William Atherton was born on July 30, 1947 in Orange, Connecticut. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1969. He is known for playing jerks.
He played in Steven Spielberg's first film THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS [1974]. William Atherton portrayed villains in THE DAY OF THE LOCUST and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. In 1978, he played a cowpoke in the miniseries CENTENNIAL, a television adaptation of James Michener's book.
William Atherton played in the goofy sci-fi spoof, Ghostbusters, in 1984 with Sigorney Weaver, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, in which he portrays uber-zealous EPA agent, Walter Peck, who reigns in the Ghostbusters, before being convinced that they must be unleashed to save Manhattan from a jelly slobbering monsters.
In 1988, Atherton played narcissistic reporter Richard "Dick" Thornburg in the blockbuster action film, DIE HARD and DIE HARD 2 [1990]. In THE LAST SAMURAI [2003] he plays a gun dealer in Japan in the late 19th century.
William Atherton has appeared in almost 80 films and television projects.
William Atherton's other notable credits include...
THE KANE FILES: LIFE OF TRIAL (2010)
BGFATLDY (2008)
THE GIRL NEXT STORE (2007)
TOWARDS DARKNESS (2007)
TOTALLY BAKED: A POT-U-MENTARY (2007)
KUSH (2007)
HEADSPACE (2005)
INTO THE SUN (2005)
THE LAST
SAMURAI (2003)
THE CROW (2000)
FRANK AND JESSE (1994)
THE PELICAN
BRIEF (1993)
OSCAR (1991)
DIE HARD 2 (1990)
REAL GENIUS (1985)
GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)
William Atherton in DIE HARD 2 (1990)
William Atherton in OSCAR
Atherton in THE PELICAN BRIEF (1993)
William Atherton - MovieActors.com
