Early life and education
Reitman was born on October 27, 1946 in Komárno, Czechoslovakia (now part of Slovakia), the son of Klara (Raab) and Ladislav "Leslie" Reitman. Both parents were Hungarian Jews: his mother survived imprisonment at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and his father had been an underground resistance fighter during the war. The family fled Communist Czechoslovakia and arrived in Canada as refugees in 1950, when Ivan was four years old, settling in Toronto.1
He attended Oakwood Collegiate Institute in Toronto, where he sang in a group called the Twintone Four, and went on to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, earning a Bachelor of Music in 1969. He showed early creative drive: he won a music prize in a national student competition, and while at university he produced and directed several short films that aired on Canadian television. He also founded New Cinema of Canada, a non-theatrical film distribution company that remained active for many years.12
Career
Reitman's earliest features were low-budget Canadian genre films. He directed the horror-comedy Cannibal Girls (1973) and, as a producer, helped launch director David Cronenberg by backing his early shockers Shivers (1975, also known as They Came from Within) and Rabid (1977). His first professional connection to Dan Aykroyd came through a live Canadian television variety show called "Greed," which Reitman produced and on which Aykroyd served as announcer.1
He moved into the theater next, producing "Spellbound" for the Toronto stage, which evolved into "The Magic Show," a five-year Broadway hit and at the time one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. He then produced the off-Broadway hit "The National Lampoon Show" and its national tour. That National Lampoon connection led directly to National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which Reitman produced; it became one of the top-grossing comedies of all time and established him as a major Hollywood force.13
He followed it with Meatballs (1979), his first film directing Bill Murray, with Harold Ramis among the writers. He then directed Stripes (1981), again starring Murray and co-written by Ramis, while also producing the animated feature Heavy Metal (1981). In early 1983 he returned to Broadway to direct the musical "Merlin," starring Doug Henning, earning a Tony Award nomination.1
Ghostbusters (1984) was the commercial peak of this run. Around it and after it, Reitman built a long directing and producing career, frequently working with Murray, Ramis, Aykroyd, and later Arnold Schwarzenegger. As director his later films included Legal Eagles (1986), Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Dave (1993), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Evolution (2001), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006), No Strings Attached (2011), and his final directorial feature Draft Day (2014). As a producer his credits ranged across Space Jam (1996), Private Parts (1997), Old School (2003), and his son Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009). In 1998 he co-founded The Montecito Picture Company with former Universal Pictures chairman Tom Pollock.1
His work earned significant honors. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2007, appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009 for his contributions as a director and producer and for promoting the Canadian film and television industries, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.21
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters (1984)
Reitman produced and directed Ghostbusters from a screenplay by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. His stated philosophy was that the film had to succeed first and foremost as a comedy, with or without its large-scale special effects. Ghostbusters is notable as one of the first major comedies to employ the kind of large-scale effects work previously associated with science fiction blockbusters.4
Reitman provided several of the supernatural voices in the film. He voiced Slimer and performed the demonic Zuul possession voice for Dana Barrett; the voice of Gozer was performed by someone else.5 He considered Slimer flying around the hotel ballroom chandelier to be one of his least favorite effects in the finished film.5
Several key creative decisions trace directly to Reitman. Rick Moranis suggested the idea of Louis Tully's party scene shortly before principal photography began, and Reitman chose to shoot it as a single continuous long take in order to preserve Moranis' comedic momentum. Reitman also discovered the Tavern on the Green as a location while scouting and physically emulating Louis Tully's movements through the neighborhood. The height of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was decided by Reitman after factions in the production had argued for 100 feet or 125 feet: he settled on 112.5 feet.5 As an afterthought in post-production, he also came up with the idea of including Slimer in the final shot of the film.
