Obituaries

North Shore's Harold Ramis Dies

The filmmaker and actor with hits like 'Ghostbusters' and 'Groundhog Day' worked from Highland Park after leaving L.A. nearly 20 years ago.

Comedic actor, director, writer and producer Harold Ramis died Monday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune. He was 69 and died from complications of a rare autoimmune disease.

Ramis worked on some of the best-known and loved comedies of the past several decades. Among his many credits, he was a writer on National Lampoon’s Animal House and Ghostbusters, in which he also starred, and directed Caddyshack and Groundhog Day, which he also produced.

He left L.A. in 1996 and moved back to the Chicago area, where he had grown up, and settled on the North Shore while his career was thriving, according to the Tribune. He continued to produce hits from here, such as Analyze This. He based his Ocean Pictures production company in Highland Park. According to the Sun-Times, he lived in Glencoe.

Find out what's happening in Wilmette-Kenilworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In this YouTube clip from the Highland Park Library he talks about why he loves libraries and books. Reading he says, “keeps the mind alive."

You can read the full Tribune obituary here. 

Find out what's happening in Wilmette-Kenilworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here