1 | %% |
2 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16994655740.06666000 |
3 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
4 | %% |
5 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oip_2023_11_08t114423832.jpg]] |
6 | [[caption-width-right:300:Yes, it's true. This man has no dick.]] |
7 | %% |
8 | |
9 | ->''"If you have to be TheAntagonist, you often have a lot more creative powers. You have a lot more color to you."'' |
10 | |
11 | William Atherton (born William Atherton Knight; July 30, 1947 in Orange, Connecticut) is an American film, stage and television actor. He's perhaps best known for his role as {{jerkass}} EPA inspector Walter "Dickless" Peck in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'', and since then has mostly (but not exclusively) played jerks. |
12 | |
13 | ---- |
14 | !!Partial filmography: |
15 | [[foldercontrol]] |
16 | |
17 | [[folder:Film roles]] |
18 | * ''Film/TheSugarlandExpress'' (1974) as Clovis Poplin |
19 | * ''Literature/TheDayOfTheLocust'' (1975) as Tod Hackett |
20 | * ''Film/{{The Hindenburg|1975}}'' (1975) as Karl Boerth |
21 | * ''Film/LookingForMrGoodbar'' (1977) as James |
22 | * ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' (1984) as Walter Peck |
23 | ** ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' (2024) |
24 | * ''Film/RealGenius'' (1985) as Prof. Jerry Hathaway |
25 | * ''Film/DieHard'' (1988) as Richard '[[ADickInName Dick]]' Thornberg |
26 | * ''[[Film/DieHard Die Hard 2]]'' (1990) as Richard Thornberg |
27 | * ''Film/GrimPrairieTales'' (1990) as Arthur |
28 | * ''[[Recap/DiagnosisMurderDiagnosisOfMurder Diagnosis of Murder]]'' (1992) as Eric Walker |
29 | * ''Film/ThePelicanBrief'' (1993) as Bob Gminski |
30 | * ''Film/FrankAndJesse'' (1995) as Allan Pinkerton |
31 | * ''Film/BioDome'' (1996) as Dr. Noah Faulkner |
32 | * ''Film/MadCity'' (1997) as Dohlen |
33 | * ''Film/TheCrowSalvation'' (2000) as Nathan Randall |
34 | * ''Film/TheLastSamurai'' (2003) as Winchester Rep |
35 | * ''Literature/{{The Girl Next Door}}'' (2007) as Adult David Moran |
36 | [[/folder]] |
37 | |
38 | [[folder:Television roles]] |
39 | * ''Series/{{Centennial}}'' (1978–79) as Jim Lloyd |
40 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' (2 episodes, 1985-87) as Mr. Dundee/Brian Wolfe |
41 | * ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' (3 episodes, 1985–91) as Larry Holleran/Greg Dalton/Andy Henley |
42 | * ''Series/TheEqualizer'' (2 episodes, 1987–89) as Martin 'Alpha' Loeber/Gideon |
43 | * ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' (1 episode, 1991) as Malcolm Mayflower |
44 | * ''Series/NashBridges'' (1 episode, 1996) as Dr. Linus Mills |
45 | * ''Series/ThePractice'' (3 episodes, 1997–99) as DA Keith Pratt |
46 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' (1 episode, 1998) as Franklin Murdoch |
47 | * ''Series/NightVisions'' (1 episode, 2001) as William Price |
48 | * ''Series/LawAndOrder'' (2 episodes, 2002–04) as Don Snyder/Dan Jensen |
49 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (1 episode, 2003) as Dr. Destiny/John Dee (voice) |
50 | * ''Series/BostonLegal'' (1 episode, 2005) as ADA Howard Zale |
51 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'' (1 episode, 2006) as Emissary Varta |
52 | * ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' (1 episode, 2006) as Dr. Barr |
53 | * ''Series/{{Monk}}'' (1 episode, 2008) as Commander Nathan Whitaker |
54 | * ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'' (2008–09) as Mickey Rayborn |
55 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'' (1 episode, 2010) as Principal Donald Reynolds |
56 | * ''Series/TheGlades'' (1 episode, 2010) as Big Jack Hasker |
57 | * ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'' (1 episode, 2011) as Dr. Ari Weiss |
58 | * ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'' (1 episode, 2012) as Thor Holmvik |
59 | * ''Series/ChildrensHospital'' (1 episode, 2013) as Levon Bainter |
60 | * ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' (2014) as Viceroy Berto Mercado |
61 | [[/folder]] |
62 | |
63 | ---- |
64 | !!Tropes associated with William Atherton: |
65 | * DeadpanSnarker: In keeping with their smugness and jerkish behavior, his characters get a lot of barbed remarks. |
66 | * EmbarrassingNickname: Has been called "dickless" more times than he can count because of an insult directed at his character in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' by Ray Stantz (Creator/DanAykroyd). |
67 | * EvilRedhead: By the nature of his career path, he plays mostly bad guys. Though few are really '''evil'''. They're mostly ObstructiveBureaucrat types. |
68 | * IAmNotSpock: While he doesn't necessarily mind the association with roles like Walter Peck and Dick Thornburg, he's made a point of letting fans know that he isn't anything like the smarmy, sarcastic jerks he plays. |
69 | * {{Jerkass}}: [[MeanCharacterNiceActor Not in real life]], but many of his characters post ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}''. At the time he resented it, but in the ''Entertainment Weekly'' interview for ''Ghostbusters'' 30th anniversary he says it gave him a great niche that he wound up making a good living off of. |
70 | * ObstructiveBureaucrat: Several roles, most notably his most famous: Walter Peck in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}''. |
71 | * PlayingAgainstType: He played a rare sympathetic role as the adult David in ''Literature/TheGirlNextDoor''. |
72 | * PlayingWithCharacterType: In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', he voiced Doctor Destiny, who was a smug jerk like many of his other characters. However, Doctor Destiny’s smugness came from being a flat-out sociopath with delusions of grandeur, and he psychologically tortured people out of petty vengeance, even murdering his ex-wife for leaving him, taking his characters’s usual cruelty to downright unsettling levels. |
73 | * SmugSnake: Many characters. Few characters actors can sell smarmy overconfidence and arrogance as well. |
74 | * TypeCasting: After ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' as Walter Peck he was mostly cast as the arrogant, smug jerkass character. |
75 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Creator / WilliamAtherton
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load