Harold Ramis: 1944 – 2014

If you spent any amount of time watching comedies in the 80s and 90s, you are probably very familiar with the work of Harold Ramis. The actor and director had his hand in many of the treasured comedies of the time and continued to make contributions to the genre until his passing on Monday. With films like Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and Caddyshack on his resume, Ramis leaves a legacy that will inspire comic writers for years to come.

Born in Chicago, Ramis got his start with the city’s famed Second City troupe. His tenure there overlapped that of Canadian-American comic Joe Flaherty. These two, along with fellow Second City alumnus John Candy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara and Dave Thomas formed the inaugural cast of SCTV, which was first broadcast in 1976.

Ramis was the head writer of SCTV during its formative years from 1976 to 1979, but then left to pursue a career in film. It didn’t take long for him to find success, co-writing the scripts for Animal House and Meatballs. His third script, for 1980’s Caddyshack, was also his first attempt at directing.

We all know what came next. In 1984, Harold Ramis teamed up with Dan Ackroyd to write Ghostbusters. The quotable classic was a huge success, and after a re-release in 1985, became the highest grossing comedy of the decade. Ramis played the droll scientist Dr. Egon Spengler, the straight man of the group who had some of the most memorable lines. The Ghostbusters franchise was massive, spawning a sequel in 1989, TV series, toys, and more.

Now while Ghostbusters will always be considered the biggest commercial success of Ramis’ career, many will point to his 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, which he wrote and directed, as his true masterpiece. The film starred Bill Murray as a Pittsburgh weatherman that gets caught in a 24 hour time loop during Groundhog Day celebrations in Punxsutawney. Upon its initial release the film didn’t create a whole lot of buzz, but it has aged well and has been honoured by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 comedies of the century, and was added by the National Film Preservation Board to the Library of Congress in 2006.

Ramis directed a string of films after Groundhog Day including Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, Bedazzled, and his last film, Year One, in 2009. He also had a number of memorable cameos in other films like Orange County and Knocked Up.

There is no denying that Harold Ramis will be considered one of the great comedic minds of his generation, and while he may not be as synonymous with 80s and 90s comedy films as John Hughes, his catalogue of work is just as great.

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