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Harold Ramis

Harold Allen Ramis (/ˈrmɪs/; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), and as Russell Ziskey in Stripes (1981); he also co-wrote those films. As a director, his films include the comedies Caddyshack (1980), National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Groundhog Day (1993), Analyze This (1999) and Analyze That (2002). Ramis was the original head writer of the television series SCTV, on which he also performed, as well as a co-writer of Groundhog Day and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). The final film that he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in was Year One (2009).

Harold Ramis
Ramis in 2009
Born
Harold Allen Ramis

(1944-11-21)November 21, 1944
DiedFebruary 24, 2014(2014-02-24) (aged 69)
Resting placeShalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, director, writer
Years active1968–2010
Spouses
  • Anne Plotkin
    (m. 1967; div. 1984)
  • Erica Mann
    (m. 1989)
Children4

Ramis's films influenced subsequent generations of comedians, comedy writers and actors.[1] Filmmakers and actors including Jay Roach, Jake Kasdan, Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Peter and Bobby Farrelly have cited his films as among their favorites.[1] Along with Danny Rubin, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Groundhog Day.[2]

Early life

Ramis was born on November 21, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois,[3] the son of Ruth (née Cokee) (1919–2001) and Nathan Ramis (1915–2009), who owned the Ace Food & Liquor Mart on the city's far North Side.[1] Ramis had a Jewish upbringing.[4][5][6][7] In his adult life, he did not practice any religion.[8][9] He graduated from Stephen K. Hayt Elementary School in June 1958 and Nicholas Senn High School in 1962, both Chicago public schools,[10] and in 1966 from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri,[1][11] where he was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.[12]

Afterward, Ramis worked in a mental institution in St. Louis for seven months. He later said of his time working there that it:

…prepared me well for when I went out to Hollywood to work with actors. People laugh when I say that, but it was actually very good training. And not just with actors; it was good training for just living in the world. It's knowing how to deal with people who might be reacting in a way that's connected to anxiety or grief or fear or rage. As a director, you're dealing with that constantly with actors. But if I were a businessman, I'd probably be applying those same principles to that line of work.[11]

Career

Early years

Ramis began writing parodic plays in college, saying years later, "In my heart, I felt I was a combination of Groucho and Harpo Marx, of Groucho using his wit as a weapon against the upper classes, and of Harpo's antic charm and the fact that he was oddly sexy—he grabs women, pulls their skirts off, and gets away with it."[1] He avoided the Vietnam War military draft by taking methamphetamine to fail his draft physical.[13]

Following his work in St. Louis, Ramis returned to Chicago, where by 1968, he was a substitute teacher at schools serving the inner-city Robert Taylor Homes.[14] He also became associated with the guerrilla television collective TVTV, headed by his college friend Michael Shamberg, and wrote freelance for the Chicago Daily News. "Michael Shamberg, right out of college, had started freelancing for newspapers and got on as a stringer for a local paper, and I thought, 'Well, if Michael can do that, I can do that.' I wrote a spec piece and submitted it to the Chicago Daily News, the Arts & Leisure section, and they started giving me assignments [for] entertainment features."[15] Additionally, Ramis had begun studying and performing with Chicago's Second City improvisational comedy troupe.[16]

Ramis's newspaper writing led to him becoming joke editor at Playboy magazine.[11] "I called…just cold and said I had written several pieces freelance and did they have any openings. And they happened to have their entry-level job, party jokes editor, open. He liked my stuff and he gave me a stack of jokes that readers had sent in and asked me to rewrite them. I had been in Second City in the workshops already and Michael Shamberg and I had written comedy shows in college."[15] Ramis was eventually promoted to associate editor.[17]

National Lampoon, SCTV, and The Top

After leaving Second City for a time and returning in 1972, having been replaced in the main cast by John Belushi, Ramis worked his way back as Belushi's deadpan foil. In 1974, Belushi brought Ramis and other Second City performers, including Ramis's frequent future collaborator Bill Murray, to New York City to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour.[1]

During this time, Ramis, Belushi, Murray, Joe Flaherty, Christopher Guest, and Gilda Radner starred in the revue The National Lampoon Show, the successor to National Lampoon's Lemmings.[18] Later, Ramis became a performer on, and head writer of, the Canadian sketch-comedy television series SCTV during its first three years (1976–1979).[19] At this juncture, SCTV was seen mainly in Canada, and also via syndication in scattered markets in the US. He was soon offered work as a writer at Saturday Night Live but chose to continue with SCTV.[17] Characterizations by Ramis on SCTV include weaselly, corrupt and constantly sweating Dialing for Dollars host/SCTV station manager Maurice "Moe" Green, outwardly amiable (but thoroughly fascist) cop Officer Friendly, exercise guru Swami Bananananda (whose real name was Dennis Peterson), stern board chairman Allan "Crazy Legs" Hirschman and home dentist Mort Finkel. His celebrity impressions on SCTV included Kenneth Clark and Leonard Nimoy.

In 1984, Ramis executive produced a music/comedy/variety television show called The Top. The producer was Paul Flaherty and the director was David Jove. Ramis got involved after the mysterious death of his friend Peter Ivers, who had hosted Jove's underground show New Wave Theatre. He called Jove and offered to help. Flattery and Jove pitched him the idea for The Top, and Ramis was instrumental in getting it on the air.

The show was a mixture of live music, videos, and humor. Performers on the show included Cyndi Lauper, who performed "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "True Colors"; the Hollies, who performed "Stop in the Name of Love"; and the Romantics, who performed their two hits at the time, "Talking in Your Sleep" and "What I Like About You."

