Missiles of October."

In 2004, Devane also starred in three episodes of "Stargate SG-1", as President Henry Hayes and also appears in the direct to DVD movie "". Most recently, he starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom, "Crumbs" and also plays Brian Davis's father, a real estate broker, in the ABC series "What About Brian". And more recently in 2008, he starred in Russ Emanuel's "Chasing the Green" alongside Jeremy London, Ryan Hurst, and Robert Picardo.

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*imdb name|id=0001137