Zach Galligan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February 14, 1964
Zach Galligan | |
|---|---|
 Galligan in 2025 | |
| Born | Zachary Wolfe Galligan February 14, 1964 New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse |
Alison Marie Rieger (m. 2025)Ling-Ling Hu Ingerick
(m. 2005; div. 2010) |
Zachary Wolfe Galligan (born February 14, 1964)[1] is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Billy Peltzer in the comedy-horror films Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).
Galligan was born on February 14, 1964, in New York City, the son of Carol Jean (née Wolfe), a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He is mostly of Irish descent, although he also has some English and Jewish ancestry (from Austria) on his mother’s side.[2][3][4][5] He graduated from Columbia University.[6][7]
Career
Galligan's most prominent role was as Billy Peltzer in the 1984 film Gremlins.[8][9][10] Prior to being cast in Gremlins, he filmed Nothing Lasts Forever, which had its theatrical release cancelled and went unreleased in any form for years.[11] In 1988, he starred as Mark Loftmore in the horror comedy Waxwork.[12] He reprised his role as Billy in the 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and returned to the role of Mark for Waxwork II: Lost in Time in 1992.[9]
In 2016, UK progressive rock band Gandalf's Fist announced that Galligan would voice a character on their album The Clockwork Fable.[13]
In early 2021, Galligan appeared in a Mountain Dew commercial in which his Gremlins character, Billy, gives Gizmo a drink of his Mountain Dew.[14] Galligan returned to the Gremlins franchise again in 2022, in the animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.[15]
Personal life
In 2025 Zach Galligan married Alison Marie Rieger in a private ceremony.