Guest stars included Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Dan Aykroyd. Ramis got Bill Murray to host but, because Ghostbusters filming ran late, he did not make it to the taping. Chase came out dressed as a "punk" of the time and somehow got into a physical altercation with an audience member (also a punk) during the opening monologue. He immediately left the taping. Flattery and Jove carried on with the show.

Ramis then got Andy Kaufman to fill in for Chase and recorded the host segments at a separate, later, session; it would be Kaufman's final professional appearance.

The Top aired on Friday, January 27, 1984, at 7 p.m. It scored a 7.7% rating and a 14% share. This represented a 28% rating increase and a 27% share increase over KTLA's regularly scheduled Happy Days/Laverne and Shirley.

Film career

Ramis left SCTV to pursue a film career and wrote a script with National Lampoon magazine's Douglas Kenney, which eventually became National Lampoon's Animal House. They were later joined by a third collaborator, Chris Miller. The 1978 film followed the struggle between a rowdy college fraternity house and the college dean. The film's humor was raunchy for its time. Animal House "broke all box-office records for comedies" and earned $141 million.[1]

He also had a voice part as Zeke in the "So Beautiful & So Dangerous" segment of Heavy Metal in 1981.

Ramis next co-wrote the comedy Meatballs, starring Bill Murray. The movie was a commercial success and became the first of six film collaborations between Murray and Ramis.[1] His third film and his directorial debut was Caddyshack, which he wrote with Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray. It starred Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray. Like Ramis's previous two films, Caddyshack was a commercial success.

In 1982, Ramis was attached to direct the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The film was to star John Belushi and Richard Pryor, but the project was aborted.[20] In 1984, Ramis collaborated with Dan Aykroyd on the screenplay for Ghostbusters, which became one of the biggest comedy hits of all time, in which he also starred as Dr. Egon Spengler.[21] He reprised the role for the 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II (which he also co-wrote with Aykroyd). His later film Groundhog Day has been called his "masterpiece."[1]

His films have been noted for attacking "the smugness of institutional life…with an impish good [will] that is unmistakably American." They are also noted for "Ramis's signature tongue-in-cheek pep talks." Sloppiness and improv were also important aspects of his work. Ramis frequently depicted the qualities of "anger, curiosity, laziness, and woolly idealism" in "a hyper-articulate voice."[1]

Ramis also occasionally acted in supporting roles in acclaimed films that he did not write or direct, such as James L. Brooks's Academy Award-winning As Good as It Gets (1997) and Judd Apatow's hit comedy Knocked Up (2007).

In 2004, Ramis turned down the opportunity to direct the Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher film Guess Who, then under the working title "The Dinner Party," because he considered it poorly written. That same year, he began filming the low-budget The Ice Harvest, "his first attempt to make a comic film noir." Ramis spent six weeks trying to get the film greenlit because he had difficulty reaching an agreement about stars John Cusack's and Billy Bob Thornton's salaries. The film received mixed reviews. In 2004, Ramis's typical directing fee was $5 million.[1]

In an interview in the documentary American Storytellers, Ramis said he hoped to make a film about Emma Goldman (even pitching Disney with the idea of having Bette Midler star)[22] but that none of the film studios were interested and that it would have been difficult to raise the funding.

Ramis said in 2009 that he planned to make a third Ghostbusters film for release either in mid-2011[23] or for Christmas 2012.[24] A reboot to the franchise, also called Ghostbusters, was eventually made and released in 2016, directed and co-written by Paul Feig. In this film, a bronze bust of Ramis can be seen when Erin Gilbert leaves her office at Columbia University. Later, the second sequel to the original film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, was released in 2021 and posthumously dedicated to him.

Personal life

Ramis was married twice and had four children. On July 2, 1967,[3] he married San Francisco artist Anne Plotkin, with whom he had a daughter, Violet Ramis Stiel.[1][25] Actor and Ghostbusters co-star Bill Murray is Violet's godfather.[1] Ramis and Plotkin separated in 1984 and later divorced.[1]

Ramis' daughter Mollie Israel (known professionally as Mollie Heckerling) was born in 1985 to he and director Amy Heckerling, while Heckerling was married to actor-director Neal Israel.[26]

In 1989, Ramis married Erica Mann, daughter of director Daniel Mann and actress Mary Kathleen Williams.[27] Together they had two sons, Julian Arthur and Daniel Hayes in 1990 and 1994.[3]

Although Ramis maintained humanist beliefs, Erica's Buddhist upbringing greatly influenced his philosophies for the rest of his life, and he became friends with the Dalai Lama.

Ramis was a Chicago Cubs fan and attended games every year to conduct the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field.[when?][28] His pastimes included fencing, ritual drumming, acoustic guitar, and making hats from felted fleece; additionally, he taught himself to ski by watching skiers on television.[1]

Illness and death

 
A memorial to Ramis at the Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 firehouse, where Ghostbusters was filmed

In May 2010, Ramis contracted an infection that resulted in complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis and lost the ability to walk. After relearning to walk he suffered a relapse of the disease in late 2011.[29]

He died of complications of the disease on February 24, 2014, at his home on Chicago's North Shore, at age 69.[29] A private funeral was held for him two days later with family, friends, and several collaborators in attendance, including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, David Pasquesi, Andrew Alexander, and the widows of John Belushi and Bernard Sahlins. He is buried at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights.

