Biography

Harold Ramis

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Born
November 21, 1944 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died
February 24, 2014 · Chicago, Illinois, USA (complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis)
Birth name
Harold Allen Ramis
Height
6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Born on November 21, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, Harold Allen Ramis got his start in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. In 1969, he joined Chicago's Second City's Improvisational Theatre Troupe before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" with other Second City graduates including John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. By 1976, he was head writer and a regular performer on the top Canadian comedy series SCTV (1976). His Hollywood debut came when he collaborated on the script for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) which was produced by Ivan Reitman. After that, he worked as writer with Ivan as producer on Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) and acted in the latter three. Harold Ramis died on February 24, 2014 at age 69 from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis.
- IMDb mini biography by: tonyman5

After not speaking to each other for a number of years, Bill Murray, reportedly visited Ramis before his death and they both made their peace with each other.
Said in an interview that his working relationship with actor Bill Murray ended while filming Groundhog Day (1993) due to differing views on what the film should be about (Murray wanted it to be more philosophical, Ramis wanted it to be a comedy). Ramis also cites that Murray's real life personal problems at the time (specifically the ending of his first marriage) was having a ripple effect on his behavior at work as another factor in the unfortunate ending of their working relationship.
Once a mental ward orderly before finding work as a joke writer for Playboy magazine.
The proton packs worn in Ghostbusters (1984) were much heavier than they looked, and some were heavier than others depending on what a scene demanded while filming. According to director Ivan Reitman, none of the actors enjoyed wearing the packs, but Harold complained the least (Reitman would not say which actor complained the most).
Wrote four of the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: Ghostbusters (1984) at #28, Groundhog Day (1993) at #34, National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) at #36 and Caddyshack (1980) at #71. Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981) and Back to School (1986) were also nominated, but did not make the list.

I never work just to work. It's some combination of laziness and self-respect.
[Remarks to the New York Times on the ecumenical popularity of Groundhog Day (1993)] At first, I would get mail saying, "Oh, you must be a Christian because the movie so beautifully expresses Christian belief". Then, rabbis started calling from all over, saying they were preaching the film as their next sermon. And the Buddhists! Well, I knew they loved it because my mother-in-law has lived in a Buddhist meditation centre for 30 years and my wife lived there for five years.
[on whether he and Bill Murray would consider doing a third Ghostbusters movie] My attitude is generally like Bill's old attitude -- there's no point unless it has some interesting quality or something to say about the subject. Personally, I don't rule it out. I'm skeptical, but maybe it'll work.
Everything we see has some hidden message. A lot of awful messages are coming in under the radar - subliminal consumer messages, all kinds of politically incorrect messages.
Chicago still remains a Mecca of the Midwest - people from both coasts are kind of amazed how good life is in Chicago, and what a good culture we've got. You can have a pretty wonderful artistic life and never leave Chicago.

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