President Obama Pays Tribute to Harold Ramis

Actor and director Harold Ramis, best known for the films Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, has died aged 69. Born in Chicago to convenience store owners Ruth and Nathan, Ramis studied at Washington University in Missouri and, on graduation, briefly worked as an orderly on a psychiatric ward. He started his career as a writer by penning arts stories for his local newspaper and editing Playboy magazine's "party jokes" section.

"Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis, one of America’s greatest satirists, and like so many other comedic geniuses, a proud product of Chicago’s Second City. When we watched his movies – from “Animal House” and “Caddyshack” to “Ghostbusters” and “Groundhog Day” – we didn’t just laugh until it hurt. We questioned authority. We identified with the outsider. We rooted for the underdog. And through it all, we never lost our faith in happy endings."

 Here is the statement President Obama released this morning on the passing of Harold Ramis.