Desmond Devenish


Desmond Thomas Devenish is an English-American filmmaker, producer, actor, and screenwriter.

Early life

Devenish was born in Manhattan, New York City to Louise Devenish, appraiser and professor of fine and decorative arts and Thomas Devenish, a New York dealer of fine English furniture, born in England to parents who were vaudevillians. Devenish was named Desmond when his father sat in-between Desmond Guinness and Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, during a gala event on Georgian art and antiques at the Metropolitan Club the night he was born.
Among the schools Devenish attended were Saint David's School, Riverdale Country School, John F. Kennedy High School, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, Marymount Manhattan College, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts, and The Los Angeles Film School.

Theatre

Devenish performed in the Broadway production of On the Waterfront at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre, which starred Ron Eldard, Penelope Ann Miller, David Morse and James Gandolfini.

Film

While still in high school, Devenish landed the lead role in Delinquent, directed by Peter Hall. He also starred in Exit 8A which ran at Sundance and The LA Film Festival.
As a filmmaker, his LA Film School thesis, Split, was acquired by Shorts International. His second short Closure won best short at San Pedro International Film Festival. Devenish's feature film directorial debut, Misfortune, a gritty thriller shot in Tucson, Arizona won the Yellow Rose at Jaipur International Film Festival, best feature at Black Hills Film Festival, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at Dances With Films.
Misfortune was theatrically released in a dozen U.S. markets, and is distributed by Entertainment One.

Television

Stretch It Out!, a comedy special, written and performed by Shawn Pelofsky and directed by Devenish, is distributed by Comedy Dynamics.

Stage work

Filmography

Film