As an actor, writer and director, his body of work included some of the all-time great comedies.
His signature acting roles straddled the brainy and the hilarious, but even behind the camera Harold Ramis built a career in Hollywood on making people laugh and think at the same time.
The body of work left by the Chicago-born filmmaker, who died early Monday at the age of 69 from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, is full of some of the greatest cult and mainstream comedies ever.
"Harold was a force of good in the universe — so funny, sweet and thoughtful," said Jack Black , who starred in Ramis' final feature as a director, 2009's biblical send-up, Year One. "He will be deeply missed."
A one-time joke editor for Playboy magazine, Ramis joined Chicago's Second City improvisational comedy troupe in 1969 before moving to New York City for The National Lampoon Show, where he worked with fellow Second City alums and future Saturday Night Live stars John Belushi , Bill Murray and Gilda Radner . In 1976, he was a performer and head writer for the Canadian comedy show SCTVbefore switching to the big screen.
He wrote Animal House (1978), which made a movie star out of Belushi and influenced decades of college-set films, before kicking off a winning streak of screenplays starring his longtime collaborator — and fellow Windy City icon — Murray, including the 1979 camp comedy Meatballs, 1980's golf-centric Caddyshack (which acted as Ramis' directorial debut), the 1981 military spoof Stripes and 1984'sGhostbusters.
Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel cast Ramis, Murray and Dan Aykroyd as paranormal investigators and gave Ramis his signature role as Dr. Egon Spengler , a scientist who wasn't afraid of no ghosts but was really into spores, molds and fungus.
In addition to Caddyshack, Ramis' directorial efforts included the original National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Groundhog Day (1993), Multiplicity (1996), Analyze This (1999) and its sequel Analyze That (2002), and The Ice Harvest (2005). Ramis won a BAFTA for best original screenplay for Groundhog Day, which starred Murray as a self-centered meteorologist who has to live the same day over and over again until he gets it right.
Ramis had a small role as a neurologist in Groundhog Day, and usually his parts, major or minor, veered toward intelligence in the face of comedic high jinks. He was the likable voice of reason to Murray's anti-authoritarian Army recruit in Stripes, a doctor in As Good As It Gets and a wise father to a soon-to-be dad (Seth Rogen ) inKnocked Up (2007).
"Life doesn't care about your vision," Ramis says to Rogen in one key scene. "You just gotta roll with it."
In a statement, Aykroyd said he was "deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my brilliant, gifted, funny friend, co-writer/performer and teacher Harold Ramis. May he now get the answers he was always seeking."
Contributing: Bryan Alexander
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