Harold Ramis, Chicago actor, writer and director, dead at 69
Source: Chicago Tribune
Harold Ramis was one of Hollywoods most successful comedy filmmakers when he moved his family from Los Angeles back to the Chicago area in 1996. His career was still thriving, with "Groundhog Day" acquiring almost instant classic status upon its 1993 release and 1984's "Ghostbusters" ranking among the highest-grossing comedies of all time, but the writer-director wanted to return to the city where hed launched his career as a Second City performer.
There's a pride in what I do that other people share because I'm local, which in L.A. is meaningless; no one's local, Ramis said upon the launch of the first movie he directed after his move, the 1999 mobster-in-therapy comedy Analyze This, another hit. It's a good thing. I feel like I represent the city in a certain way.
Ramis, a longtime North Shore resident, was surrounded by family when he died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels, his wife Erica Mann Ramis said. He was 69.
Ramis serious health struggles began in May 2010 with an infection that led to complications related to the autoimmune disease, his wife said. Ramis had to relearn to walk but suffered a relapse of the vaculitis in late 2011, said Laurel Ward, vice president of development at Ramis Ocean Pictures production company.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-harold-ramis-dead-20140224,0,4983189,full.story
Damn. RIP.
[IMG][/IMG]
Director Harold Ramis visits the film site of "Groundhog Day" in Woodstock, Ill. as he welcomes attendants of the dedication of a plaque at the "Icy Puddle" Feb. 2, 1997. In the film, actor Bill Murray leaps over a puddle on Cass Street.
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)Old and In the Way
(37,540 posts)I think he played opposite Murray in Stripes....he was a great counterbalance to
Bill. RIP.
Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)Cross gently Harold.
SirRevolutionary
(579 posts)Godspeed Dr Spengler, it's a very sad day indeed.
Paladin
(28,281 posts)springchick
(137 posts)RIP Harold Ramis.
Aristus
(66,509 posts)I loved the contrast between his scholarly look, and his deep baritone voice. I thought that was cool...
RIP, sir. You made me laugh...
progressoid
(50,011 posts)eggplant
(3,917 posts)Im not comparing Groundhog Day to the Torah. Its more entertaining than the Torah.
RIP Harold, you'll be missed.
KT2000
(20,601 posts)Such a funny guy - RIP Mr. Ramis.
Hawaii Hiker
(3,166 posts)w/Bill Murray, & Warren Oates (Sgt. Hulka)
RIP Mr. Ramis
mgc1961
(1,263 posts)Ezlivin
(8,153 posts)"Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie... thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds."
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...
Crowman1979
(3,844 posts)Sure he was a great actor, but his real talent was in his writing and directing abilities.
Liberal In Red State
(442 posts)He will be missed!
TeamPooka
(24,286 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)Most men make me cry in silence. He was worthy beyond rubies.
Crowman1979
(3,844 posts)I don't have it now, but there was this CD audio compilation of various Second City improve sketches over the years. Which featured this hilarious routine where Harold Ramis goes to the VD clinic.
d_b
(7,463 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)and here I thought this condition was annoying but harmless.
Sorry, that is a self-indulgent remark, but I was unaware that this condition can be fatal.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)a candle to his classics. Got to watch Ghostbusters with the girls this weekend in his honor.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)"Well?? We're waiting!"
There's a good Biography Channel documentary on the making of that film. I seem to recall that Harold usually went home before the parties started, probably for his own sanity from what was revealed in that doc
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)I have shown clips, but I am not comfortable with the sexual content in it (enough to watch it beside my daughters).
One of my all time favorite movie quotes, one that I have used to motivate my daughters for years is the judge telling Ty, "The world needs ditch diggers too." Not that I have anything against ditch diggers.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)And Judge Smails has some of the best, and most famous lines.
unblock
(52,440 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)Wisconsin, I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin. He wrote some great lines for himself in that movie. Many people forget that he helped write Animal House with his fellow co-writer on Caddy Shack Doug Kinney. He will be missed. I hope that he and Bill Murray had made up before he passed.
Common Sense Party
(14,139 posts)H-Harold Ramis....
Roy Rolling
(6,943 posts)A true comedy legend. What a loss.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)mikeysnot
(4,758 posts)Did not see you beat me to it...
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)And Hell won't have him...he lives forever in limbo.
RIP Harold, you made me laugh.
pansypoo53219
(21,005 posts)highplainsdem
(49,091 posts)RIP, Mr. Ramis.
mikeysnot
(4,758 posts)life can be cruel. Great Chicagoan. Will be missed.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)What a shame....and a huge loss to those of us that liked smart comedies...
