Harold Ramis worked as editor of the Party Jokes page of Playboy magazine before he ventured into film direction.

He was also a cast member of the Broadway revue National Lampoon's Lemmings, a major spawning ground of most of Saturday Night Live's cast.

Ramis worked as a writer/performer on the weekly Second City TV sketch comedy series. He played a variety of roles, the most prominent of which was television station manager Moe Green (a character name swiped from the second Godfather movie).

His best remembered screen appearance was as troubleshooter Egon Spengler in the two Ghostbusters films.

He is accompanied by his son at the premiere.