“Will Devane” is how a lot of people type the name, but the actor is billed as William Devane. He’s the man behind Greg Sumner on Knots Landing, Defense Secretary and later President James Heller on 24, and a young John F. Kennedy in a 1974 TV drama that made his name. He’s 87 now, he’s a widower, and the internet has gotten a surprising amount of his life wrong. This guide sticks to what can be traced to a named source, and says plainly where it can’t.
Quick answer
- Real name: William Joseph Devane
- Age: 87 (born September 5, 1939, Albany, New York)
- What he does: American film, TV and theater actor; he also directed on Broadway
- Best known for: Knots Landing, 24, The Missiles of October, Family Plot, Space Cowboys
- Wife: Eugenie Devane (née McCabe), married in the early 1960s; she died in 2022
- Children: Two sons
- Net worth: about $5 million, one widely cited third-party estimate; there is no verified figure
- Heads-up: net worth, height and a few family details are estimates or unconfirmed, and they’re labeled that way below.
Table of contents
- Will Devane or William Devane?
- How old is William Devane?
- Early life and education
- The stage years
- Career timeline
- His best-known roles
- Why he keeps playing presidents
- What is he doing now?
- Wife, family and relationship status
- Height
- Net worth and income
- Rumor check
- Key facts
- FAQs
- Conclusion
Will Devane or William Devane?
Same man. “Will” is just how people search. His full name is William Joseph Devane, and every credit, from IMDb to Wikipedia, says “William.” Watch out for William deVry (born William deVry Simard), a soap actor some sites mix him up with.
How old is William Devane?
Devane was born on September 5, 1939, which makes him 87 as of September 2026. Wikipedia gives that date and most reference sites agree. A few databases, including a German TV site and a Hitchcock fan wiki, say 1937; others invent 1947 or 1948. Go with 1939, the one with a documented press trail.
Early life and education
Devane grew up in Albany, New York. His father, Joseph, had been Franklin D. Roosevelt’s chauffeur while FDR was governor, which is a pretty good dinner-party fact. According to Wikipedia, his father was of Irish descent and his mother, Kate, had Dutch and German ancestry. He talked about that Irish-and-Albany heritage in a 2013 Times Union interview.
He graduated from Philip Schuyler High School, then moved to New York City for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, finishing in 1962. A lot of “biography” pages say he grew up with “a family that celebrated the arts” or similar. That’s filler. What’s documented is simpler: a working Albany family, a high school diploma, and a drama school in Manhattan.
The stage years
Before television knew his name, Devane was a theater actor. He began with the New York Shakespeare Festival and appeared in fifteen of its productions. In 1966 he played Robert F. Kennedy in MacBird, an off-Broadway spoof, and in 1971 he took on the Jack Nicholson-famous role of Randle McMurphy in the first stage revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Danny DeVito was in that cast as Martini.
His Broadway record is humbler than his screen career. According to his IMDb biography, his debut, The Watering Place (with Shirley Knight), closed after a single performance, and The Chinese and Dr. Fish in 1970 lasted three weeks. He also directed once on Broadway: the Vietnam drama G.R. Point, which ran 32 performances in 1979 and earned Michael Jeter a Theatre World Award. Few competing bios mention that credit. It answers “what does Will Devane do” better than the bare word “actor” does.
Career timeline
| Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1966 | Plays Robert F. Kennedy in MacBird (off-Broadway) |
| 1971 | Stars as McMurphy in an off-Broadway Cuckoo’s Nest; film work includes McCabe & Mrs. Miller |
| 1974 | Plays President John F. Kennedy in The Missiles of October |
| 1975 | Plays blacklisted broadcaster John Henry Faulk in Fear on Trial |
| 1976–77 | Family Plot (Hitchcock), Marathon Man, Rolling Thunder |
| 1979–80 | Master Sgt. Milt Warden in From Here to Eternity (miniseries, then a one-season series) |
| 1983–1993 | Greg Sumner on Knots Landing (269 episodes per Wikipedia’s filmography) |
| Late 1990s | Recurring role as the lead’s father on Early Edition |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys and Hollow Man |
| 2004–2007 | The West Wing (secretary of state), Stargate SG-1 (President Henry Hayes), 24 (James Heller, 20 episodes) |
| 2012–2015 | Revenge, The Dark Knight Rises, 24: Live Another Day, Interstellar, The Grinder |
| 2022 | Four-episode arc on Bosch: Legacy |
Knots Landing premiered in 1979, but Devane didn’t join until 1983 (season 5) and stayed through the 1993 finale.
His best-known roles
- Greg Sumner, Knots Landing. Ten seasons as a politician-turned-corporate power player. It’s his longest run, and a soap-opera villain you could never quite dismiss.
- James Heller, 24. A Defense Secretary in seasons four through six, then President in 24: Live Another Day (2014).
- John F. Kennedy, The Missiles of October. The 1974 docudrama about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Martin Sheen played his brother Robert, and the two reunited thirty years later on The West Wing.
- Arthur Adamson, Family Plot. One of the leads in Alfred Hitchcock’s final film.
- Major Charles Rane, Rolling Thunder. A hard-bitten veteran in a 1977 revenge thriller that has a loyal cult following.
- Gene Davis, Space Cowboys. The NASA flight director in Clint Eastwood’s 2000 space adventure.
- Dr. Dix, the Jesse Stone movies. A cop-turned-psychologist opposite Tom Selleck.
