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| 2 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16994655740.06666000 |
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| 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.]] |
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| 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 |
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