RIP Harold Ramis: Egon, Bill Murray, Animal House – His Greatest Scenes

The world became a less funny place this week following the death of Harold Ramis, aged 69.

A talented actor, director and writer, his work in the 70s and 80s made him a figurehead of that era's comedy output, and since he has popped up in cameos here and there to remind us what a great actor he truly is – not was – is.

To celebrate a life of laughter, here are some of the greatest scenes he was involved in, either in front of or behind the camera.

"I collect spores, molds and fungus"

Ramis will be best remembered as Ghostbusters boffin Dr Egon Spengler, and here he is delivering one of his most memorable lines.

He may not have been the leading man, but Ramis was key to the film's success, having written the script with fellow Ghostbuster Dan Akroyd.

"It was a theory Ray and I had when we were still Ghostbusters"

Another Egon scene, this time from the film's lesser, but still great, sequel. This scene in Egon's lab with Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett perfectly exemplifies the distant, enthusiastic scientist that is so beloved.

"It just doesn't matter"

Long before Ghostbusters, Ramis wrote and directed a trinity of comedy classics between 1979 and 1981. Meatballs was the first – a film about the high jinks at an American summer camp which was directed by Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman and which starred Bill Murray.

That laughter in the background? That isn't scripted. Thanks to Murray's performance and Ramis' writing, it was natural.

"Hey everybody, we're all going to get laid!"

Caddyshack is the world's greatest golfing comedy, and there's nothing Adam Sandler can do about that. It's ending is a coming together of plot threads and some wonderfully whacky live-action cartoon antics. Ramis wrote and directed the film.

"There she was just walking down the street singing..."

Ramis and Murray were a formidable double-act, with their greatest work together arguably coming in Stripes – the story of two friends who decide to join the army for fun. Here we see Ramis lead a marching sing-a-long to Manfred Mann's There She Goes, but his greatest line of dialogue comes in the scene below.

"No we're not homosexual, but we are willing to learn"

Perfection.

"I am a God"

Ramis' greatest work behind the camera was Groundhog Day – a film as close to perfection as it is possible to have. It is hard to pinpoint an exact scene of particular greatness, so here's Bill Murray going all Kanye and telling everyone that he's a God. He's not wrong.

Groundhog Day was Ramis' last major success, and since then he has popped up here and there in supporting roles alongside young, up-and-coming comic actors. He's appeared alongside John C Reilly in Walk The Line parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and alongside Jack Black in the pretty awful Year One.

His best contribution in recent years however was in Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen's breakout film Knocked Up, in which he played the latter's father. This short but sweet scene in which Ramis and Rogen make audiences instantly believe in an existing father-son relationship between the two characters.

The scene goes to show the immediate warmth and friendliness of Harold Ramis, a legend of laughter who will be sorely, deeply missed.

*Warning: Strong Language*

"Not all the time, just evenings and all day every weekend."