Harold Ramis. Photo: Justin Hoch via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Famed Jewish-American actor, director, and writer Harold Ramis has passed away at his home in Chicago from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis. He was 69.

Ramis was born to Jewish parents, Ruth and Nathan Ramis, in Chicago in 1944. One of the leading comics of his generation, Ramis rose to fame on Canada’s “Second City TV” sketch comedy troupe.

For several decades, Ramis was a leading figure in comedy. His notable works included “Animal House” (1978), “Caddyshack” (1980), “National Lampoons Vacation” (1983), “Ghostbusters” (1984), “Groundhog Day” (1993), and “Analyze This” (1999). Fellow Jewish-American comedic legend Billy Crystal, who starred in Ramis’s 1999 film “Analyze This,” wrote on Twitter that Ramis was a “brilliant, funny, actor and director.”

“Big loss to us all,” Crystal wrote.