William Atherton | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Atherton in 2009 | |
| Born | William Atherton Knight[1] (1947-07-30)July 30, 1947 (age 78)[2] Orange, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Spouse | |
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William Atherton (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor. He had starring roles inThe Sugarland Express (1974),The Day of the Locust (1975),The Hindenburg (1975) andLooking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), but is most recognized for what have become iconic roles in theGhostbusters andDie Hard film series.
Atherton was born July 30, 1947, inOrange, Connecticut. He studied acting at the Drama School at Carnegie Tech and graduated fromCarnegie Mellon University in 1969.[3]
Atherton was successful on the New York stage immediately after graduating and worked with many of the country's leading playwrights includingDavid Rabe,John Guare, andArthur Miller, winning numerous awards for his work on and off Broadway.[4]
He got his big break playing hapless fugitive Clovis Poplin inThe Sugarland Express (1974), the feature film debut ofSteven Spielberg.[5] After this, he garnered major roles in dark dramas such asThe Day of the Locust (1975) andLooking for Mr. Goodbar (1977),[6] as well as the big-budget disaster filmThe Hindenburg (1975).[7] He provided lead vocals for "What'll I Do", the main title theme for theRobert Redford film version ofThe Great Gatsby.
Atherton also starred as cowboy Jim Lloyd in the miniseriesCentennial (1978), based on the novel byJames Michener. He appeared in the comedyGhostbusters (1984) as the officious and condescendingEPA agentWalter Peck.
Martha Coolidge chose Atherton to play Professor Jerry Hathaway in the teen comedyReal Genius (1985). He played reporter Richard "Dick" Thornburg in the blockbuster action filmDie Hard (1988), and reprised the role in its sequelDie Hard 2 (1990).[8]
Other film credits includeNo Mercy (1986),The Pelican Brief (1993),Bio-Dome (1996),Mad City (1997),The Crow: Salvation (2000),The Last Samurai (2003),Grim Prairie Tales (1990), the TV moviesBuried Alive (1990),Headspace (2005) andVirus (1995). He has also made guest appearances on such television series asThe Twilight Zone,Murder, She Wrote,Desperate Housewives,Law & Order,The Equalizer,Boston Legal,Castle andMonk. Atherton provided the voice ofDr. Destiny onJustice League. He had a recurring role in NBC's detective dramaLife.
His 2007 appearances included the filmThe Girl Next Door, an adaptation of the best-selling Jack Ketchumnovel of the same name. He also reprised his role as Walter Peck inGhostbusters: The Video Game, released on June 16, 2009.[9]
Atherton was cast in the final season of ABC'sLost.[10] He appeared in the musicalGigi for theReprise Theatre in Los Angeles as "Honoré Lachailles" in 2011.[11]
Following his work on the musical, he stepped into a comedic role inTim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012), produced byWill Ferrell'sFunny or Die,Gary Sanchez Productions andAbso Lutely Productions.[12][13]
In summer 2014, Atherton was cast in a recurring role as Viceroy Mercado in theSyfy seriesDefiance'ssecond season.
Atherton co-starred in the 2017Netflix thriller,Clinical,[14] and appears in several upcoming documentaries on his most iconic films. The first to be released isCleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) which features the original 1984 cast.[15]
In 2024, Atherton reprised his role as Walter Peck, now the mayor of New York City, in the filmGhostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Atherton has been married to writer Bobbi Goldin since December 8, 1980.[16] OnThe Phil Donahue Show in 1981, Atherton claimed that he was oncehomosexual but changed due to theAesthetic Realism ofEli Siegel.[17]
Atherton has sung in various productions in later years. In 2011, he performed "I Remember It Well," a popular song fromGigi with his former Reprise Theater co-star,Millicent Martin, at a sold-out performance in Palm Springs for Michael Childers'sOne Night Only, benefiting the Jewish Family Service of the Desert.[18] He returned in 2013 to the same sold-out event to sing the classic, "Isn't It Romantic?"[19]
Atherton appeared with his formerCentennial costarStephanie Zimbalist in the Gregory Peck Reading Series, a project of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles benefiting the Los Angeles Public Library.Roddy McDowall was host for the event.[20]
In December 2018, Atherton participated in the Library Foundation's reading of excerpts from book editor and critic,David Kipen's best-seller,Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | The New Centurions | Johnson | |
