William Devane

William Devane played Secretary of Defense James Heller on 24.

During the middle of Day 4, 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. However, unlike Alberta Watson and Lana Parrilla, Devane left in order to star in another series.

Biography
Devane was born in Albany, New York to Joe Devane, who worked as Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York. Devane graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Devane is perhaps most widely recognized for his ten years as the villainous Greg Sumner on the drama series "Knots Landing". Devane has also appeared in such films as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Family Plot (1976), Marathon Man (1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), Testament (1983) and Space Cowboys (2000). The latter also featured Kiefer Sutherland's father Donald. He also starred in Payback with Mel Gibson and Gregg Henry.

In 2004, he guest-starred as United States Secretary of State and potential vice-presidential nominee Lewis Berryhill on "The West Wing". 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 Cuban Missile Crisis TV drama The Missiles of October. Devane also starred in three episodes of "Stargate SG-1" in 2004, and in "Stargate: Continuum" in 2008, as President Henry Hayes.

He has also recently appeared in an episode of NCIS. In 2012 he played the President of the United States in The Dark Knight Rises, which also starred Tomas Arana, Brent Briscoe, David Dayan Fisher and Wade Andrew Williams.