One of voices in Hollywood that shaped the way we laughed for years passed away today. I think it would be difficult for anyone to look at his body of work and not have seen something that touched them. The Chicago Tribune broke the news this morning:
Ramis, a longtime North Shore resident, was surrounded by family when he died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels, his wife Erica Mann Ramis said. He was 69.
Ramis’ serious health struggles began in May 2010 with an infection that led to complications related to the autoimmune disease, his wife said. Ramis had to relearn to walk but suffered a relapse of the vaculitis in late 2011, said Laurel Ward, vice president of development at Ramis’ Ocean Pictures production company.
Growing up in the 80’s, my life is filled with memories of his movies. “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, “Caddyshack”, “Ghostbusters” and “Groundhong Day”, just to name a few. Today is truly a sad day for comedy and those of us that grew up watching his movies. Please share some of your favorite memories about his career in the comments.