Harold Ramisf

 "The relationship between comedy and life - that's the edge I live on, and maybe it's my protection against looking at the tragedy of it all. It's seeing life in balance. Comedy and tragedy co-exist. You can't have one without the other. I'm of the school that anything can be funny, if seen from a comedic point of view."

Harold Ramis got his start in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. In 1969, he joined Chicago's Second City's Improvisational Theatre Troupe before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" with other Second City graduates including John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. By 1976, he was head writer and a regular performer on the top Canadian comedy series "SCTV."

"It's hard for winners to do comedy. Comedy is inherently subversive. We represent the underdog as comedy usually speaks for the lower classes. We attack the winners."

Ramis wrote four of the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: "Ghostbusters" (1984) at #28, "Groundhog Day" (1993) at #34, "Animal House" (1978) at #36 and "Caddyshack" (1980) at #71. "Meatballs" (1979), "Stripes" (1981) and "Back to School" (1986) were also nominated, but did not make the list.

"The best comedy touches something that's timeless and universal in people. When it's right, those things last."

Happy Birthday, Harold Ramis!