Artwork via RAMPAGED REALITY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: “Harold Ramis and I together did the ‘National Lampoon Show’ off Broadway, ‘Meatballs,’ ‘Stripes,’ ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Groundhog Day.’ He earned his keep on this planet. God bless him.” Murray’s statement is noteworthy since he and Ramis had a fruitful creative partnership which saw Ramis write the actor’s hit comedies “Meatballs” (1979) and “Caddyshack” (1980), and co-star together in 1981’s “Stripes,” 1984’s “Ghostbusters” and its 1989 sequel. But their friendship and professional partnership ended after the two had a falling out while working on 1993’s “Groundhog Day,” which Murray starred in and Ramis directed. In a 2004 interview with The New Yorker, Ramis said that Murray’s “erratic” behavior, due to the star’s marriage falling apart at the time, had put a strain on their relationship. “At times, Bill was just really irrationally mean and unavailable; he was constantly late on set,” Ramis told The New Yorker. “What I’d want to say to him is just what we tell our children: ‘You don’t have to throw tantrums to get what you want. Just say what you want.’” Ramis said that Murray had stopped speaking to him after they completed filming “Groundhog Day.” “It’s a huge hole in my life,” Ramis said about their estrangement in the 2004 interview. “But there are so many pride issues about reaching out. Bill would give you his kidney if you needed it, but he wouldn’t necessarily return your phone calls.” It seems the two reconciled before Ramis’ passing. According to the Chicago Tribune, Murray and his brother Brian Doyle-Murray, who also appeared in several of Ramis’ films, visited him before his death. Ramis, 69, passed away Monday from complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, which he had been suffering from since 2010. MORE
THE WRAP: In a 2009 interview with the A.V. Club, Ramis said he still had no contact with Murray, but praised the actor’s work in “Rushmore” and said he was grateful for their previous collaborations. “Bill was a strong man…You’d do a movie with Bill, a big comedy in those early days, just knowing he could save the day no matter how bad the script was, that we’d find something through improvisation,” Ramis said. “That was our alliance, kind of, our big bond. I could help him be the best funny Bill Murray he could be, and I think he appreciated that then. And I don’t know where that went, but it’s there on film. So whatever happens between us in the future, at least we have those expressions.” MORE
THE NEW YORKER: Offscreen, Ramis and Bill Murray were trapped in a cycle of personal strains. Murray’s marriage was breaking up, and he was behaving erratically—the whirling, unpredictable personality that Dan 
Aykroyd calls “the Murricane.” Ramis sent Rubin to New York to work with Murray on the script, because he was tired of taking his star’s 2 a.m. calls. Rubin says that when Ramis phoned him to check in, Murray would shake his head and mouth the words “I’m not here.” “They were like two brothers who weren’t getting along,” Rubin says. “And they were pretty far apart on what the movie was about—Bill wanted it to be more philosophical, and Harold kept reminding him it was a comedy.”
“At times, Bill was just really irrationally mean and unavailable; he was constantly late on set,” Ramis says. “What I’d want to say to him is just what we tell our children: ‘You don’t have to throw tantrums to get what you want. Just say what you want.’ ” After the film wrapped, Murray stopped speaking to Ramis. Some of the pair’s friends believe that Murray resents how large a role Ramis had in creating the Murray persona. Michael Shamberg, a Hollywood producer who has known Ramis since college and who used to let Murray sleep on his couch, says, “Bill owes everything to Harold, and he probably has a thimbleful of gratitude.”
Except for brief exchanges at a wake and a bar mitzvah, the two men haven’t talked in eleven years. “It’s a huge hole in my life,” Ramis says, “but there are so many pride issues about reaching out. Bill would give you his kidney if you needed it, but he wouldn’t necessarily return your phone calls.” In early March, Ramis prevailed on Brian Doyle-Murray to ask his brother if he would take part in “The Ice Harvest.” Brian reported that Bill said no, thanks. When Ramis asked if Bill had said anything more, anything personal, Brian said that his brother hadn’t mentioned Ramis at all. At around the same time, I reached Murray, after several attempts, and told him that I was writing about Ramis and would love to talk to him. “Really?” Murray said. It was hard to tell what he meant by that “really.” He suggested that I call back in a week. When I did, he said, “I’ve thought about it, and I really don’t have anything to say.” MORE
FRESH AIR: Comedy actor, writer and director Harold Ramis is best known for the 1984 film Ghostbusters, which he co-wrote and starred in along with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. Ramis had co-written and planned to star in the long-awaited Ghostbusters III — but did not get the chance. Ramis died Monday in Chicago from an autoimmune disorder. He was 69 years old. Ramis co-wrote Animal House, Meatballs and Stripes. He co-wrote and directed Caddyshack and directed Murray in Groundhog Day. Today, we remember Ramis with excerpts from a 2005 interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. MORE