Ohio Joe
(21,774 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)Thank you Mr. Ramis for every single second of your work, especially "Groundhog Day".
shenmue
(38,506 posts)I has a sad.
2naSalit
(86,900 posts)He will be missed for certain!!
(PS, the courthouse in the picture - background - is where I got married several decades ago.)
Kermitt Gribble
(1,855 posts)He will be missed...
"I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought" - Egon Spengler
Beach Rat
(273 posts)Moe Green has passed on!
Rest in Peace Mr. Ramis and thank you for all of the laughs!
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)RIP
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)Funny man...
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)Lots and lots of my favorites here:
Directing
Caddyshack (1980)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Club Paradise (1986)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
Multiplicity (1996)
Analyze This (1999)
Bedazzled (2000)
Analyze That (2002)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
The Office (2006) (TV)
Year One (2009)
Producing
Second City Television (19761979) (TV) Associate Producer
The Rodney Dangerfield Show: It's Not Easy Bein' Me (1982) (TV) Producer
The Top (1983) (TV) Executive Producer
Back to School (1986) Executive Producer
Groundhog Day (1993) Producer
Multiplicity (1996) Producer
Bedazzled (2000) Producer
The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest (2002) Executive Producer
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006) Executive Producer
Year One (2009) Co-Producer
Writing
The National Lampoon Radio Hour (19731974)
The National Lampoon Show (1975) (Stage)
Second City Television (19761979) (TV)
National Lampoon's Animal House (with Doug Kenney and Chris Miller) (1978)
Delta House (1979) (TV)
Meatballs (with Dan Goldberg and Len Blum) (1979)
Caddyshack (with Doug Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray) (1980)
Stripes (with Dan Goldberg and Len Blum) (1981)
The Rodney Dangerfield Show: It's Not Easy Bein' Me (1982) (TV)
Ghostbusters (with Dan Aykroyd) (1984)
Back to School (with Steven Kampmann, Will Porter and Peter Torokvei) (1986)
Club Paradise (with Brian Doyle-Murray and Chris Miller) (1986)
Armed and Dangerous (with Peter Torokvei) (1986)
Caddyshack II (with Peter Torokvei) (1988)
Ghostbusters II (with Dan Aykroyd) (1989)
Rover Dangerfield (with Rodney Dangerfield) (1991)
Groundhog Day (with Danny Rubin) (1993)
Analyze This (with Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan) (1999)
Bedazzled (with Larry Gelbart and Peter Tolan) (2000)
Analyze That (with Peter Tolan and Peter Steinfeld) (2002)
Year One (with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky) (2009)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (with Dan Aykroyd) (2009) (Video Game)
bvf
(6,604 posts)I keep thinking about his coach in "Terminal Football," from the old National Lampoon Radio Hour, in which he has to break the news to practically the entire team (one at a time, of course) that they've all contracted some horrible, exotic, fatal disease.
"The point is this, Schnabel -- there are winners and losers in the game. . ."
Gad, what bad news.
catrose
(5,076 posts)Which I loved
Starring Senator Al Franken
kentauros
(29,414 posts)And Harold, director of the greatest sports movie ever: Caddyshack
winstars
(4,220 posts)TeamPooka
(24,286 posts)deurbano
(2,896 posts)RIP to an artist I didn't realize I would miss until he was gone. I've been surprised at how sad this has made me.
stg81
(351 posts)Boomerproud
(7,976 posts)Thank you for sharing your edge (and big heart) with the rest of us Mr. Ramis. In your honor...
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)Some deaths are like that, because you don't expect them to exit yet. Really, really sad, one very funny man and a great writer. I had a good morning then saw this. Talk about the air going out of your balloon.
I hear that at Halloween he would dress up with all the equipment as Egon from "Ghostbusters" as he went around with his kids, very cool.
RIP Harold, thanks much for all the laughs, you will be missed.
I may just have to pop one of his big movies into the DVD player tonight.
Gothmog
(145,800 posts)Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)I loved Ghostbusters because Murray, Ackroyd and Ramis were SO SERIOUS and spouting pseudoscientific babble.
That made it funny. And on a level too deep for some people to get.
"This chick is toast!"
"You don't usually see this kind of demonic activity in a major kitchen appliance."
diabeticman
(3,121 posts)drm604
(16,230 posts)He'll be missed.
tavernier
(12,412 posts)People like Ramis who spread laughter and happiness instead of war and terror...
Not fair.
flying rabbit
(4,645 posts)Just damn. Ya done good Harold, real good.
A class 5 full roaming vapor in your honor-->
and this:
kwassa
(23,340 posts)Good on so many levels.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)He always seemed like the sweetest guy - whip-smart, and not a mean bone in his body.
I had no idea he was suffering such an illness. What a loss!