Some of the greatest box-office hit comedies over the past several decades have been written and/or directed by Chicago native Harold Ramis.

After graduating high school, Ramis attended Washington University, eventually returning to Chicago in 1968. After a stint writing freelance for the Chicago Daily News, Ramis boldly cold-called Playboy magazine asking for a job. His efforts weren’t in vain. He was hired on the spot as a jokes editor.  During his time at Playboy, Ramis also worked with the Second City comedy troupe, meeting eventual collaborators Bill Murray and John Belushi.

Hit films soon followed, starting with the 1978 classic “Animal House,” along with “Meatballs,” “Ghostbusters” & “Ghostbusters II,” “Caddyshack” and “Groundhog Day.” Later in his career, he helmed movies like “Multiplicity” and the seminal “Analyze This.” Often Ramis acted in his own films and was known to act in others as well.

In his own words: “My characters aren’t losers. They’re rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else’s rules.”

Learn more:
Click here to see Harold Ramis’ body of work
Click here to read an article about the making of the now-classic Ghostbusters