Upon Ramis's death, then-President Barack Obama released a statement, saying, "When we watched his movies—from Animal House and Caddyshack to Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day—we didn't just laugh until it hurt. We questioned authority. We identified with the outsider. We rooted for the underdog. And through it all, we never lost our faith in happy endings."[30] He ended his statement by saying he hoped Ramis "received total consciousness," in reference to a line from Caddyshack.[31]

Ramis and longtime collaborator Bill Murray had a falling out during the filming of Groundhog Day, which Ramis attributed to problems that Murray had in his own life at the time. They did not speak for more than 20 years. Shortly before Ramis's death, Murray, encouraged by his brother Brian Doyle-Murray, visited him to make amends with a box of donuts and a police escort, according to Ramis's daughter Violet. At that point, Ramis had lost most of his ability to speak, so Murray did most of the talking over several hours.[32] Murray gave a tribute to Ramis at the 86th Academy Awards.[33]

Stephen Colbert paid tribute to Ramis on an episode of his show The Colbert Report. Colbert said that "as a young, bookish man with glasses looking for a role model, I might have picked Harold Ramis." He ended the show by thanking him.[34]

Awards and honors

In 2004, Ramis was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[35] In 2005, he received the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.[36] In 2010, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago Improv Festival.[37] In 2015, the Writers Guild of America posthumously honored him with their lifetime achievement award, the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.[38]

In 2016, two years after his death, The Second City founded the Harold Ramis Film School, the first film school to focus solely on film comedy, in his honor.

The 2016 film Ghostbusters, a reboot of the series Ramis co-created and starred in, was posthumously dedicated to him.[39] A bust of Ramis appears in the film.[40][41] In the 2021 movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the age-progressed image of Ramis appears as the ghost of Egon Spengler; a dedication before the end credits also reads "for Harold."

Collaborations

Ramis frequently collaborated with director Ivan Reitman. He co-wrote National Lampoon's Animal House, which Reitman produced, then co-wrote the Reitman comedy Meatballs; he co-wrote and appeared in the Reitman films Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters II.

Filmography

Films

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1980 Caddyshack Yes Yes No
1983 National Lampoon's Vacation Yes No No
1986 Club Paradise Yes Yes No
1993 Groundhog Day Yes Yes Yes BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
1995 Stuart Saves His Family Yes No No
1996 Multiplicity Yes No Yes
1999 Analyze This Yes Yes No
2000 Bedazzled Yes Yes Yes
2002 Analyze That Yes Yes No
2005 The Ice Harvest Yes No No
2009 Year One Yes Yes Yes

Other work

Year Title Writer Executive producer
1978 National Lampoon's Animal House Yes No
1979 Meatballs Yes No
1981 Stripes Yes No
1984 Ghostbusters Yes No
1986 Back to School Yes Yes
Armed and Dangerous Yes No
1988 Caddyshack II Yes No
1989 Ghostbusters II Yes No
1991 Rover Dangerfield Story No
2002 The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest No Yes
2006 I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With No Yes
2009 Archie's Final Project No Yes

Television

Year Title Director Writer Notes
1979 Delta House No Yes Pilot episode
1982 The Rodney Dangerfield Show: It's Not Easy Bein' Me No Yes
2006–2010 The Office Yes No 4 episodes

Acting roles

Year Title Role Notes
1976–1978 Second City Television Various roles 28 episodes
1981 Stripes Russell Ziskey
Heavy Metal Zeke Voice, (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous")
1983 Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Intercom Voice, uncredited
National Lampoon's Vacation Marty Moose Voice, uncredited
1984 Ghostbusters Dr. Egon Spengler
1987 Baby Boom Steven Bochner
1988 Stealing Home Alan Appleby
1989 Ghostbusters II Dr. Egon Spengler
1993 Groundhog Day Neurologist
1994 Airheads Chris Moore
Love Affair Sheldon Blumenthal
1997 As Good as It Gets Dr. Martin Bettes
2000 High Fidelity Rob's Dad (scenes deleted)
2002 Orange County Don Durkett
I'm with Lucy Jack
2006 The Last Kiss Professor Bowler
2007 Knocked Up Ben's Dad
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story L'Chai'm
2009 Year One Adam

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Dr. Egon Spengler Voice role;
also writer

