William Devane
William Devane
William Joseph Devaneis an American precious metal salesman and film, television and theatre actor, known for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing and as James Heller on the serial drama 24. He is also known for his supporting roles in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Marathon Man, and Space Cowboys...
ProfessionSoap Opera Actor
Date of Birth5 September 1937
CityAlbany, NY
want stories continuing
Networks don't want a show with a continuing story. There's no backend potential.
character opportunity years
And I have to credit David Jacobs with the opportunities he gave me. He was totally into sharing the creation of characters. David put together a show that told the story of people over many years' time and that was greatly enjoyable. Though nowadays that is frowned upon.
sometimes certain possessiveness
There's a certain possessiveness of writers sometimes.
reality play world
What I would have liked to do on that show was play a secretary of state who has huge personal business interests throughout the world. That, to me, seems to be more in synch with reality.
real people trying
I try to watch only real things, which basically amounts to C-Span for me. I like real people in real situations. I learn from that.
faces aging destroying
Clint Eastwood is aging beautifully. But someone like Burt Reynolds and others are practically destroying their faces in the amount of work they have.
character trying age
I'm trying to find a character that's my age and I can sustain week after week. I'd like to do a series.
writing people stories
I would fix other people's lines if they asked me on occasion. The hard part of writing is the architecture of it, getting the story and structuring it. Not the tweaking of lines.
said
When you go to a movie, it's about what's not being said. I tried to bring that to Greg Sumner. It was always about what's not being said.
popularity contests emmys
Ultimately the Emmys are a popularity contest.
wings presidential west
The West Wing seems to be feeding the myth about how presidential politics are.
want knots wells
It worked well because Don Murray didn't want to be on Knots anymore.
cheer years age
If you watch Cheers, in 12 years they didn't age a day.
grew grew-up neighborhood
I'm an Irish-American, and I grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood.