John Hammil
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John Hammil (born May 9, 1948, New York City, New York)1 is an American character actor whose career spanned film and television from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s. He is known to Ghostbusters fans for playing Detective No. 1 in Ghostbusters II (1989).
Career
Hammil established himself as a reliable supporting player in Hollywood productions of the 1980s and 1990s. His earliest confirmed screen credits are from 1985: he appeared as Joe in Crossover Dreams, the Ruben Blades musical drama, and as an Advertising Executive in A Chorus Line, the Michael Douglas-produced adaptation of the Broadway musical.2
In 1986 he played Dr. Lehman in the TV film Who Is Julia?. He appeared in Midnight Run (1988) alongside Robert De Niro, billed as FBI Surveillance Agent No. 2, and had a guest role on the prime-time soap Knots Landing the same year.2
After his appearance in Ghostbusters II (1989), Hammil continued working steadily in the early 1990s. He played Zach's Father in Ivan Reitman's Kindergarten Cop (1990) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, and appeared in Young Guns II (1990).3 He took on supporting roles in the action films American Yakuza (1993) and Blue Tiger (1994), with a guest credit on CBS's Burke's Law in 1994. He appeared as U.S. Embassy Counselor in David Fincher's psychological thriller The Game (1997) alongside Michael Douglas, and as Scientist Talbot in the horror film Phantoms (1998). His last screen credit on record is a 1999 guest appearance in the TV drama Profiler.2
Ghostbusters II
In Ghostbusters II (1989), Hammil plays Detective No. 1, credited in the film's press kit and screen credits under his own name.4 The character is one of three detectives who appear in the film. Detective No. 2 was played by Ray Glanzmann and Detective No. 3 by Alex Zimmerman.4
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
Footnotes
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"John Hammil (nm0358610)," IMDb, accessed June 13, 2026, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358610/ ↩
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"John Hammil," The Movie Database (TMDB), accessed June 13, 2026, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1390442-john-hammil ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Fandango, "John Hammil," accessed June 13, 2026, https://www.fandango.com/people/john-hammil-270758 ↩
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"Ghostbusters II (1989) Cast and Crew," The Movie Database (TMDB), accessed June 13, 2026, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2978-ghostbusters-ii/cast ↩ ↩2