Archival appearances

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Lego Dimensions Dr. Egon Spengler Voice role
2019 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters Himself Documentary film
2021 Ghostbusters: Afterlife Dr. Egon Spengler Digital likeness superimposed on Bob Gunton and Ivan Reitman;[42]
Also archival footage and photographs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Friend, Tad (April 19, 2004). . The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 6, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
  2. ^ "Awards Database—Film: Original Screenplay". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Harold Ramis Biography (1944–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  4. ^ "'Ghostbusters' Actor, 'Caddyshack' Director Harold Ramis Dies at 69". Algemeiner Journal. February 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Sacks, Ethan (February 24, 2014). "Harold Ramis dead at 69: Actor-director-writer was best remembered for 'Ghostbusters,' 'Groundhog Day'". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow talk "Groundhog Day," Buddhism, and San Francisco in the 60s". Lion's Roar. July 18, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  7. ^ Loerzel, Robert (April 24, 2014). "11 Questions for Harold Ramis: An Unpublished Interview". Chicago magazine. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  8. ^ Leopold, Todd (February 24, 2014). "Harold Ramis of 'Ghostbusters,' 'Groundhog Day' fame dies". CNN.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Asked by The New York Times about the existential questions raised by "Groundhog Day" – and competing interpretations of the film's meaning – he mentioned that he didn't practice any religion himself.
  9. ^ Kuczynski, Alex. "Groundhog Almighty", The New York Times, December 7, 2003, via Kenyon College Department of Religious Studies
  10. ^ . Cpsalumni.org. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c Sacks, Mike. And Here's the Kicker...: Conversations with Top Humor Writers About Their Craft June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (Writer's Digest Books, July 2009). Online excerpt from Harold Ramis interview
  12. ^ . Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity. Archived from the original on December 5, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  13. ^ Martin, Brett (July 2009). . GQ: 64–67, 124–25. Archived from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  14. ^ Caldwell, Sara C., and Marie-Eve S. Kielson, So You Want to be A Screenwriter: How to Face the Fears and Take the Risks (Allworth Press, 2000), p. 75. ISBN 1-58115-062-8, ISBN 978-1-58115-062-9
  15. ^ a b Lovece, Frank, "Ramis' realm: Comedy creator surveys career from Second City to 'Year One'" February 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Film Journal International online, June 12, 2009
  16. ^ Patinkin, Sheldon. The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater (Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2000) ISBN 1-57071-561-0, ISBN 978-1-57071-561-7.[page needed]
  17. ^ a b Martin, Douglas (February 24, 2014). "Harold Ramis, 69, Dies; Alchemist of the Hilarious". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  18. ^ Karp, Josh (2006). A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. Chicago Review Press. p. 219. ISBN 1-55652-602-4.
  19. ^ Caldwell, Kielson, p. 77
  20. ^ , Section: "A Confederacy of Dunces", Premiere, no date
  21. ^ "'Ghostbusters 3' in Theaters by Christmas 2012!". Bloody Disgusting. May 11, 2010.
  22. ^ Wolgamott, L. Kent (April 15, 2004). . Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. Archived from the original on June 4, 2004.
  23. ^ Abrams, Brian (December 28, 2009). . Heeb. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  24. ^ Ramis interview, WABC-TV, via "Harold Ramis Says 'Ghostbusters 3' in 2011!". BloodyDisgustng.com. December 30, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  25. ^ E Television Online: "Harold Ramis' Daughter Speaks Out: Stop Using My Dad as an Excuse to Hate the New 'Ghostbusters'" by John Boone July 14, 2016
  26. ^ Swartz, Tracy. "Mollie Heckerling revealed as Harold Ramis' daughter in new book". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  27. ^ Honan, William H. (November 23, 1991). "Daniel Mann, 79, the Director of Successful Plays and Films". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Bacon, Shane (February 24, 2014). "Remembering Harold Ramis and "Caddyshack"". Yahoo!. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  29. ^ a b Caro, Mark. . Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  30. ^ "Statement from the President on the Passing of Harold Ramis". whitehouse.gov. February 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2016 – via National Archives.
  31. ^ Jordan Zakarin (February 25, 2014). "President Obama Makes 'Caddyshack' Joke in Tribute to Harold Ramis". TheWrap. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  32. ^ Boone, Brian (June 6, 2018). "How Harold Ramis and Bill Murray Ended Their Feud and Other Things We Learned in This Memoir". Vulture. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  33. ^ Wakeman, Gregory (September 23, 2014). "How Groundhog Day Ruined Bill Murray And Harold Ramis' Partnership". Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  34. ^ McCarthy, Sean L. (February 25, 2014). "Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart pay tribute to the late great Harold Ramis". The Comic's Cosmic. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  35. ^ . Stlouiswalkoffame.org. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  36. ^ . AustinFilmFestival.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  37. ^ Palmer, J. H. (March 30, 2010). "Chicago Improv Festival April 19–25". Gapers Block. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  38. ^ "Harold Ramis Honored by Writers Guild with Screen Laurel Award". Variety. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  39. ^ Anderson, Melissa (July 10, 2016). "Busted Flat: All-Too-Normal Activity Dominates the 'Ghostbusters' Remake". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  40. ^ Lewis, Hilary (July 15, 2016). "'Ghostbusters' Co-Writer Reveals Stories Behind Cameos, Kate McKinnon's Character". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  41. ^ Brayson, Johnny (July 14, 2016). "'Ghostbusters' Finds Ways To Honor Harold Ramis". Bustle. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  42. ^ Parker, Ryan (November 22, 2021). "Harold Ramis' Daughter Reflects on 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' and Her Beloved, Iconic Father". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2021.

Further reading

External links

  • Harold Ramis at IMDb
  • Harold Ramis at Find a Grave
  • , DVD Review, August 6, 1999
  • Garfinkel, Perry. "And If He Sees His Shadow...", Lion's Roar, July 2009
  • The films of Harold Ramis, Hell Is For Hyphenates, April 30, 2014

