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William Atherton

William Atherton has starred in motion pictures, on Broadway and television. He first achieved international prominence starring in Steven Spielberg's directorial debut, The Sugarland Express, followed by John Schlesinger's classic The Day of the Locust. Atherton is best known for his roles as an antagonistic news anchorman in the action blockbusters Die Hard I and II, and as a zealous bureaucrat in the original smash hit comedy Ghostbusters. Other major films include Richard Brooks' Looking For Mr. Goodbar, Robert Wise's The Hindenberg, Martha Coolidge's Real Genius, John Landis' Oscar, Bill Duke's Hoodlum, Richard Pearce's No Mercy, Alan J. Pakula's The Pelican Brief and Costa Gravas' Mad City, co-starring with James Woods and Annabeth Gish in Race To Space, Andy Fickman's Who's Your Daddy?, Ed Zwick's The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise and Matt Davis, and the upcoming releases Into the Sun from Franchise Pictures and the independent psychological thriller/horror Head Space with Sean Young.

On television, he starred in numerous cable movies, including Frank and Jessie and Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne's Broken Trust for TNT. He also had lead roles in the miniseries Malibu and Centennial, as well as in the PBS American Playhouse special The House of Mirth. He portrayed Darryl F. Zanuck in HBO's Golden Globe winner Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and can be seen in the upcoming Hallmark mini- series Gone, But Not Forgotten with Brooke Shields and Scott Glenn.

Consistently honored for his work on the stage, Atherton has created roles on and off Broadway for many of America's leading playwrights. He won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his creation of the title role in David Wiltse's Suggs in the City and an Obie nomination for the title role in David Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. He also earned a Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, and received Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for his work in Misalliance.

He also starred in the original productions of John Guare's House of Blue Leaves and Rich and Famous, and appeared in the Broadway presentations of Arthur Miller's The American Clock and Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. His repertoire also includes Steve Tesich's The Passing Game, George Abbott's Broadway, with Gilda Radner, The

Kennedy Center's highly acclaimed staging of The Scarecrow, and the Los Angeles productions of Child's Play and Nicholas Meyer's Loco Motives. He starred in the regional premiere of the award-winning Art directed by Judd Hirsch and most recently on Broadway in the world premier of Franz Kafka's: The Castle at The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and Off Broadway in the critically acclaimed original production of Address Unknown adapted and directed by Frank Dunlop.

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