Director and Producer Ivan Reitman Dies February 12
Ivan Reitman, director and producer of many popular films, died on February 12, 2022. He was 75.
Reitman was born in Czechoslovakia, but his family emigrated to Canada to escape Communism. He was a movie fan from a young age: “When I was 15 years old, I had this little book with all the movies that I’d seen and all kinds of memorabilia that I’d collected at that point.”
He began honing his craft as a storyteller while studying at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He produced “Spellbound,” renamed “The Magic Show,” which ran on Broadway for five years. He also helped create an off-Broadway show, “The National Lampoon Show.”
He was not afraid to push the boundaries, even in his early works. He and others were arrested and convicted for violating Canada’s decency laws in the film “Columbus of Sex.” He is credited as a producer of the film. Additionally, he and his college friend Eugene Levy are credited as cinematographers.
Reitman helped create an impressive list of popular blockbusters over the years, including “Animal House,” “Meatballs,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” “Twins,” “Ghostbusters II,” “Dave,” “Space Jam,” “Up in the Air,” and “Hitchcock.”
His work was not always appreciated by the critics, but he got the last laugh. He said, “The movies from the first half of my career keep being shown as evergreen, from ‘Stripes’ and ‘Animal House’ to ‘Ghostbusters.’ All of them got mediocre reviews. They all sort of got that two star thing. Now they’re all looked at as four star movies!”
Ivan Reitman died in his sleep at his home in Montecito, California. He is survived by his wife and three children.
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SOURCES
Chappell, Bill. “‘Ghostbusters’ director and ‘Animal House’ producer Ivan Reitman has died.” NPR, February 14, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/02/14/1080582306/ivan-reitman-death.
Eisenberg, Eric. “Ghostbusters Director Ivan Reitman Is Dead At 75.” Cinemablend, February 14, 2022, https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/ghostbusters-director-ivan-reitman-is-dead-at-75.
IMDb. “‘The Columbus of Sex’ Full Cast & Crew.” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251644/fullcredits.
Swann, Erik. “Ivan Reitman Explains Whether Ghostbusters Is A Comedy With Scares, Or A Horror Movie With Jokes.” Cinemablend, November 20, 2021, https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/ivan-reitman-explains-whether-ghostbusters-is-a-comedy-with-scares-or-a-horror-movie-with-jokes.
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