harold, ramis, harold, allen, ramis, november, 1944, february, 2014, american, actor, comedian, director, writer, best, known, film, acting, roles, were, egon, spengler, ghostbusters, 1984, ghostbusters, 1989, russell, ziskey, stripes, 1981, also, wrote, those. Harold Allen Ramis ˈ r eɪ m ɪ s November 21 1944 February 24 2014 was an American actor comedian director and writer His best known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters 1984 and Ghostbusters II 1989 and as Russell Ziskey in Stripes 1981 he also co wrote those films As a director his films include the comedies Caddyshack 1980 National Lampoon s Vacation 1983 Groundhog Day 1993 Analyze This 1999 and Analyze That 2002 Ramis was the original head writer of the television series SCTV on which he also performed as well as a co writer of Groundhog Day and National Lampoon s Animal House 1978 The final film that he wrote produced directed and acted in was Year One 2009 Harold RamisRamis in 2009BornHarold Allen Ramis 1944 11 21 November 21 1944Chicago Illinois U S DiedFebruary 24 2014 2014 02 24 aged 69 Glencoe Illinois U S Resting placeShalom Memorial Park Arlington Heights Illinois U S Alma materWashington University in St LouisOccupation s Actor comedian director writerYears active1968 2010SpousesAnne Plotkin m 1967 div 1984 wbr Erica Mann m 1989 wbr Children4Ramis s films influenced subsequent generations of comedians comedy writers and actors 1 Filmmakers and actors including Jay Roach Jake Kasdan Adam Sandler Judd Apatow and Peter and Bobby Farrelly have cited his films as among their favorites 1 Along with Danny Rubin he won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Groundhog Day 2 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Early years 2 2 National Lampoon SCTV and The Top 2 3 Film career 3 Personal life 4 Illness and death 5 Awards and honors 6 Collaborations 7 Filmography 7 1 Films 7 2 Other work 7 3 Television 7 4 Acting roles 7 5 Video games 7 6 Archival appearances 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life EditRamis was born on November 21 1944 in Chicago Illinois 3 the son of Ruth nee Cokee 1919 2001 and Nathan Ramis 1915 2009 who owned the Ace Food amp Liquor Mart on the city s far North Side 1 Ramis had a Jewish upbringing 4 5 6 7 In his adult life he did not practice any religion 8 9 He graduated from Stephen K Hayt Elementary School in June 1958 and Nicholas Senn High School in 1962 both Chicago public schools 10 and in 1966 from Washington University in St Louis Missouri 1 11 where he was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity 12 Afterward Ramis worked in a mental institution in St Louis for seven months He later said of his time working there that it prepared me well for when I went out to Hollywood to work with actors People laugh when I say that but it was actually very good training And not just with actors it was good training for just living in the world It s knowing how to deal with people who might be reacting in a way that s connected to anxiety or grief or fear or rage As a director you re dealing with that constantly with actors But if I were a businessman I d probably be applying those same principles to that line of work 11 Career EditEarly years Edit Ramis began writing parodic plays in college saying years later In my heart I felt I was a combination of Groucho and Harpo Marx of Groucho using his wit as a weapon against the upper classes and of Harpo s antic charm and the fact that he was oddly sexy he grabs women pulls their skirts off and gets away with it 1 He avoided the Vietnam War military draft by taking methamphetamine to fail his draft physical 13 Following his work in St Louis Ramis returned to Chicago where by 1968 he was a substitute teacher at schools serving the inner city Robert Taylor Homes 14 He also became associated with the guerrilla television collective TVTV headed by his college friend Michael Shamberg and wrote freelance for the Chicago Daily News Michael Shamberg right out of college had started freelancing for newspapers and got on as a stringer for a local paper and I thought Well if Michael can do that I can do that I wrote a spec piece and submitted it to the Chicago Daily News the Arts amp Leisure section and they started giving me assignments for entertainment features 15 Additionally Ramis had begun studying and performing with Chicago s Second City improvisational comedy troupe 16 Ramis s newspaper writing led to him becoming joke editor at Playboy magazine 11 I called just cold and said I had written several pieces freelance and did they have any openings And they happened to have their entry level job party jokes editor open He liked my stuff and he gave me a stack of jokes that readers had sent in and asked me to rewrite them I had been in Second City in the workshops already and Michael Shamberg and I had written comedy shows in college 15 Ramis was eventually promoted to associate editor 17 National Lampoon SCTV and The Top Edit After leaving Second City for a time and returning in 1972 having been replaced in the main cast by John Belushi Ramis worked his way back as Belushi s deadpan foil In 1974 Belushi brought Ramis and other Second City performers including Ramis s frequent future collaborator Bill Murray to New York City to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour 1 During this time Ramis Belushi Murray Joe Flaherty Christopher Guest and Gilda Radner starred in the revue The National Lampoon Show the successor to National Lampoon s Lemmings 18 Later Ramis became a performer on and head writer of the Canadian sketch comedy television series SCTV during its first three years 1976 1979 19 At this juncture SCTV was seen mainly in Canada and also via syndication in scattered markets in the US He was soon offered work as a writer at Saturday Night Live but chose to continue with SCTV 17 Characterizations by Ramis on SCTV include weaselly corrupt and constantly sweating Dialing for Dollars host SCTV station manager Maurice Moe Green outwardly amiable but thoroughly fascist cop Officer Friendly exercise guru Swami Bananananda whose real name was Dennis Peterson stern board chairman Allan