Susan Devlin: Bruce Greenwood’s Wife and Their Long Marriage

Susan Devlin married Bruce Greenwood in 1985, long before he played President John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days or Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek. Their relationship began even earlier: the two reportedly knew each other as teenagers.

Greenwood has spent much of his working life answering questions about the people he plays. Questions about his marriage tend to get shorter answers.

Still, he has occasionally shared what life with Susan looks like, from the filming schedule that barely let them see each other to his reluctance to turn their relationship into an interview topic.

Those moments offer a more personal glimpse of the couple than a list of premiere appearances alone.

Susan Knew Bruce Before Acting Became His Career

Biographical accounts place the beginning of Susan and Bruce’s relationship in their teenage years. His IMDb biography says they first dated when they were both 15, around 1971. Their wedding followed in 1985.

Acting was not a childhood career plan that Greenwood followed without hesitation.

In a 2015 interview, he recalled being in his early twenties and unsure what he wanted to do. While taking university courses, he chose acting partly because he thought it would be an easy way to earn credits.

Instead, the class caught his interest. Language, rhythm and human behavior appealed to him, and his other studies gradually gave way to acting.

By the time he and Susan married, he already had screen credits. His earlier work included a small part in First Blood, released in 1982. The larger roles that would make him familiar to television and film audiences came later.

Their Marriage Came Before His Breakthrough Roles

A year after the wedding, Greenwood joined St. Elsewhere as Dr. Seth Griffin. He appeared on the medical drama from 1986 to 1988, several years before leading his own television series.

His film career grew through the following decade. He played Francis Brown in Exotica in 1994 and Billy Ansell in The Sweet Hereafter in 1997, both directed by Atom Egoyan.

Then came Double Jeopardy in 1999 and his portrayal of Kennedy in Thirteen Days in 2000. By that point, Susan and Bruce had been married for 15 years.

Susan attended the Thirteen Days premiere with him in December 2000. Earlier that year, they had also appeared together at the premiere of Rules of Engagement.

But the premieres were only one part of being married to a working actor. Greenwood’s account of making Nowhere Man gives a less glamorous picture of the hours involved.

One Television Role Left Them Little Time Together

When Greenwood took the lead in Nowhere Man, which ran from 1995 to 1996, he welcomed the opportunity to carry a show.

The schedule was another matter.

Looking back in 2015, he said he would leave before Susan woke up and return after she had gone to bed. Sunday afternoons were sometimes their only chance to see each other.

He remembered reaching the end of that period and looking at his wife with the thought: “Wow. Where have you been for a year?”

It was a joke about an exhausting work routine, but also a revealing detail. A prominent role could mean spending less time together, even when there was no premiere or overseas trip involved.

Susan Has Joined Him at Major Career Events

Susan has appeared beside Greenwood at events across different stages of his career.

In November 2009, they attended the Los Angeles DVD and Blu-ray release party for Star Trek. Greenwood had played Christopher Pike in the film, introducing him to another large audience.

They were photographed together again in January 2016 at the premiere of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Their life together has also crossed the border between Canada and the United States. The production notes for the 2015 film Truth described Bruce and Susan as dividing their time between Los Angeles and Vancouver.

Those appearances and biographical details establish parts of their shared history. Susan’s own career and early life, however, have received much less reliable coverage.

Bruce Has Pushed Back on Claims About Their Family

One detail worth treating carefully is the repeated claim that Susan and Bruce have a daughter.

During a 2014 interview about Endless Love, the interviewer explicitly identified that claim as inaccurate. Greenwood responded by discussing his frustration with incorrect information online and his unwillingness to spend his time trying to control it.

His response matters because the daughter claim continues to appear in biographical listings. Repetition does not make it more reliable than the interview in which he addressed it.

Greenwood has been similarly reluctant to explain his marriage at length. In an interview excerpt reproduced in 2023, he offered a straightforward reason:

“One of the reasons my marriage is successful is because I don’t talk about it much.”

Susan has joined him for public milestones, but he has left much of their relationship outside those conversations. They married before the Kennedy portrayal, before Star Trek and before many viewers knew his name. He has shared a few stories about the years in between—and kept the rest for themselves.