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Ivan Reitman, the director and producer of hit comedy films like Ghostbusters and National Lampoon’s Animal House, has died. He was 75.
Reitman died peacefully in his sleep Saturday night at his home in Montecito, California, his family confirmed to The Associated Press.
“Our family is grieving the unexpected loss of a husband, father, and grandfather who taught us to always seek the magic in life,” children Jason Reitman, Catherine Reitman, and Carolina Reitman said in a joint statement. “We take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world. While we mourn privately, we hope those who knew him through his films will remember him always.”
Born in Czechoslovakia, Reitman grew up in Canada after his family fled the country when he was a young boy. Known for irreverent comedies that captured the spirit of the era, his breakout gig came with producing 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House, a bawdy take on college fraternity life. He also directed a range of other memorable comedy films, including Meatballs (which marked Bill Murray’s first-ever starring role), Stripes, Kindergarten Cop, and Twins.
However, Reitman is best-known for helming the original pair of Ghostbusters films. The first film (which starred Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis) scored two Oscar nominations and grossed almost $300 million worldwide. The success of the supernatural comedy also sparked an iconic franchise, most recently including his son Jason’s 2021 film Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, paid tribute to Reitman with a statement of his own.
“Tonight, the lady with the torch weeps, as do all of us at Columbia, and film lovers around the world,” Rothman said (per The Hollywood Reporter). “Ivan Reitman was an inseparable part of this studio’s legacy, but more than that he was a friend. A great talent and an even finer man; he will be dearly missed.”