Crazy Legs Hirschman and home dentist Mort Finkel His celebrity impressions on SCTV included Kenneth Clark and Leonard Nimoy In 1984 Ramis executive produced a music comedy variety television show called The Top The producer was Paul Flaherty and the director was David Jove Ramis got involved after the mysterious death of his friend Peter Ivers who had hosted Jove s underground show New Wave Theatre He called Jove and offered to help Flattery and Jove pitched him the idea for The Top and Ramis was instrumental in getting it on the air The show was a mixture of live music videos and humor Performers on the show included Cyndi Lauper who performed Girls Just Want to Have Fun and True Colors the Hollies who performed Stop in the Name of Love and the Romantics who performed their two hits at the time Talking in Your Sleep and What I Like About You Guest stars included Rodney Dangerfield Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd Ramis got Bill Murray to host but because Ghostbusters filming ran late he did not make it to the taping Chase came out dressed as a punk of the time and somehow got into a physical altercation with an audience member also a punk during the opening monologue He immediately left the taping Flattery and Jove carried on with the show Ramis then got Andy Kaufman to fill in for Chase and recorded the host segments at a separate later session it would be Kaufman s final professional appearance The Top aired on Friday January 27 1984 at 7 p m It scored a 7 7 rating and a 14 share This represented a 28 rating increase and a 27 share increase over KTLA s regularly scheduled Happy Days Laverne and Shirley Film career Edit Ramis left SCTV to pursue a film career and wrote a script with National Lampoon magazine s Douglas Kenney which eventually became National Lampoon s Animal House They were later joined by a third collaborator Chris Miller The 1978 film followed the struggle between a rowdy college fraternity house and the college dean The film s humor was raunchy for its time Animal House broke all box office records for comedies and earned 141 million 1 He also had a voice part as Zeke in the So Beautiful amp So Dangerous segment of Heavy Metal in 1981 Ramis next co wrote the comedy Meatballs starring Bill Murray The movie was a commercial success and became the first of six film collaborations between Murray and Ramis 1 His third film and his directorial debut was Caddyshack which he wrote with Kenney and Brian Doyle Murray It starred Chevy Chase Rodney Dangerfield Ted Knight and Bill Murray Like Ramis s previous two films Caddyshack was a commercial success In 1982 Ramis was attached to direct the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning book A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole The film was to star John Belushi and Richard Pryor but the project was aborted 20 In 1984 Ramis collaborated with Dan Aykroyd on the screenplay for Ghostbusters which became one of the biggest comedy hits of all time in which he also starred as Dr Egon Spengler 21 He reprised the role for the 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II which he also co wrote with Aykroyd His later film Groundhog Day has been called his masterpiece 1 His films have been noted for attacking the smugness of institutional life with an impish good will that is unmistakably American They are also noted for Ramis s signature tongue in cheek pep talks Sloppiness and improv were also important aspects of his work Ramis frequently depicted the qualities of anger curiosity laziness and woolly idealism in a hyper articulate voice 1 Ramis also occasionally acted in supporting roles in acclaimed films that he did not write or direct such as James L Brooks s Academy Award winning As Good as It Gets 1997 and Judd Apatow s hit comedy Knocked Up 2007 In 2004 Ramis turned down the opportunity to direct the Bernie Mac Ashton Kutcher film Guess Who then under the working title The Dinner Party because he considered it poorly written That same year he began filming the low budget The Ice Harvest his first attempt to make a comic film noir Ramis spent six weeks trying to get the film greenlit because he had difficulty reaching an agreement about stars John Cusack s and Billy Bob Thornton s salaries The film received mixed reviews In 2004 Ramis s typical directing fee was 5 million 1 In an interview in the documentary American Storytellers Ramis said he hoped to make a film about Emma Goldman even pitching Disney with the idea of having Bette Midler star 22 but that none of the film studios were interested and that it would have been difficult to raise the funding Ramis said in 2009 that he planned to make a third Ghostbusters film for release either in mid 2011 23 or for Christmas 2012 24 A reboot to the franchise also called Ghostbusters was eventually made and released in 2016 directed and co written by Paul Feig In this film a bronze bust of Ramis can be seen when Erin Gilbert leaves her office at Columbia University Later the second sequel to the original film Ghostbusters Afterlife was released in 2021 and posthumously dedicated to him Personal life EditRamis was married twice and had four children On July 2 1967 3 he married San Francisco artist Anne Plotkin with whom he had a daughter Violet Ramis Stiel 1 25 Actor and Ghostbusters co star Bill Murray is Violet s godfather 1 Ramis and Plotkin separated in 1984 and later divorced 1 Ramis daughter Mollie Israel known professionally as Mollie Heckerling was born in 1985 to he and director Amy Heckerling while Heckerling was married to actor director Neal Israel 26 In 1989 Ramis married Erica Mann daughter of director Daniel Mann and actress Mary Kathleen Williams 27 Together they had two sons Julian Arthur and Daniel Hayes in 1990 and 1994 3 Although Ramis maintained humanist beliefs Erica s Buddhist upbringing greatly influenced his philosophies for the rest of his life and he became friends with the Dalai Lama Ramis was a Chicago Cubs fan and attended games every year to conduct the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field when 28 His pastimes included fencing ritual drumming acoustic guitar and making hats from