North Shore-based director dead at 69
Filmmaker and Second City alum Harold Ramis, best known for comedies “Caddyshack,” “Stripes,” “Groundhog Day,” “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “Ghostbusters,” died early Monday at his North Shore home. He was 69.
A spokesman for United Talent Agency, which represents Mr. Ramis, said he died of complications from an autoimmune inflammatory disease. His family was by his side.
Mr. Ramis co-wrote “Ghostbusters,” in which he appeared with fellow Second City alums Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. He also co-wrote “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “Meatballs” and directed such films as “Caddyshack” and “Groundhog Day.” Of those, 1993’s “Groundhog Day” earned Ramis the most wide-ranging appreciation, with everyone from comedy mavens to religious scholars weighing in on its impact and meaning.
Born in Chicago in 1944 to parents who owned a liquor store on the West Side, Mr. Ramis graduated from Nicholas Senn High School in 1962, was a substitute teacher for a short while and went on to write jokes for Playboy magazine prior to his Second City stint.
“I have this need to keep impressing people — and myself,” Mr. Ramis told Tad Friend of the New Yorker for a lengthy profile in 2004. “I always wanted to experience everything — to be a millionaire by the time I was 40, to be Cary Grant and Errol Flynn, to conquer every woman and have her fall in love with me, to be president, to succeed in every conceivable way that our society has to offer.”
During his days at Second City, where Mr. Ramis acted with the likes of John Belushi and Joe Flaherty, Groucho Marx — one of his comedic heroes — attended a show. Mr. Ramis recalled the runin several years back in a book about Second City:
“Groucho saw our show in Chicago, and it didn’t go well. I idolized the Marx Brothers and was so disappointed in our performance that I didn’t even go out into the house to meet him. I went into the bar to hide out, and after a few minutes, [Joe] Flaherty came out to look for me. “Groucho wants to see you,” he said. “Groucho asked for me specifically?” “Yes,” Joe said. “What did he say?” “Groucho asked, ‘Where’s the guy with the wig and the false nose?’ ”
After years of success in Hollywood, Mr. Ramis returned to the Chicago area in 1996, buying a home on the North Shore and setting up offices in Highland Park.
“In Los Angeles, Steven Spielberg walks in and you’re nothing,” he told the New Yorker. “Here, there’s nobody better than me. There’s a few Bulls around, and the Cusacks, but, basically, I’m it!”
Mr. Ramis is survived by his wife, Erica Mann Ramis; sons Julian and Daniel; daughter Violet, and two grandchildren.