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Ivan Reitman biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Ivan Reitman
  • OCCUPATION: Director, Producer
  • BIRTH DATE: October 27, 1946 (Age: 66)
  • EDUCATION: McMaster University
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Komarno (former Czechoslovakia), Slovakia
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio

Best Known For

Ivan Reitman is a director and producer for film and stage. His box office hits include Meatballs, Ghostbusters, and Kindergarten Cop.

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Synopsis

Born in Czechoslovakia to the son of an Auschwitz survivor, Ivan Reitman fled with his family to Canada in 1951. As a producer and director, Reitman teamed with three "Saturday Night Live" comedic legends: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. His box office hits include National Lampoon's Animal House, Meatballs, Ghostbusters,

Contents

and Kindergarten Cop. In 2007, he founded the McMaster Film Board.

Profile

Director, producer. Born October 26, 1946 in Komarmo, Czechoslovakia. The son of an Auschwitz survivor, Ivan Reitman fled Czechoslovakia with his family in 1951 and relocated to Canada. He attended McMaster University in Ontario, where he produced and directed several television shorts, before pursuing a career as a stage and television producer. He produced and directed his first film, Foxy Lady, in 1971.

As a producer and director, Reitman teamed with three Second City (and later, "Saturday Night Live") comedic legends: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. These collaborations scored big at the box office, including 1978's groundbreaking National Lampoon's Animal House, 1979's Meatballs, 1981's Stripes and 1984's Ghostbusters, the latter of which held the record for highest grossing comedy in movie history until it was surpassed in 1990 by Home Alone. These films also drew on the considerable comedic writing and acting talents of another Reitman regular, Harold Ramis.

Ivan Reitman is also responsible for transforming Arnold Schwarzenegger from action hero to comedic actor with such films as Twins (1988) and Kindergarten Cop (1990). Other 1990s Reitman hits include the canine comedy Beethoven, Dave, and Space Jam starring Michael Jordan opposite Bugs Bunny. Reitman also produced the 1997 Howard Stern biopic Private Parts.

In 1999, Reitman produced Greed, a short-lived live television game hosted by Dan Aykroyd. He then produced "Spellbound" for the stage, which morphed into the hit Broadway sensation "The Magic Show" starring Doug Henning. Other recent stage successes include "The National Lampoon Show" and the musical "Merlin," for which he earned a Tony nomination.

Ivan Reitman has been married to Genevieve Robert since 1976. The couple has two daughters, Caroline and Catherine, and a son, producer/director Jason Reitman who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for 2007's Juno. Ivan Reitman currently heads The Montecito Picture Company with partner Tom Pollock.

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