HAROLD RAMIS: BILL MURRAY PAYS TRIBUTE TO GHOSTBUSTERS STAR AT 2014 OSCARS

On Monday, March 3, 2014 Posted by Jack Akhmad Labels: celebrity

US actor and director, who died in February, remembered by longtime collaborator and friend at Academy Awards ceremony

Billy Murray paid tribute to Harold Ramis, the leading light of American comedy who died last week at the age of 69, while presenting the best cinematography prize at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony

Born and raised in Chicago, Ramis teamed with Murray and John Belushi for the National Lampoon Radio Hour in the early 1970s, later branching into film with 1978's successful National Lampoon's Animal House. Following Belushi's death, Ramis and Murray partnered with Dan Aykroyd to play squabbling paranormal experts in the 1984 hit Ghostbusters.

Ramis made his directing debut with Caddyshack in 1980, although his best-loved picture was Groundhog Day, the 1993 comedy classic that starred Murray as a self-absorbed TV weatherman grappling his way towards an eventual redemption. His other films included Stripes, Analyse This and As Good As it Gets.

Murray invoked the name of his old friend and colleague while presenting the list of best cinematography nominees with Amy Adams. After news of Ramis's death on 24 February broke, Murray said: "He earned his keep on this planet. God bless him."