felted fleece additionally he taught himself to ski by watching skiers on television 1 Illness and death Edit A memorial to Ramis at the Firehouse Hook amp Ladder Company 8 firehouse where Ghostbusters was filmed In May 2010 Ramis contracted an infection that resulted in complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis and lost the ability to walk After relearning to walk he suffered a relapse of the disease in late 2011 29 He died of complications of the disease on February 24 2014 at his home on Chicago s North Shore at age 69 29 A private funeral was held for him two days later with family friends and several collaborators in attendance including Dan Aykroyd Chevy Chase Eugene Levy Dave Thomas David Pasquesi Andrew Alexander and the widows of John Belushi and Bernard Sahlins He is buried at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights Upon Ramis s death then President Barack Obama released a statement saying When we watched his movies from Animal House and Caddyshack to Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day we didn t just laugh until it hurt We questioned authority We identified with the outsider We rooted for the underdog And through it all we never lost our faith in happy endings 30 He ended his statement by saying he hoped Ramis received total consciousness in reference to a line from Caddyshack 31 Ramis and longtime collaborator Bill Murray had a falling out during the filming of Groundhog Day which Ramis attributed to problems that Murray had in his own life at the time They did not speak for more than 20 years Shortly before Ramis s death Murray encouraged by his brother Brian Doyle Murray visited him to make amends with a box of donuts and a police escort according to Ramis s daughter Violet At that point Ramis had lost most of his ability to speak so Murray did most of the talking over several hours 32 Murray gave a tribute to Ramis at the 86th Academy Awards 33 Stephen Colbert paid tribute to Ramis on an episode of his show The Colbert Report Colbert said that as a young bookish man with glasses looking for a role model I might have picked Harold Ramis He ended the show by thanking him 34 Awards and honors EditIn 2004 Ramis was inducted into the St Louis Walk of Fame 35 In 2005 he received the Austin Film Festival s Distinguished Screenwriter Award 36 In 2010 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago Improv Festival 37 In 2015 the Writers Guild of America posthumously honored him with their lifetime achievement award the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement 38 In 2016 two years after his death The Second City founded the Harold Ramis Film School the first film school to focus solely on film comedy in his honor The 2016 film Ghostbusters a reboot of the series Ramis co created and starred in was posthumously dedicated to him 39 A bust of Ramis appears in the film 40 41 In the 2021 movie Ghostbusters Afterlife the age progressed image of Ramis appears as the ghost of Egon Spengler a dedication before the end credits also reads for Harold Collaborations EditRamis frequently collaborated with director Ivan Reitman He co wrote National Lampoon s Animal House which Reitman produced then co wrote the Reitman comedy Meatballs he co wrote and appeared in the Reitman films Stripes Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II Filmography EditFilms Edit Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes1980 Caddyshack Yes Yes No1983 National Lampoon s Vacation Yes No No1986 Club Paradise Yes Yes No1993 Groundhog Day Yes Yes Yes BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay1995 Stuart Saves His Family Yes No No1996 Multiplicity Yes No Yes1999 Analyze This Yes Yes No2000 Bedazzled Yes Yes Yes2002 Analyze That Yes Yes No2005 The Ice Harvest Yes No No2009 Year One Yes Yes YesOther work Edit Year Title Writer Executive producer1978 National Lampoon s Animal House Yes No1979 Meatballs Yes No1981 Stripes Yes No1984 Ghostbusters Yes No1986 Back to School Yes YesArmed and Dangerous Yes No1988 Caddyshack II Yes No1989 Ghostbusters II Yes No1991 Rover Dangerfield Story No2002 The First 20 Million Is Always the Hardest No Yes2006 I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With No Yes2009 Archie s Final Project No YesTelevision Edit Year Title Director Writer Notes1979 Delta House No Yes Pilot episode1982 The Rodney Dangerfield Show It s Not Easy Bein Me No Yes2006 2010 The Office Yes No 4 episodesActing roles Edit Year Title Role Notes1976 1978 Second City Television Various roles 28 episodes1981 Stripes Russell ZiskeyHeavy Metal Zeke Voice segment So Beautiful and So Dangerous 1983 Spacehunter Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Intercom Voice uncreditedNational Lampoon s Vacation Marty Moose Voice uncredited1984 Ghostbusters Dr Egon Spengler1987 Baby Boom Steven Bochner1988 Stealing Home Alan Appleby1989 Ghostbusters II Dr Egon Spengler1993 Groundhog Day Neurologist1994 Airheads Chris MooreLove Affair Sheldon Blumenthal1997 As Good as It Gets Dr Martin Bettes2000 High Fidelity Rob s Dad scenes deleted 2002 Orange County Don DurkettI m with Lucy Jack2006 The Last Kiss Professor Bowler2007 Knocked Up Ben s DadWalk Hard The Dewey Cox Story L Chai m2009 Year One AdamVideo games Edit Year Title Role Notes2009 Ghostbusters The Video Game Dr Egon Spengler Voice role also writerArchival appearances Edit Year Title Role Notes2015 Lego Dimensions Dr Egon Spengler Voice role2019 Ghostbusters The Video Game RemasteredCleanin Up the Town Remembering Ghostbusters Himself Documentary film2021 Ghostbusters Afterlife Dr Egon Spengler Digital likeness superimposed on Bob Gunton and Ivan Reitman 42 Also archival footage and photographsReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Friend Tad April 19 2004 Comedy First How Harold Ramis s movies have stayed funny for twenty five years The New Yorker Archived from the original on April 6 2008 Retrieved August 28 2007 Awards Database Film Original Screenplay bafta org British Academy of Film and Television Arts Retrieved August 16 2017 a b c Harold Ramis Biography 1944 FilmReference com Retrieved February 24 2014 Ghostbusters Actor