Neighborhood News: Chicagoan Harold Ramis Honored on Groundhog Day at Harry Caray’s Tavern on Navy Pier
Twelve years after his passing, who was Harold Ramis?
“He wasn’t loud. He didn’t mug. He built worlds that lasted. Comedy didn’t just change because of Harold Ramis — it matured.”
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Of all the comedy legends coming out of Chicago…starting with Jack Benny, and going straight through Bill Murray and John Belushi, Harold Ramis (November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was in a class of his own.
The comedian/filmmaker/actor/director acted in and created some of the most memorable comedies of our time, including ‘Stripes,’ ‘Animal House,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ ‘Ghostbusters,’ and ‘Caddyshack.’ Yet, he never forgot that he was a Chicagoan, first and foremost.
Harold Ramis’ Roots
As Wikipedia sources note, Ramis was born in Chicago, where his parents owned Ace Food & Liquor Mart on the city’s West Side. He graduated from Nicholas Senn High School in 1962, going on to Washington University in St. Louis.
Ramis began writing parodic plays in college, saying years later, “In my heart, I felt I was a combination of Groucho and Harpo Marx, of Groucho using his wit as a weapon against the upper classes, and of Harpo’s antic charm and the fact that he was oddly sexy—he grabs women, pulls their skirts off, and gets away with it.”
Following his work in St. Louis, Ramis returned to Chicago, where by 1968, he was a substitute teacher at schools serving the city’s Robert Taylor Homes public housing development. He also freelanced for the Chicago Daily News, an afternoon newspaper, which led to him becoming joke editor at another Chicago institution, Playboy Magazine, Ramis also started studying and performing with Chicago’s Second City improvisational comedy troupe, where he was famously replaced by Wheaton native John Belushi on stage in 1972.
In 1974, Belushi brought Ramis and other Second City performers, including Ramis’s frequent future collaborator Bill Murray, to New York City to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. Later, Ramis became a performer on, and head writer of, the Canadian sketch-comedy television series SCTV from 1976-79.
How did Chicago influence his storytelling?
Ramis told Chicago Magazine in 2008 that what influenced him the most, as a Chicagoan, were “The Chicago stories that I latched onto were all stories of Clarence Darrow and radical unionism and the Haymarket, Studs Terkel and the Chicago Underground. You know, counterculture stuff and populist politics.”
That explains a lot about ‘Animal House’ and ‘Caddyshack,’ doesn’t it? Going up against institutions where elites and academics prevail.
Becoming a Comedy Legend
Ramis left SCTV to pursue a film career and wrote a script with National Lampoon magazine’s Douglas Kenney, which eventually became National Lampoon’s Animal House.
Over the next 30 years, Ramis would become the gold standard of comedy directors, writers, producers and actors. Besides writing Animal House and ‘Meatballs,’ and writing and directing ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ he helmed ‘Analyze This’ and ‘Analyze That,’ the remake of ‘Bedazzled,’ and the classic ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ with Chevy Chase.
Ramis’ last movie was ‘Year One’ in 2009, starring Jack Black. A year later, he was diagnosed with autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a condition causing inflammation of the blood vessels. After battling the disease for four years, he passed away at age 69 in 2014 due to complications of this rare disease. He is buried at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights.
Legacy
In 2016, two years after his death, The Second City founded the Harold Ramis Film School, the first film school to focus solely on film comedy, in his honor.
Additionally, Ramis’s films influenced subsequent generations of comedians, comedy writers and actors. Filmmakers and actors including Jay Roach, Jake Kasdan, Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Peter and Bobby Farrelly have listed his films among their favorites.
Event: Animal House meets Groundhog Day- Celebrating Harold Ramis Day at Harry Caray’s Tavern, February 2 at Navy Pier
Fans are invited to celebrate the 3rd Annual Harold Ramis Day on Monday, February 2nd at Harry Caray’s on Navy Pier.
Will the Groundhog see his shadow on Lake Michigan in 2026?
Find out for yourself on Monday, February 2, at 3pm at Harry Caray’s Tavern on Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Avenue! They’ll be mashing up two of Ramis’ most iconic movies—‘Animal House’ and ‘Groundhog Day” with Tim “Otter” Matheson, who serves as Master of Ceremonies, along with James “Hoover” Widdoes, Peter “Boon” Riegert, Mark “Neidermeyer” Metcalf, James “Greg Marmalard” Daughton, and Martha “Babs” Smith. Also returning is Richard Henzel, beloved by fans as the voice of the “DJ” in Groundhog Day, continuing a Harold Ramis Day tradition that bridges this year’s Animal House theme with the ceremony’s roots. Chicago Harry, a live groundhog, will emerge from his tree stump to reveal whether he sees his shadow!
The Groundhog Day Ceremony will take place outside on the patio and is open to the public.
The event is free, but reservations for lunch are strongly recommended! For reservations, click here!
