A beloved actor from two of the most memorable film franchises of the 1980s was spotted out in Los Angeles this week, aged 78.

His first big break in Hollywood came in the 1970s, starring alongside Goldie Hawn in a film that marked Steven Spielberg’s theatrical feature-length debut.

But it was during the following decade that he played the two roles for which he remains most fondly remembered by cinemagoers today.

In the mid-1980s he landed a part in a sci-fi movie that spawned a string of sequels, a couple of reboots and more than one television program.

Four years later, he also held a supporting role in an action picture that has gone down in history as possibly Bruce Willis’ most beloved project.

Can you guess who he is?

A beloved actor from two of the most memorable film franchises of the 1980s was spotted out in Los Angeles this week, aged 78

The actor in question is William Atherton, known for his roles as the uptight bureaucrat Walter Peck in Ghostbusters and the unscrupulous TV reporter Dick Thornburg in Die Hard.

Atherton cut a sprightly figure when he was glimpsed in Los Angeles this week, wearing a sky-blue shirt untucked over loose-fitted black trousers.

The Connecticut-born actor sported a pair of burnt-orange sunglasses for his outing, which involved a visit to the dry cleaner’s to collect some of his clothes.

He has retained the dark blonde hair that fans will remember him sporting in the 1980s classics that cemented his place in Hollywood history.

Atherton’s breakthrough was as escaped convict Clovis in the 1974 movie The Sugarland Express – the feature theatrical debut of Steven Spielberg.

Clovis and his wife Lou Jean, played by Goldie Hawn, embark on a madcap mission to rescue their child from foster care, kidnapping a policeman in the process.

Exactly 10 years later, he appeared in one of his career-defining movies, Ghostbusters, amid the legendary original cast of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts.

Atherton played the pompous, meddling Environmental Protection Agency inspector Walter ‘D***less’ Peck who often butts up against the Ghostbusters, rendering him both an antagonist of sorts and a comic foil to the leads.

He is none other than William Atherton (left), who played the stuffy bureaucrat Walter Peck in Ghostbusters, in which he is pictured with Annie Potts, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis

In 1988 Atherton held another memorably unsympathetic role in Die Hard – TV reporter Dick Thornburg, who will stoop to any level to get a story

He first broke through in Hollywood in the 1970s, featuring in a Goldie Hawn-led movie that marked the theatrical feature-length debut of Steven Spielberg

The Connecticut-born actor accessorized with a burnt-orange set of shades for his outing, which included a stop at the dry cleaner’s to pick up a few of his clothes

He has retained the dark blonde hair that fans will remember him sporting in the 1980s classics that cemented his place in Hollywood history

Atherton’s breakthrough was as escaped convict Clovis in the 1974 movie The Sugarland Express – the feature theatrical debut of Steven Spielberg

Exactly 10 years later, he appeared in one of his career-defining movies, Ghostbusters, amid the legendary original cast led by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd

Atherton played the pompous, meddling Environmental Protection Agency inspector Walter ‘D***less’ Peck who often butts up against the Ghostbusters

He portrayed the role so well that the public began identifying him with Walter Peck, to the point of nagging inconvenience in his private life

Harold Ramis once recalled: ‘Atherton told me that he was walking down the street in New York and a busload of teenagers yelled at him,’ shouting a line from the film: ‘Yo, d***less!’

He returned to both franchises, featuring in the 1990 picture Die Hard 2 and acting in last year’s release Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

He could be seen in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire with a few of his old co-stars from the original as well as younger names like Paul Rudd and McKenna Grace

Atherton’s filmography has included the 1975 dark Hollywood satire The Day of the Locust and the 1977 crime drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar

He was also in the 2003 Tom Cruise starrer The Last Samurai and the 1974 film of The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford

On television, he has guested on hit shows ranging from Law & Order and Murder, She Wrote to Desperate Housewives and Monk

On television, he has guested on hit shows ranging from Law & Order and Murder, She Wrote to Desperate Housewives and Monk

He portrayed the role so well that the public began identifying him with Walter Peck, to the point of nagging inconvenience in his private life.

A year after the film’s release, he complained to its director Ivan Reitman: ‘You know, I can’t walk into a bar without people wanting to pick a fight with me.’

Harold Ramis once recalled: ‘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, d***less!”‘

In 1988 Atherton held another memorably unsympathetic role in Die Hard – TV reporter Dick Thornburg, who will stoop to any level to get a story.

He returned to both franchises, featuring in the 1990 picture Die Hard 2 and acting in last year’s release Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, with a few of his old co-stars from the original as well as younger names like Paul Rudd and McKenna Grace.

Atherton’s filmography has included the 1975 dark Hollywood satire The Day of the Locust, the 1977 crime drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar, the 2003 Tom Cruise starrer The Last Samurai and the 1974 film of The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford.

On television, he has guested on hit shows ranging from Law & Order and Murder, She Wrote to Desperate Housewives and Monk.

More recently he featured in this year’s independent movie Where Did the Adults Go?, written and directed by Courtney Marsh.