Caddyshack Director Harold Ramis Dies at 69 Algemeiner Journal February 24 2014 Retrieved April 24 2018 permanent dead link Sacks Ethan February 24 2014 Harold Ramis dead at 69 Actor director writer was best remembered for Ghostbusters Groundhog Day New York Daily News Retrieved April 24 2018 permanent dead link Harold Ramis Judd Apatow talk Groundhog Day Buddhism and San Francisco in the 60s Lion s Roar July 18 2016 Retrieved April 24 2018 Loerzel Robert April 24 2014 11 Questions for Harold Ramis An Unpublished Interview Chicago magazine Retrieved April 24 2018 Leopold Todd February 24 2014 Harold Ramis of Ghostbusters Groundhog Day fame dies CNN com Retrieved February 25 2014 Asked by The New York Times about the existential questions raised by Groundhog Day and competing interpretations of the film s meaning he mentioned that he didn t practice any religion himself Kuczynski Alex Groundhog Almighty The New York Times December 7 2003 via Kenyon College Department of Religious Studies Chicago Public Schools Alumni Senn Nicolas Senn High School Cpsalumni org Archived from the original on February 16 2012 Retrieved February 24 2014 a b c Sacks Mike And Here s the Kicker Conversations with Top Humor Writers About Their Craft Archived June 19 2009 at the Wayback Machine Writer s Digest Books July 2009 Online excerpt from Harold Ramis interview Zeta Beta Tau Notable Alumni Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity Archived from the original on December 5 2016 Retrieved January 1 2014 Martin Brett July 2009 Harold Ramis Gets the Last Laugh GQ 64 67 124 25 Archived from the original on July 1 2009 Retrieved August 15 2009 Caldwell Sara C and Marie Eve S Kielson So You Want to be A Screenwriter How to Face the Fears and Take the Risks Allworth Press 2000 p 75 ISBN 1 58115 062 8 ISBN 978 1 58115 062 9 a b Lovece Frank Ramis realm Comedy creator surveys career from Second City to Year One Archived February 19 2012 at the Wayback Machine Film Journal International online June 12 2009 Patinkin Sheldon The Second City Backstage at the World s Greatest Comedy Theater Sourcebooks MediaFusion 2000 ISBN 1 57071 561 0 ISBN 978 1 57071 561 7 page needed a b Martin Douglas February 24 2014 Harold Ramis 69 Dies Alchemist of the Hilarious The New York Times Retrieved February 25 2014 Karp Josh 2006 A Futile and Stupid Gesture How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever Chicago Review Press p 219 ISBN 1 55652 602 4 Caldwell Kielson p 77 Saito Stephen 20 Movies Not Coming Soon to a Theater Near You Section A Confederacy of Dunces Premiere no date Ghostbusters 3 in Theaters by Christmas 2012 Bloody Disgusting May 11 2010 Wolgamott L Kent April 15 2004 An exceedingly dangerous woman Emma Goldman s story Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln Nebraska Archived from the original on June 4 2004 Abrams Brian December 28 2009 Ramis on Ghostbusters 3 Plans to Shoot Next Summer and Release in 2011 Heeb Archived from the original on March 29 2010 Retrieved February 24 2014 Ramis interview WABC TV via Harold Ramis Says Ghostbusters 3 in 2011 BloodyDisgustng com December 30 2009 Retrieved February 24 2014 E Television Online Harold Ramis Daughter Speaks Out Stop Using My Dad as an Excuse to Hate the New Ghostbusters by John Boone July 14 2016 Swartz Tracy Mollie Heckerling revealed as Harold Ramis daughter in new book chicagotribune com Retrieved April 18 2018 Honan William H November 23 1991 Daniel Mann 79 the Director of Successful Plays and Films The New York Times Bacon Shane February 24 2014 Remembering Harold Ramis and Caddyshack Yahoo Retrieved February 24 2014 a b Caro Mark Harold Ramis Chicago actor writer and director dead at 69 Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on February 25 2014 Retrieved February 24 2014 Statement from the President on the Passing of Harold Ramis whitehouse gov February 25 2014 Retrieved July 17 2016 via National Archives Jordan Zakarin February 25 2014 President Obama Makes Caddyshack Joke in Tribute to Harold Ramis TheWrap Retrieved July 17 2016 Boone Brian June 6 2018 How Harold Ramis and Bill Murray Ended Their Feud and Other Things We Learned in This Memoir Vulture Retrieved June 6 2018 Wakeman Gregory September 23 2014 How Groundhog Day Ruined Bill Murray And Harold Ramis Partnership Retrieved May 28 2015 McCarthy Sean L February 25 2014 Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart pay tribute to the late great Harold Ramis The Comic s Cosmic Retrieved July 7 2019 St Louis Walk of Fame Inductees Harold Ramis Stlouiswalkoffame org Archived from the original on December 28 2008 Retrieved February 24 2014 Austin Film Festival Past Award Recipients AustinFilmFestival com Archived from the original on August 15 2012 Retrieved February 24 2014 Palmer J H March 30 2010 Chicago Improv Festival April 19 25 Gapers Block Retrieved June 3 2021 Harold Ramis Honored by Writers Guild with Screen Laurel Award Variety Retrieved January 19 2014 Anderson Melissa July 10 2016 Busted Flat All Too Normal Activity Dominates the Ghostbusters Remake The Village Voice Retrieved August 14 2017 Lewis Hilary July 15 2016 Ghostbusters Co Writer Reveals Stories Behind Cameos Kate McKinnon s Character The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved June 3 2021 Brayson Johnny July 14 2016 Ghostbusters Finds Ways To Honor Harold Ramis Bustle Retrieved June 3 2021 Parker Ryan November 22 2021 Harold Ramis Daughter Reflects on Ghostbusters Afterlife and Her Beloved Iconic Father The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 27 2021 Further reading EditRamis Stiel Violet 2018 Ghostbuster s Daughter Life with My Dad Harold Ramis Penguin ISBN 9780735217898 External links EditHarold Ramis at IMDb Harold Ramis at Find a Grave Henkel Guido Anatomy of a Comedian Harold Ramis DVD Review August 6 1999 Garfinkel Perry And If He Sees His Shadow Lion s Roar July 2009 Meatballs Movie Website The films of Harold Ramis Hell Is For Hyphenates April 30 2014 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harold Ramis amp oldid 1133857438, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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