The great and good of Hollywood have been paying their respects to Ghostbusters co-writer and star Harold Ramis, who lost his battle against a rare blood disease earlier this week.
The tributes were led by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, who appeared alongside Ramis as hapless paranormal investigators in the 1984 blockbuster, directed by Ivan Reitman.
Ramis, 69, who played bespectacled ghost-hunter Dr Egon Spengler, was widely respected as an actor, writer and director. His credits also included Caddyshack and Animal House.
Bill Murray told Time magazine: “Harold Ramis and I together did the National Lampoon Show together off Broadway, Meatballs, Stripes, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. He earned his keep on this planet. God bless him.”
Fellow co-star Dan Aykroyd, who co-wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 tweeted: “Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my brilliant, gifted, funny friend, co-writer/performer and teacher Harold Ramis. May he now get the answers he was always seeking.”
Among other celebrities paying their respects were Billy Crystal, Steve Carell and Elizabeth Hurley.
Crystal, who starred in Ramis’s mobster comedies Analyze This and Analyze That, tweeted: ‘Sad to hear my friend Harold Ramis passed away. A brilliant, funny, actor and director. A wonderful husband and dad. Big loss to us all.’
Office star Steve Carell added: “Harold Ramis. Funny, gracious, kind hearted. A joy to have known you.”
Hurley, who starred in the 2000 film ‘Bedazzled’ which was written by Ramis, tweeted: ‘Very, very sad to hear that Harold Ramis has died. He was a lovely man and I loved working with him. RIP.’
Ramis had been battling autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis (a disease that causes swelling of blood vessels) since 2010. He is survived by a wife, Erica, sons Julian and Daniel, daughter Violet and two grandchildren.
Ghostbusters remains one of the most successful comedy films of all time, with takings of more than $500m adjusted for inflation.
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