William Atherton

William Atherton (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor. He had starring roles in The Sugarland Express (1974), The Day of the Locust (1975), The Hindenburg (1975) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), but is perhaps most recognized for his roles in Ghostbusters (1984) and Die Hard (1988). Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut. He studied acting at the Drama School at Carnegie Tech and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1969. Career Atherton was successful on the New York stage immediately after graduating and worked with many of the country's leading playwrights including David Rabe, John Guare, and Arthur Miller, winning numerous awards for his work on and off Broadway. He got his big break playing hapless fugitive Clovis Poplin in The Sugarland Express (1974), the feature film debut of Steven Spielberg. After this, he garnered major roles in dark dramas such as The Day of the Locust (1975) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), as well as the big-budget disaster film The Hindenburg (1975). The Day of the Locust had a troubled production, with Atherton walking off the set and refusing to film his final scene "because he couldn't take it anymore." Atherton also starred as cowboy Jim Lloyd in the miniseries Centennial (1978), based on the novel by James Michener. He appeared in the comedy Ghostbusters (1984) as the officious and condescending EPA agent Walter Peck. K. Thor Jensen wrote, "Atherton, who plays cowardly EPA lawyer Walter Peck, is the real villain of the movie (his releasing the ghosts from the containment unit added to the chaos in New York), [he] was so hated that after the movie came out he was harassed on the street and challenged to fights in bars."