Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters and Kindergarten Cop director, dies at 75

Ivan Reitman, the influential filmmaker and producer behind beloved comedies Animal House to Ghostbusters, has died. He was 75. Ivan died in his sleep Saturday night at his home in Montecito, California, his family told 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 Caroline 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,” their statement further read.

Known for big, bawdy comedies that caught the spirit of their time, Ivan’s big break came with the raucous, college fraternity sendup National Lampoon’s Animal House, which he produced. He directed Bill Murray in his first starring role in Meatballs and then again in Stripes, but his most significant success came with 1984’s Ghostbusters.

Not only did the irreverent supernatural comedy starring Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis gross nearly $300 million worldwide, it earned two Oscar nominations, spawned a veritable franchise.

Among other notable films he directed are Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Dave, Junior and Six Days, Seven Nights. He also produced Beethoven, Old School and EuroTrip, and many others, including several for his son Jason.

Ivan was born in Komarmo, Czechoslovakia, in 1946 where his father owned the country’s biggest vinegar factory. When the communists began imprisoning capitalists after the war, the Reitmans decided to escape, when Ivan was only 4. They traveled in the nailed-down hold of a barge headed for Vienna.

“I remember flashes of scenes,” Reitman told the AP in 1979. “Later they told me about how they gave me a couple of sleeping pills so I wouldn’t make any noise. I was so knocked out that I slept with my eyes open. My parents were afraid I was dead.”

The Reitmans joined a relative in Toronto, where Ivan displayed his show biz inclinations: starting a puppet theater, entertaining at summer camps, playing coffee houses with a folk music group. He studied music and drama at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and began making movie shorts.

Also read: Bill Murray ain’t afraid of no Ghostbusters, agreees to cameo

With friends and $12,000, Reitman made a nine-day movie, Cannibal Girls, which American International agreed to release. He produced on a $500 budget a weekly TV revue, “Greed,” with Dan Aykroyd, and became associated with the Lampoon group in its off-Broadway revue that featured John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Murray. That soon led to Animal House.

Ivan slowed down as a director after Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) — only four films would follow Evolution, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, No Strings Attached and Draft Day, the final being in 2014.

But he continued producing and, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, even found himself on the press circuit with his son, who was directing the film, with the duo providing emotional moments with the passing of the baton.