William Devane

William Devane

AADA alumnus William Devane first came to the attention of critics while working with the New York Shakespeare Festival. In the angry off-Broadway satire MacBird (1967), Devane played the first of many sharkish young men on the make. His entree into films came by way of the 16-millimeter In Country (1969), after which he alternated between icewater villainy (Hitchcock's Family Plot [1976]) and unexpected heroics (Rolling Thunder [1977]). Much of Devane's best work was seen on television: his marked resemblance to the Kennedy clan has served him well as JFK in TV's The Missiles of October (1974) and the Teddy-like patriarch in the 1995 series The Monroes; and he brought just the right blend of aggression, indignation and confusion to his portrayal of blacklisted TV personality John Henry Faulk in Fear on Trial (1977). Devane has also starred as Sgt. Mike Warden on the TV-series version of From Here to Eternity (1979) duplicitous state senator Gregory Sumner in Knot's Landing (from 1983 until the series' cancellation ten years later) and vainglorious tennis coach Lou Del la Rosa on The Phenom (1993- ). The go-for-the-jugular competitiveness of William Devane's film and TV characters has often spilled over into his athletic activities on TV's many "celebrity sports" specials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide