Harold Ramis R.I.P.

I am always looking for things to write about, but this time I wish I weren't inspired.

I was rocked today to learn that Harold Ramis has passed away, at age 69,  of complications from autoimmune imflammatory vasculitis.

Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters

I would be upset anyway, but a few years ago I actually met the man, and was so thoroughly impressed in my brief time around him that today is suddenly shadowed with an extra patina of grief.

I am sometimes employed in the film industry, and I was spending some time in Shreveport, Louisiana, trying to break in. My attempts at getting hired as a crew member were coming to naught at the time, so I had to fall back on a job I had hoped to not have to do again, work as an extra or, as some like to call it, "background artist." Fortunately, the film Year One was nearing the end of its principal photography, and a few scenes near the beginning of the film, before Jack Black and Michael Cera's characters are banished from their village, remained to be shot.  Production was looking for people who had not yet worked on the movie to play these primitive tribespeople for several days of work, and fortunately I got the booking.

Me, in full costume and make-up, on the set of Year One

Now, Year One, in hindsight, is far from a masterpiece, but I was excited to be working with Black and Cera, a pre-Stefon Bill Hader was on set for his small role in the film, and HAROLD RAMIS was the director.

As a writer, director, producer, and actor, Ramis touched so many great projects that there is a good chance at least one of them ranks among your favorite films or television shows: Ghostbusters, Stripes, Caddyshack, Animal House, Groundhog Day, Knocked Up, SCTV, The Office and so many more. As a performer, he mixed a casual yet sharp intellect with a regular-guy affability that also characterized the films in which you never saw his face. You just liked Harold Ramis and the movies he made. Though he was never the guy who got the most laughs as a performer, he certainly took his share, and Bill Murray wouldn't be half as funny in Stripes or Ghostbusters without Ramis' steady presence to boomerang around.

Harold Ramis directs Michael Cera & Jack Black in Year One

When I met him, he was strolling around set, enjoying the extensive work the set builders and decorators had achieved, clearly loving his job and the accomplishments of his crew. He was so approachable that people did approach him, and he didn't care if you were the star of the film, the first assistant director or a lowly extra like me. He had a smile on his face, actually engaged with anyone who talked to him, and left a lot of people in Shreveport, Louisiana discussing how freaking great Harold Ramis was.

It is no secret that talented people are not necessarily pleasant, or even decent human beings, but Harold Ramis was easily among the most warm and thoughtful of the famous people I've ever met or worked with. At age 69, he should still be creating, but tragically that is not the case.

Thank you, Mr. Ramis, for taking a couple of minutes to talk to an enthusiastic extra who enjoyed your work and your sense of humor. Once I've processed the sadness of your loss, I will undoubtedly laugh again, probably at something you made.

Rest in peace.