| 1973 | Class of '44 | Fraternity President | |
| 1974 | The Great Gatsby | Singing voice for "What'll I Do" | |
| The Sugarland Express | Clovis Michael Poplin | ||
| 1975 | The Day of the Locust | Tod Hackett | |
| The Hindenburg | Karl Boerth | ||
| 1976 | Independence | Benjamin Rush | |
| 1977 | Looking for Mr. Goodbar | James | |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Walter Peck | |
| 1985 | Real Genius | Professor Jerry Hathaway | |
| 1986 | No Mercy | Allan Deveneux | |
| 1988 | Die Hard | Richard Thornburg | |
| 1990 | Die Hard 2 | Richard Thornburg | |
| Grim Prairie Tales: Hit the Trail... to Terror | Arthur | ||
| 1991 | Oscar | Overton | |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief | Bob Gminski | |
| 1994 | Saints and Sinners | Terence McCone | |
| Frank & Jesse | Allan Pinkerton | ||
| 1996 | Bio-Dome | Dr. Noah Faulkner | |
| 1997 | Hoodlum | Thomas Dewey | |
| Mad City | Malt Dohlen | ||
| 1998 | Michael Kael vs. the World News Company | James Denit | |
| 1999 | The Stranger | Arthur | |
| 2000 | The Crow: Salvation | Nathan Randall | |
| Bread and Roses | Himself – Party Guest | Uncredited | |
| 2001 | Burning Down the House | Arthur Kranston | |
| Race to Space | Ralph Stanton | ||
| 2003 | The Last Samurai | Mr. McCabe | |
| Who's Your Daddy? | Uncle Duncan "Duncay" Mack | ||
| 2005 | Into the Sun | Agent Block | |
| Headspace | Dr. Ira Gold | ||
| 2007 | Kush | King | |
| Hacia la oscuridad | John | ||
| Totally Baked | Mr. Lyle Funonion | Segment: "FunOnion Boardroom" | |
| The Girl Next Door | Adult David Moran | ||
| 2008 | Black Crescent Moon | Jo Dexton | |
| 2010 | The Kane Files: Life of Trial | Daniel Morgan | |
| 2012 | Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie | Earle Swinter | |
| Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Dolan | ||
| The Citizen | Winston | ||
| 2013 | Getting Back to Zero | ||
| 2014 | Jinn | Father Westhoff | |
| 2017 | Clinical | Terry Drummond | |
| 2018 | Bad Company | ||
| 2019 | Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters | Himself | Documentary film |
| 2024 | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | Mayor Walter Peck | [22] |
| TBD | Where Did the Adults Go? | The Father |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | Centennial | Jim Lloyd | 9 episodes Miniseries |
| 1981 | The House of Mirth | Lawrence Selden | Television film |
| 1983 | Malibu | Stan Harvey | Television film |
| 1985, 1987 | The Twilight Zone | Mr. Dundee/Brian Wolfe | 2 episodes |
| 1985, 1987, 1991 | Murder, She Wrote | Larry Holleran/Greg Dalton/Andy Henley | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | The Equalizer | Martin "Alpha" Loeber | Episode: "Blood and Wine" |
| 1989 | The Equalizer | Gideon | Episode: "17 Zebra" |
| 1990 | Buried Alive | Cortland "Cort" van Owen | Television film |
| 1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Malcolm Mayflower | Episode: "Easel Kill Ya" |
| 1992 | Diagnosis: Murder – Diagnosis of Murder | Eric Walker | Television film |
| 1995 | Virus | Dr. Reginald Holloway | Television film |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Dr. Linus Mills | Episode: "Key Witness" |
| 1997, 1999 | The Practice | D.A. Keith Pratt | 3 episodes |
| 1998 | The Outer Limits | Franklin Murdoch | Episode: "To Tell the Truth" |
| 1999 | Introducing Dorothy Dandridge | Darryl Zanuck | Television film |
| 2001 | Night Visions | William Price | Episode: "Hate Puppet/Darkness" Segment: "Hate Puppet" |
| 2002, 2004 | Law & Order | Don Snyder/Dan Jensen | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Justice League | John Dee / Doctor Destiny | 2 episodes Voice |
| 2005 | Boston Legal | A.D.A. Howard Zale | Episode: "It Girls and Beyond" |
| 2006 | Stargate SG-1 | Varta | Episode: "Collateral Damage" |
| Desperate Housewives | Dr. Barr | 2 episodes | |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Warren Pierce | Episode: "Tabu" |
| 2008 | Monk | Commander Nathan Whitaker | Episode: “Mr. Monk Is Underwater” |
| 2008–2009 | Life | Mickey Rayborn | 8 episodes |
| 2010 | Lost | Principal Donald Reynolds | Episode: "Dr. Linus" |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Ned Bogden | Episode: "Bedtime" | |
| 2011 | Castle | Dr. Ari Weiss | Episode: "Head Case" |
| 2012 | Workaholics | Thor Holmvik | Episode: "The Meat Jerking Beef Boys" |
| 2013 | Defiance | Viceroy Berto Mercado | 5 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ghostbusters: The Video Game | Walter Peck | Voice |
| 2019 | Planet Coaster | Walter Peck | Voice |
| Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered | Walter Peck | Voice |
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