Why he keeps playing presidents
His resemblance to JFK, plus a convincing Boston-flavored Kennedy accent, is the reason, according to his IMDb biography. It made him the go-to for politicians. He has since played a president or cabinet-level figure on The West Wing, Stargate SG-1, 24 and The Dark Knight Rises, and a 1995 New York Times cover story took up the typecasting question head-on. The common thread is a certain kind of authority: calm, slightly cold.
What is he doing now?
His most recent documented acting credit is the four-episode arc on Bosch: Legacy in 2022. IMDb and other public listings show no newer released project, and neither Devane nor a representative has announced a retirement. Plenty of “he’s still active” lines online are recycled from older pages, so check his IMDb page for the latest.
Wife, family and relationship status
Devane married Eugenie McCabe in the early 1960s. Wikipedia says 1962, while several other sites, including Celebrity Net Worth, say 1961, and no primary record settles it, so the exact year stays unconfirmed. They had two sons and lived in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Eugenie died in 2022, according to an obituary cited by Wikipedia.
Most competing pages get this wrong. Many bios still say “he is married to Eugenie,” some in the present tense. Others add a wife named Barbara, a link to the actress Eileen Davidson, or daughters with invented names. No credible record backs any of that, so none of it is repeated here.
Relationship status: nothing on record. He guards his privacy, and nobody has reliably documented his sons’ names or ages, so they stay out of this page.
Height
Nobody has published a measured height. Sites say anything from 5’10” to 6’2″, and none cites a source, so any exact number is a guess.
Net worth and income
The one figure with a named source is $5 million, listed by Celebrity Net Worth. It’s modeled from public information such as career credits and typical pay for comparable work, not audited. (How these estimates are produced.) Other pages claim $8 million, $10 million, $12 million, $15 million, $20 million and even $45 million with no method shown, and many read like auto-generated text. Skip them.
What we can say about where the money came from:
| Income source | What’s documented |
|---|---|
| Television | A ten-year run on Knots Landing, 20 episodes of 24, plus recurring and guest arcs across five decades. Pay isn’t public. |
| Film | Supporting and lead roles from the 1970s to the 2010s, including Marathon Man and Space Cowboys. |
| Stage | Real credibility, modest money. |
| Restaurants | He owned “Devane’s,” a New York-Italian restaurant with locations in Indio and Rancho Mirage, California, which closed after the 2008 downturn (per the 24 Wiki). |
| Endorsements, real estate, investments | Often claimed online. No verified evidence. |
My read: $5 million fits a long-running character actor who rarely headlined. Fits isn’t verified, though, and no 2026 figure exists.
Rumor check
Some gossip sites claimed in August 2026 that Devane was about to retire. No credible outlet picked it up, and neither he nor a representative has said a word. Clickbait titles also hint at a “loss of son” with no details. Nothing credible supports that, so it stays out. Same for the philanthropist and avid-golfer claims, which live only on spam sites.
Fact-check at a glance
| Claim you’ll see online | What’s documented |
|---|---|
| Born in 1937, 1947 or 1948 | September 5, 1939 is the date with a press trail |
| Still married to Eugenie | No. She died in 2022 |
| A wife named Barbara, a link to Eileen Davidson, or daughters | No credible record found |
| Retiring in 2026 | Gossip-site claim; not confirmed by Devane or his representatives |
| He’s 88 | No. He’s 87 |
Key facts
- Born: September 5, 1939, Albany, New York
- Education: Philip Schuyler High School; American Academy of Dramatic Arts (1962)
- Known for: Knots Landing, 24, The Missiles of October
- Films: Family Plot, Marathon Man, Rolling Thunder, Space Cowboys
- Wife: Eugenie (died 2022)
- Children: Two sons
- Net worth: about $5 million (estimate)
- Last documented credit: Bosch: Legacy (2022)
FAQs
How old is Will Devane?
He’s 87, born September 5, 1939.
Is Will Devane the same as William Devane?
Yes. His full name is William Joseph Devane.
Who was William Devane’s wife?
Eugenie Devane (née McCabe). They married in the early 1960s, and she died in 2022.
Does William Devane have children?
Yes, two sons, according to Wikipedia.
What does William Devane do?
He’s an actor in film, TV and theater, and he directed one Broadway show, G.R. Point, in 1979.
What is William Devane’s net worth?
Celebrity Net Worth lists about $5 million. It’s an estimate, and other figures online aren’t backed by sources.
Where did he go to school?
Philip Schuyler High School in Albany and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
Has William Devane retired?
No retirement has been announced by Devane or his representatives. Retirement stories that circulated in August 2026 came from gossip sites and weren’t confirmed by any credible outlet. His last documented credit is Bosch: Legacy in 2022.
What’s his height?
Unverified. Sources contradict each other.
Conclusion
Devane went from Shakespeare in the park to playing the people who run governments, with a stretch as JFK and ten seasons of soap-opera scheming in between. The firm facts are his birth, schooling, roles, and the 2022 death of his wife Eugenie. The soft ones are net worth (about $5 million, an outside estimate), height, the exact marriage year and his sons’ names. The error that matters most is the one in half the bios out there: treating Eugenie as if she were still alive. If a page gives precise numbers for the soft facts without naming a source, don’t trust it.
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Shahzad is the founder and lead writer at WorthRada. He writes about celebrity net worth, biographies, careers, income, and success stories, with a focus on providing clear, well-researched, and reliable information.
