Canadian filmmaker Ivan Reitman, to whom we owe American comedies Ghostbusters, Twins and Kindergarten Cophas died at the age of 75, Sony Pictures announced Monday.
“A great talent and a man of great finesse; he will be greatly missed,” Sony Pictures production company boss Tom Rothman said via Twitter.
After having produced American Collegea cult comedy in the United States about student life, he had garnered immense success as a director with Ghostbusters in 1984, remained, with its soundtrack becoming a hit, a reference for more than one generation.
In search of ghosts and other ectoplasms, the four characters in firefighter suits crisscrossed New York to save the city from malevolent spirits – a scenario that will be repeated and diverted until exhaustion. The film also offers Bill Murray his first major role.
It will then be with Arnold Schwarzenegger that he will realize his other great comedies, Twins (1988), starring Danny DeVito, and Kindergarten Cop (1990), where he manages to deviate the immense actor from his testosterone-filled roles.
He continued his career in directing, notably with Sex Friends in 2011 with Natalie Portman.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, he then grew up in Canada before becoming one of the big names in popular comedy in Hollywood. His son, Jason Reitman, is the director in particular of Thank You for Smoking and wacky work Juno.
“I am very saddened by the passing of Ivan Reitman, a great filmmaker with whom I had the honor and the privilege of working,” tweeted actress Ernie Hudson, who had filmed on Ghostbusters.
Contacted by AFP, his family did not respond immediately.