Peter Venkman, PhD is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He appears in the films Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. In those four live action films, he was portrayed by Bill Murray, and was voiced in the animated series first by Lorenzo Music and then by Dave Coulier. Dan Aykroyd originally wrote the script with John Belushi in mind to play the role of Peter but Belushi died of a drug overdose on March 5, 1982, leading Murray to get the role. Peter is a parapsychologist, initially a skeptic on the paranormal despite being a scientist on the subject, and the leader of the Ghostbusters. In 2008, Peter Venkman was selected by the magazine Empire as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, described by Empire's Nick de Semlyen as "the ultimate New York hero: cynical, sarcastic, secretly sweet-natured", "a man possessed by manic spontaneity, with a wont to twirl in circles around a public concourse or declare undying love for a woman he's just met", and the "most popular" character played by Murray.
Character Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Peter Venkman is one of three professors of parapsychology on the Ghostbusters team. He holds Ph.D.s in both parapsychology and psychology, though he rarely uses his scientific prowess (despite what he had learned in fields like metallurgy, engineering, and physics), and the papers of his research at Columbia University are sloppily written and spurious, leading people to doubt whether he was a legitimate scientist. Though never shown in the films, his dialogue implies that he reads erotic magazines like Playboy and Penthouse and watches pornographic films, and a poster of Marilyn Monroe taped on the wall of the laboratory he shared with Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz at the university likely belonged to him. Originally his professional interests were focused on paranormal phenomena like ESP; he appeared not to believe in ghosts until he actually saw one. In the movies, he is characterized by his flippant persona, his approach to his profession as a scientific charlatan, and his womanizing demeanor. Fred Pfeil sees in him a postmodern hero, whose level of "crass self-interest" safeguards him from being ensnared by a stereotypical role. Despite Peter's lackadaisical attitude, he has developed plans that help the Ghostbusters save the day, and he is shrewd and more street smart than the more academically inclined Ray and Egon. Peter serves as the front man and leader for the group and possesses more social ability than his friends. For instance, he persuades the city mayor to release them after being arrested, return their equipment, and otherwise support their attempt to stop Gozer the Gozerian. In addition, Peter uses a combination of his social skills and psychology/parapsychology knowledge (presumably) to assist the Ghostbusters during their climatic battles in Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Specifically, he informs his fellow Ghostbusters the intentions of Gozer when they are asked to choose the form of the destructor during the climax of the first film as well as distract Vigo the Carpathian and Gozer during the climax of the second film and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, respectively.
Appearances
Film
Ghostbusters (1984)
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