HAROLD RAMIS

'Harold Allen Ramis' (born November 21, 1944) is an American actor, director, and writer. His best known acting roles are as "Egon Spengler" in ''Ghostbusters'' and "Russell Ziskey" in ''Stripes''. He was one of three writers to pen the screenplay for the film ''National Lampoon's Animal House''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Legacy

Filmography

In-front of the camera

Behind the camera

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Ramis was born in Chicago, Illinois to Ruth (Cokee) and Nathan Ramis,^[1] and had a Jewish upbringing.^[2] After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri his first job was as a mental-ward orderly. Ramis was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at Washington University, and it is reputed that some of his own experiences in ZBT helped inspire ''Animal House''.

Career

Ramis worked as joke editor for ''Playboy'' magazine. He later was associated with the "guerrilla video" commune TVTV, headed by Michael Shamberg. He performed with Chicago's Second City improvisational comedy troupe and the Broadway revue ''National Lampoon's Lemmings''. Ramis was also a writer and performer on the ''SCTV'' television series. Memorable characterizations by Ramis on ''SCTV'' include corrupt Dialing for Dollars host Moe Green, amiable cop Officer Friendly, exercise guru Swami Banananda, board chairman Allan "Crazy Legs" Hirschman and home dentist Mort Finkel. Celebrities impersonated by Ramis on ''SCTV'' include Kenneth Clark and Leonard Nimoy.
Ramis left ''SCTV'' to pursue a film career. He wrote his first film, ''National Lampoon's Animal House'', with National Lampoon alumni Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. The film followed the struggle between a rowdy fraternity house and the college's dean. It's humor was raunchy for its time. ''Animal House'' "broke all box-office records for comedies" and earned "a hundred and forty-one million dollars." ⁴ His next film was ''Meatballs'' starring Bill Murray, which Ramis wrote. The film was a financial success and it was notable for being the first of six film collaborations between Murray and Ramis.⁴ His third film and his directorial debut was ''Caddyshack'', which he wrote with Kenny and Brian Doyle-Murray. The film starred Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray. Like Ramis's previous two films, ''Caddyshack'' was also a large commercial success.''Groundhog Day'' has been called "Ramis's masterpiece." ⁴ In 1982, Ramis was attached to direct the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book ''A Confederacy of Dunces'' by John Kennedy Toole. The film was to star John Belushi and Richard Pryor, but the project was aborted when Belushi died that year.^[3]
His films were noted for attacking "the smugness of institutional life ... with an impish good that is unmistakably American".^[4] They are also noted for "Ramis's signature tongue-in-cheek pep talks." ⁴ Sloppiness and improv are also important aspects of his work. ⁴ Ramis frequently uses the emotions of anger, curiosity, laziness, and woolly idealism in a hyper-articulate voice.⁴ Sex, drugs, and alcohol play an important role in much of his work.
In 2004, Ramis was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 2004, he turned down the oppportunity to direct the Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher film ''Guess Who'' because he considered it to be poorly-written.⁴ Also in 2004, Ramis began filming the low budget ''The Ice Harvest'', "his first attempt to make a comic film noir." Ramis spent six weeks trying to get the film greenlit because he had difficulty reaching an agreement between stars John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton's salaries. ⁴ The film received a mixed reaction. His typical directing fee, as of 2004, is $5 million.⁴

Legacy

Ramis's films have had an important impact on the following generation of comedians and comedy writers.⁴ Filmmakers Jay Roach, Jake Kasdan, Adam Sandler, and Peter and Bobby Farrelly have cited his films as amongst their favorites.⁴

Filmography

In-front of the camera

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1976-1977	''Second City TV''	Various Characters	Television series, series regular
1981	''Stripes''	Russell Ziskey
	''Heavy Metal''	Zeke	Voice only, animated
1982	''SCTV Network 90''	Various Characters	Television series, guest star
1983	''National Lampoon's Vacation''	Cop at Wally World	Voice only, uncredited
1984	''Ghostbusters''	Dr. Egon Spengler
1987	''Baby Boom''	Steven Bochner
1988	''Stealing Home''	Alan Appleby
1989	''Ghostbusters II''	Dr. Egon Spengler
1993	''Groundhog Day''	Neurologist
1994	''Airheads''	Chris Moore
	''Love Affair''	Sheldon Blumenthal
1997	''As Good as It Gets''	Dr. Martin Bettes
2000	''High Fidelity''	Rob's Dad	Scenes deleted
2002	''Orange County''	Don Durkett
2006	''The Last Kiss''	Professor Bowler
2007	''Knocked Up''	Ben's Dad
	''Walk Hard''	Role Unknown

Behind the camera

Year(s)	Title	Notes
1976-1978	''Second City TV''	Television series, head writer
1978	''National Lampoon's Animal House''	Writer
1979	''Meatballs''	Writer
1980	''Caddyshack''	Writer, director
1981	''Stripes''	Writer
1982	''The Rodney Dangerfield Show: It's Not Easy Bein' Me''	Head writer, producer
1983	''National Lampoon's Vacation''	Director
1984	''Ghostbusters''	Writer
1986	''Back to School''	Screenplay
	''Club Paradise''	Screenplay
	''Armed and Dangerous''	Story, screenplay, uncredited as executive producer
1988	''Caddyshack II''	Writer
1989	''Ghostbusters II''	Writer
1991	''Rover Dangerfield''	Story
1993	''Groundhog Day''	Screenplay, director, producer
1995	''Stuart Saves His Family''	Director
1996	''Multiplicity''	Director, producer
1999	''Analyze This''	Writer, director
2000	''Bedazzled''	Screenplay, director, producer
2002	''Analyze That''	Writer, director
	''The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest''	Producer
2006-2007	''The Office''	Television series, director, episodes: "A Benihana Christmas", “Safety Training", "Beach Games"
2007	''I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With''	Producer
	''Buster's Class Project''	Producer
	''Atlanta''	Television pilot, director
2009	''Year One''	Story, screenplay, director, producer
	''Pure Imagination''	Director

References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/53/Harold-Ramis.html
2. http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Misc/GroundhogDay.htm
3. Saito, Stephen. "20 Movies Not Coming Soon to a Theater Near You", ''Premiere'', 2006.
4. Friend, Tad. "Comedy First: How Harold Ramis’s movies have stayed funny for twenty-five years.", ''The New Yorker'', 2004-04-19. Retrieved on August 28, 2007.

External links

★

★ Interview with Las Vegas Weekly (1999)

★ DVD Review - Harold Ramis

★ St. Louis Walk of Fame

★ Yesterdayland Interview

★ Profile of Ramis in ''The New Yorker''