GHOSTBUSTERS became a cult classic after its release in 1984 and is the highest-grossing comedy to date – raking in £220million worldwide
Through its hilarious script and use of expensive special effects, it spawned a billion-dollar franchise complete with board games, comic books, and haunted attractions.
Despite Ghostbusters II being a flop, the classic movie has being revived for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, released this week.
Rising stars Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard, who appear in the new movie alongside Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon, will be hoping the flick does the same for their careers as it did for the original stars.
Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver and Dan Ackroyd all went on to stellar Hollywood careers and a host of awards – while one star became a Toy Story icon.
We take a look at where the main cast has ended up since appearing in the film.
Bill Murray
Ghostbusters was Bill Murray‘s first main role in a big-budget blockbuster.
He took the role of Peter Venkman in a bid to raise funds for his own project The Razor’s Edge – which ended up being a flop.
Straight after the film was shown in 1984, Bill took a break from acting after being frustrated over his project tanking.
He studied philosophy and history at Sorbonne University for four years before returning to the cinema.
Bill starred in Groundhog Day, Mad Dog and Glory, Larger Than Life, and The Man Who Knew Too Little.
The comedic actor quickly established himself as a regular in massive silver screen flicks.
Then in the 2000s, he opted to switch to more dramatic roles and his career resurged.
He accepted roles in Wild Things, Cradle Will Rock, Hamlet (as Polonius), and The Royal Tenenbaums.
Outside of film, Bill is a partner in Murry Bros. Caddy Shack which is a restaurant in two locations.
He also part-owns minor league baseball teams St. Paul Saints, Charleston RiverDogs, the Hudson Valley Renegades, and the Brockton Rox.
Unlike many of his Hollywood counterparts, he doesn’t have an agent and is said to field roles through a personal voice mail that he rarely listens to.
Prior to starring in Ghostbusters, he married Margaret Kelly in 1981 and they went on to have two sons: Homer and Luke.
But in 1996 the pair divorced over Bill’s affair with Jennifer Butler – who he married a year late.
The couple had four sons together, Caleb, Jackson, Cooper, and Lincoln, but sadly divorced in 2008.
Thanks to his extensive movie work, Bill is thought to be worth £135million according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He’s scooped up a Golden Globe award, two Emmys and a BAFTA for his work.
He is currently appearing in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and will star in TV series The Now.
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney had already started making her name for herself as a lead actress thanks to roles in Alien and The Year of Living Dangerously.
But it was her role as Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters which led to her receiving widespread critical acclaim.
She went on to star in Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, which are noted as her two most memorable performances and secured her two Golden Globes.
Sigourney took a brief break from acting in 1990 to have her daughter and returned to screens with the third installment of the Alien franchise.
From there she went on to win a BAFTA for her role in The Ice Storm and Jenny Carver.
She also starred in Avatar and is returning for the film’s sequel and third instalment.
Sigourney has been married to director Jim Simpson since 1984 and the couple share one 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.
In 2009 she controversially signed a petition calling for Roman Polanski’s release after he was arrested in Switzerland on a 1979 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
She is back on screen in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and later in Stephen Spielberg’s The Good House.
Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd was the brains behind the concept for Ghostbusters and starred in it as Ray Stantz.
He had originally envisioned it as a film in space starring him and pal John Belushi but this was canned when Belushi died.
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 went on to be nominated for an Oscar in 1990 – making him the second SNL cast member to be up for the honour, after Joan Cusack.
Throughout the rest of the 1990s his film work widely flopped and was dismissed by critics.
In 2009, he wrote the Ghostbusters video game and he is an executive producer on Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Outside of film, he owns Crystal Head Vodka, and he started House of Blues to promote blues music and folk art. The venue chain has since been bought by Live Nation.
He had a short-lived engagement to Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher before marrying Donna Dixon, with whom he has three children including singer Vera Sola.
Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis co-wrote the screenplay for Ghostbusters with Dan and starred as Egon Spengler.
Like Dan, he was also a regular contributor on Saturday Night Live and also appeared on the sketch comedy series SCTV.
Prior to Ghostbusters he spent a few years dabbling in TV, before pursuing a career in film.
Harold made his directorial debut with Caddyshack which was a commercial success in 1980.
After Ghostbusters, he rarely acted and opted to stay behind the camera.
By 2005 he was able to charge a directing fee of £3.8million.
Sadly, in 2010 Harold contracted an infection that resulted in complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis and lost the ability to walk.
He re-learned but in 2011 he had 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 launched Rick Moranis’ career and saw him land leading roles in Little Shop of Horror, Spaceballs and The Flintstones.
He began to step back from his career after his wife of five years, Anne Belsky, died from cancer in 1991, at the age of 34. Six years later, he took time out to raise their two children.
He didn’t appear in another film until 23 years later when he signed on for a new sequel to Honey I shrunk the Kids, called Shrunk.
During his hiatus from screen, he occasionally provided voice-overs including for Disney’s Brother Bear.
In October 2020, Rick was assaulted in New York City and suffered minor injuries to his head, back, and hip.
Annie Potts
Annie was already on her way to being a fixture in Hollywood when she landed the role of Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters.
She went on to star in Pretty in Pink and voiced Bo Peep in Toy Story as well as Toy Story 2 and 4.
Annie moved into TV and held leading roles in Designing Women, Dangerous Minds, and Any Day Now.
She’s been nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a SAG award.
The actress, 69, is currently appearing in Young Sheldon as Connie Tucker who is Sheldon’s Meemaw.
She has been married three times and has three grown-up sons.
Annie returns in Ghostbusters: Afterlife as Janine.
William Atherton
Prior to appearing in Ghostbusters, William had starred in Steven Spielberg’s debut film The Sugarland Express.
His role in the cult classic was Walter Peck, who critics dubbed the “real villain of the film” and was hated so much by audiences that William was harassed in the street.
He went on to play Richard Thornberg in Die Hard and its sequel, as well as appearing in other blockbusters and TV series including Desperate Housewives, Law & Order, and Murder, She Wrote.
William has been married to Bobbi Goldin since December 1980 but controversially claimed he was once a homosexual but changed due to the teachings of philosopher Eli Siegel.
His most recent work is on Netflix’s thriller Clinical and he works with young adults to help with their productions of Shakespeare.
Ernie Hudson
Winston Zeddemore was Ernie’s breakout role which set his career in Hollywood on the right path.
He went on to star in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, HBO’s TV series Oz and later played Sandra Bullock’s FBI boss in Miss Congeniality.
A year after Ghostbusters was released, he married former flight attendant Linda Kingsberg.
Together they have two sons, and he has two sons from his previous marriage to Jeannie Moore.
He is set to reprise his role as Winston in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
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