Harold Ramis - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile

Biography

This page uses content from the Harold Ramis biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

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

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. Ramis worked as joke editor for Playboy magazine. 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' Hirschwood and home dentist Mort Finkel.

Although occasionally mistaken for a Canadian, Ramis is actually from Chicago, Illinois. He has worked frequently with Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman.

In 2004 he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Trivia

Celebrities impersonated by Ramis on SCTV include Kenneth Clark and Leonard Nimoy.

Ramis has directed the one-hour long Christmas Special episode of the hit show The Office to be aired December 14th, entitled 'A Benihana Christmas.'

Selected Filmography (actor)

Stripes (1981)
Heavy Metal (1981) (voice)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Baby Boom (1987)
Stealing Home (1988)
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Groundhog Day (1993) (cameo)
Airheads (1994)
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Orange County (2002)

Filmography (director)

Caddyshack (1980)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Club Paradise (1986)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
Multiplicity (1996)
Analyze This (1999)
Bedazzled (2000)
Analyze That (2002)
The Ice Harvest (2005)

Selected Filmography (writer)

SCTV (1976 - 1978) TV Series
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
Meatballs (1979)
Caddyshack (1980)
Stripes (1981)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Back to School (1986)
Club Paradise (1986)
Caddyshack II (1988)
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Analyze This (1999)
Bedazzled (2000)
Analyze That (2002)

External links

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.