The Ghostbusters inventor Harold Ramis has died

Harold Ramis was one of the most successful comedy directors of the 80's and 90's. Now the director and actor, to whom we owe "Groundhog Day" and as Ghostbuster he hunted ghosts, died at the age of 69 in his hometown of Chicago after a long illness. He played dr. Egon Spengler and let Phil Connors experience one and the same day over and over again, he shot cult films like "Caddyshack - madness without a handicap" and "The Shrill Four on the Road". With Ramis we say goodbye to a director, actor and also to the Ghostbusters. Because without Egon they wouldn't be complete. We will not see the third film he has long wanted.

Born in Chicago on November 21, 1944, Harold began writing parodies while still in college. Ramis turned his hobby into a career by working for the influential improvisational group "The Second City" and as a gag writer for "Playboy". Other graduates of The Second City during these years were Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, with whom he would later make Ghostbusters. Ramis worked with Murray on the comedy format The National Lampoon Radio Hour in the mid-70s before venturing into the film business with the screenplay for I Think A Horse Kicked Me. Harold made his directorial debut in 1980 with the cult comedy Caddyshack, starring Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. In the 80s he established himself as one of the most successful comedy directors in Hollywood. His face is likely to many, especially because of his leading role as Dr. Egon Spengler in Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters. However, Harold Rami's comedic masterpiece remains Groundhog Day, for which he wrote the screenplay with Danny Rubin. «Groundhog Day», as it was originally titled, received the honor of being included in the United States National Film Registry in 2006. Ramis made another hit with the mafia comedy "Reinenervensache", but most recently he was mainly seen in supporting roles, such as Seth Rogen's father in "Beim the First Time".

Another of the old guard dies with him, a part of my youth and one that made the 80s a very special film decade. After a long period of immune illness, he finally had to say goodbye and that's a damn shame! Because even if his last directorial work "Year One" seemed like a sequel to Mel Brooks' crazy history of the world that no one wanted, he still achieved more with a few brilliant works than the whole hordes of Friedkin/Selzers ever can. Ramis was no genius, but he was a good comedian with a flair for timing and a love of improvisation. One who could play the Straight Men against Bill Murray and whose dry joke worked precisely because of that. He had a flair for everyday comedy, for situations and the right shot of warm-hearted emotionality. Goodbye Harold! farewell Thanks for everything and rest in peace...