Harold Ramis Dies At 69

samzenpus writes "Writer and comedian Harold Ramis has passed away at 69. Ramis had a hand in many classic comedies but is especially loved for playing the ghost-hunting Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters. 'His creativity, compassion, intelligence, humor and spirit will be missed by all who knew and loved him,' said his family in a statement."

Comments

See you on the other side, Egon

[Anonymous Coward]

:(

Egon the scientist left an impression on me as an 11 year old kid.

While his character was supposed to be a little dorky I suppose, he was just pure awesome to me. He was the only Ghostbuster to be totally on top of things, and knew what he was doing. He inspired me to be the techie I am today.

RIP Harold Ramis.

Re:See you on the other side, Egon

[jdavidb]

I'd have to agree with that. In particular, I always remember him for the line "Print is dead." It certainly wasn't in 1984, and saying so made a person sound like a lunatic. But look at print today!

Re:See you on the other side, Egon

[grcumb]

I concur. An inspirational nerd.

I sympathise, but as an old Canadian geezer, I always felt that by the time the US audience finally heard about them, the SCTV alumni had already done their best work. That troupe - and their cheezy, low-budget show - formed my sense of humour more than anything else. Dave Thomas, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara... all of them went on to make memorable comedy in the US. I think Joe Flaherty was the only one who didn't make a big splash. (Which is America's loss, not his.)

But there was a time when all of them were callow, reckless youths with nothing to lose by making asses of themselves week after week on a second-rate Toronto-based network that was so small (it had only 13 stations at the start) it too had nothing to lose.

Back in junior high school, my week was centred around that blessed moment when the Indian-head test pattern would appear and the announcer would say, 'Don't touch that dial. Don't touch that one either. And stop touching yourself.' I still remember the intonation....

(... I never did stop touching myself, but that's another story.)

Re:See you on the other side, Egon

[dohnut]

"Print is dead."
- Egon, 1984

"Egon is dead."
- Print, 2014

Thank you

[MetricT]

For making us laugh, making us think, and making the world a little happier. You did good.

Sample

[Cow Jones]

I'd like a sample of his brain tissue.

Re:Egon Gone

[EmagGeek]

STREAMS! He crossed the STREAMS!

So...do you have any hobbies?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

"Now I really collect spores, molds, and fungi."

Oh come on, he would laugh!

Re:Egon Gone

[Steeltalon]

Dude! It's "crossed the *STREAMS*!
I blame today's educational system for failing us.

SMH

Re:Egon's sexuality

[cayenne8]

"That's a big twinkie..."

C'mon, Winston got one of the funniest lines in the movie...

There's no reason to pull out the racist card any time a black man isn't portrayed as the ultimate hero and intellect in a movie. All the characters in this COMEDY were slightly strange and comedic characters...

As was said in another movie Ramis did.."Lighten up Francis".

Re:claims of "political correctness"

[MightyMartian]

That's because he was the outsider, not because he was black. The Ghostbusters needed another guy with a proton pack, Winston signed up because it was a job. He wasn't a conman like Venkman, and not a semi-insane scientist like Egon or Ray.

You might as well complain about how Weaver's character spent most of the time in both movies being the vulnerable incapable female.

Re:Egon's sexuality

[MightyMartian]

Winston was pretty essential to the film, because he was the everyman. Without Winston, you had two crazy ass scientists (Egon and Ray) and a conman (Venkman). As with any movie filled with nutsos and and miscreants as protagonists, you need a straight man who can sort of stand a bit outside the action and act as a sort of proxy for the audience. The character of Winston reminds me a lot of Murray Slaughter off of the Mary Tyler Moore show; both weren't necessarily part of any given action, but rather served to underline the absurdity of what was going on.