Actor / Director Profile

William Atherton Knight was born on July 30, 1947 in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Robert and Roby Atherton Knight. He studied acting at the Drama School at Carnegie Tech and graduated from Carnegie-Mellon in 1969. A veteran of stage, film and television, Atherton began as a leading man in Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express (1974), John Schlesinger's The Day of the Locust (1975), and Richard Brooks' Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). He is most known for his iconic roles in Ghostbusters (1984), Real Genius (1985), Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), and Bio-Dome (1996). He began his career on the New York stage, creating roles for many of the country's leading playwrights including David Rabe, John Guare and Arthur Miller. He has received the Drama Desk Award, the Theater World Award and nominations for an Obie and Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award.