About[]
William Atherton (also known as Bill Atherton) is best known for his role as Walter Peck in the Ghostbusters film. He is also known for his roles in The Hindenberg, Die Hard, Die Hard 2, The Pelican Brief and Bio-Dome.
Ghostbusters Related Credits[]
- Ghostbusters - Portrayed Walter Peck
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Voiced Walter Peck
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Portrayed Walter Peck
Ghostbusters Behind The Scenes[]
Ghostbusters (1984) Behind The Scenes[]
William Atherton expressed concern about 2000 pounds of shaving cream being dumped on him in the shot after the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is blown up. Ivan Reitman tested it on a stunt man and deemed it was safe.[1][2][3] In contrast, according to Atherton, he approached the assistant directors and asked how much the cream weighed. He was told it was about 100 pounds. Atherton was concerned about the weight and asked if it would be okay if they tested the impact first. The assistant directors conceded to his point and brought in a stuntman. The stuntman was knocked flat on his back. Atherton suggested taking out 25 pounds or so.[4]
Ivan Reitman ran into William Atherton about a year after the first movie came out in theaters. Atherton reportedly was genuinely angry about people heckling him because of the Walter Peck role. Allegedly, he couldn't walk into a bar without people wanting to fight him,[5], children screamed and teased him wherever he went,[6] and people often quoted the "dickless" line in public, including a bus full of teenagers.[7]
Ghostbuters: Frozen Empire Behind The Scenes[]
On April 21, 2023, Ernie Hudson, Paul Rudd, and William Atherton were seen filming outside the St. James' Park Tube Station in London. Filming was also done at the 55 Broadway building at the same location.[8]
Trivia[]
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References[]
- ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:34:46-01:34:52). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: " Just before we were gonna shoot that, William Atherton came up to me and said, "Look, is this gonna hurt?" I said, "You know, I don't really know.""
- ↑ Harold Ramis (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:34:56-01:34:59). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Harold Ramis says: "No one's ever dropped 2,000 pounds of shaving cream on an actor before."
- ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:35:00-01:35:05). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "And so, I thought, "Well, I better try it out on a stunt guy." And it was no problem and we finally dropped it on him."
- ↑ William Atherton (2009). Ghostbusters- Slimer Mode (2009) (Blu-Ray ts. 01:34:31-01:35:41). Columbia TriStar Home Video. William Atherton says: "And I saw this great big bag of whipped cream. And I went, "Okay." Thinking, you know, "it's a big bag of whipped cream." And I went up and I asked one of the ADs, I said, "You know, how much does that weigh?" He said, "I don't know, it's about a hundred pounds." And I said, "it's a hundred pounds of whipped cream?" "Yeah, but it's whipped cream." And I said, "You know, the only test I passed in junior high was you have a hundred pounds of feathers and you have a hundred pounds of sand. What weighs more? They weigh the same." So I said, "Would it be too much to ask if somebody could kind of stand under here? Or could we test this to see how heavy it really is?" And so everybody went, "Oh, man, okay. All right. Yeah, the actor is unsure about it. Can we have a stunt guy stand in?" So the stunt guy's in and they zipped it out. It came down and knocked the guy flat. Just knocked him. And I went, "You know, well, maybe-- maybe 75 pounds.""
- ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 46:22-46:40). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "I ran into Atherton about a year after this film had come out. I was expecting him to, sort of, greet me with open arms because of the success of the film and he became quite famous from the movie. And he was genuinely pissed. He came up to me and he said, "You know, I can't walk into a bar without people wanting to pick a fight with me.""
- ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 46:41-46:44). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: ""Kids scream at me and make fun of me wherever I go.""
- ↑ Harold Ramis (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 46:52-47:02). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Harold Ramis says: "Atherton told me that he was walking down the street in New York and a busload of teenagers yelled at him. And he turned and smiled and waved, and they all went, "Yo, dickless!""
- ↑ Daily Mail "Ghostbusters stars Paul Rudd, William Atherton and movie original Ernie Hudson shoot Afterlife sequel in London.. amid reports of spooky sounds on tube during night shoots" 4/21/2023
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