Terrible news for fans of seemingly every great movie comedy of the past 35 years: Harold Ramis, who wrote Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Back to School, AND Groundhog Day, as well as directed National Lampoon’s Vacation, has died at the age of 69.
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. (Via)
Vince will have much more soon, but until then, please feel free to quote Ghostbusters.