The fifth Ghostbusters is coming to cinemas this Easter, but where are the original cast members now? The Mirror takes a look at what happened to the actors after their hit success
It was the decade of big hair, neon and mixed tapes but for film fanatics, the '80s will be best remembered for Ghostbusters.
The film became a cult classic after its release in 1984 and - four decades later - the fifth sequel is coming to cinemas this Easter weekend. It is the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), which airs again tonight on TV, and the fifth film in the Ghostbusters franchise.
The film stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor, and Logan Kim, who have reprised their roles from Afterlife, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton reprising their characters from the earlier films. The Mirror takes a look at where the original cast members are now...
Bill Murray
Bill Murray accepted the part of Peter Venkman in the first Ghostbusters film because he needed the money for his own project, The Razor's Edge. His project ended up being a flop but Bill then went on to star in Groundhog Day, Larger Than Life, and The Man Who Knew Too Little. In 1981 he married Margaret Kelly and they had two sons, Homer and Luke.
However in 1996, the pair divorced after Bill had an affair with Jennifer Butler - who he married a year later. The couple had four sons together - Caleb, Jackson, Cooper, and Lincoln - but divorced in 2008. Bill, now 73, is thought to be worth £135 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth and has received a Golden Globe award, two Emmys and a BAFTA for his work.
Sigourney Weaver
Before taking on the role in Ghostbusters as Dana Barrett, Sigourney, now 73, had already started making a name for herself after starring in Alien and The Year of Living Dangerously. She went on to star in Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl and received two Golden Globes respectively. In 1990 she took a break from acting to have her daughter before returning with the third instalment of the Alien franchise.
She went on to win a BAFTA for her role in The Ice Storm and Jenny Carver. Sigourney has been married to director Jim Simpson since 1984 and the couple share a daughter Charlotte. Since appearing in Gorillas in the Mist she has supported the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is currently the charity's honorary chairwoman.
Dan Ackroyd
Dan Aykroyd, 70, was the brains behind the concept for Ghostbusters and starred in it as Ray Stantz. Following the success of Ghostbusters, the Canadian actor went on to star in Spies Like Us, Dragnet and Driving Miss Daisy. He won an Emmy in 1977 for his work on Saturday Night Live and was nominated for an Oscar in 1990.
In 2009 he wrote the Ghostbusters video game and he is an executive producer on Ghostbusters: Afterlife. For a brief period he was engaged to Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher before marrying Donna Dixon, with whom he has three children. The couple announced their separation in 2022.
Annie Potts
Annie was already on her way to being a Hollywood star when she landed the role of Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters. She made her debut on the big screen in 1978 in Corvette Summer, with Mark Hamill and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in the film. After Ghostbusters she went on to star in Pretty in Pink and voiced Bo Peep in Toy Story.
The actress, 71, has been married four times and has five grown-up sons. She has three sons with her third husband Scott Senechal and two with her fourth and current husband James Hayman. During her long career she's been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
William Atherton
William played Walter Peck who was hated so much it led to him being harassed in the street. Prior to appearing in Ghostbusters, the actor also starred in Steven Spielberg's debut film The Sugarland Express and went on to play Richard Thornberg in Die Hard. He’s since appeared in TV series including Desperate Housewives, Law & Order and Murder, She Wrote.
The actor gained success on the New York stage immediately after graduating and worked with leading playwrights including Arthur Miller, winning numerous awards for his work on and off Broadway. Although William has been married to Bobbi Goldin since December 1980 he claimed he was once a hom*osexual but changed due to the teachings of philosopher Eli Siegel. He’s back for the fifth Ghostbusters film as Walter Peck, the cynical EPA inspector who tried to shut down the Ghostbusters in the original movie.
Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis starred as Egon Spengler and co-wrote the screenplay for Ghostbusters with Dan Ackroyd. Before the success of Ghostbusters he’d spent a few years dabbling in TV and was a regular contributor on Saturday Night Live. After Ghostbusters, he opted to stay behind the camera and directed Groundhog Day.
In 2010 Harold contracted an infection and lost the ability to walk. He re-learned but in 2011 suffered a relapse of the disease. On February 24, 2014, Harold passed away aged 69, leaving behind two sons and a daughter from two marriages.
Rick Moranis
Ghostbusters was just the start of Rick Moranis' successful career and he later went on to accept leading roles in Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs and The Flintstones. He stepped back from his career after his wife of five years, Anne Belsky, died from cancer in 1991, at the tender age of 34. He took time out to raise their two children and didn't appear in another film until 23 years later when he signed up for a sequel to Honey I shrunk the Kids, called Shrunk.
However, during his break from the big screen, he occasionally provided voice-overs including for Disney's Brother Bear. He declined an invitation to make a cameo appearance in 2016's Ghostbusters. But rather than retiring from acting in films, he has instead become more selective about future roles he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ernie Hudson
Ernie played Winston Zeddemore before going on to star in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, HBO series Oz, and Sandra Bullock's FBI boss in Miss Congeniality. He reprised his role as Winston in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and is back for the fifth instalment.
Hudson married his first wife, Jeannie Moore, in 1963, when she was just sixteen and he was eighteen. They had two sons, Ernie Hudson Jr. and Rahaman Hudson. When Hudson and Jeannie divorced in 1976, their sons moved to live with Hudson in California. In 1985, Hudson married former flight attendant Linda Kingsberg, and they had two sons, Andrew and Ross.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is on BBC tonight at 7:05pm