Reitman himself appears briefly in the film: he, the camera, and some of the crew are visible in the reflection of the lobby mirror inside the Shandor Building in Chapter 23, just before the camera pans upward.6
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Reitman returned as director and producer for Ghostbusters II, again from a screenplay by Ramis and Aykroyd. He had worked with the core cast across multiple films by that point, and described his approach to directing as less about telling actors what to do and more about recognizing and encouraging what happens naturally: "Often, it's not telling someone what to do as much as appreciating what happens, encouraging it and making sure it works in the scene."7
Reitman makes a visible cameo in Ghostbusters II: at the 55:10 mark (Chapter 16: Vigo 101), he can be seen wearing a blue jacket, walking away from the Firehouse as a background extra. He also provided the voice for the disembodied voice heard in the film.8
Several production details from Ghostbusters II tie back to Reitman's earlier career. The courtroom set was modified from one used in Legal Eagles (1986), which Reitman had directed. The Movieland Theater marquee in the Chapter 21 montage advertises Cannibal Girls, Reitman's 1973 directorial effort. Two movie posters in the same Movieland sequence, for They Came from Within (1975) and Rabid (1977), represent early David Cronenberg productions that Reitman had produced.8 The bathtub slime attack scene also had personal resonance for Reitman: he recalled that it reminded him of his work on Cronenberg's first film, Shivers, which involved a woman being attacked in a bathroom by a parasite monster.
For the Statue of Liberty sequence, the full-size replica of the crown was built 30% larger than the original, with the windows left unglazed because the glass interfered with Reitman's sightlines. During the shoot atop the crown, Reitman directed the actors to tilt further down than usual in order to capture genuine fear on camera. The explosion of the torch was a rare instance of serendipity: on the first take a piece of rigging flew unexpectedly into frame, and Reitman liked the effect and cut it into the film. He would often stand in front of the infant twins William T. Deutschendorf and Henry J. Deutschendorf II and speak to them to attract their attention for filming.
Ghost Corps and later productions
Reitman was executive producer on The Real Ghostbusters animated series and served as a producer on Ghostbusters (2016). He was a co-head of Ghost Corps, the Ghostbusters brand-management entity operating under Sony Pictures, alongside Dan Aykroyd.1
For Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), directed by his son Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman served as a producer. He also filmed two brief insert shots for the film: a close-up of a hand on the Particle Thrower right after Peter Venkman activates his pack, and an insert shot of Egon Spengler's hands when Egon manifests to help Phoebe Spengler confront Gozer, standing in for the late Harold Ramis.9
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) carries a dedication to Ivan Reitman at the end of the film, before the end credits roll.10
Production notes
Ghostbusters: Afterlife references
Several in-film nods in Ghostbusters: Afterlife pay tribute to Reitman. The GMC 960 truck driven by Egon in the opening scene carries the name "Ivanbuilt" on its rear, a play on Peterbilt and a direct nod to Ivan Reitman; the truck also bears the text "Built in 1946," referencing his birth year. The license plate of Callie Spengler's Subaru Outback reads "48IRG91," which unscrambles to "IRG1984," for Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters 1984. The choice of "Cujo" as a story element in Afterlife was deliberate: the script was structured so the name could segue into a joke about Beethoven, a film Reitman had produced. Reitman's own creative suggestion during production was for more wind on set.9
IDW comics appearances and references
Reitman appears and is referenced across several IDW Publishing comics. On page 12 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #1, "I. Reitman" is listed among the authors of a technical report. Page 3 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #13 depicts him behind Egon, Ray, and Peter. The Ghostbusters: Mass Hysteria hardcover collection includes a reference to Reitman in Dan Aykroyd's introduction on page five. The Regular Cover of Ghostbusters 101 #1 credits Reitman on a map. He wrote the introduction for the Ghostbusters: Interdimensional Cross-Rip collection and is thanked on page 96 of Insight Editions' Tobin's Spirit Guide and on page 215 of Ghosts from Our Past. The Ghostbusters 101: Everyone Answers the Call TPB mentions Reitman in its introduction. On page 7 of 35th Anniversary: Ghostbusters, Reitman and two others from Chapter 16 of Ghostbusters II appear outside the Firehouse, mirroring their original cameo. On the variant cover of Ghostbusters: Dead Man's Chest Issue #3, a street sign in the art reads "Reitman."11
Ghostbusters: Year One layers in further tributes to Reitman's filmography: in Issue #2, Bob Douglas mentions pledging to Delta Tau Chi, the fraternity from Animal House; Peter's hairstyle references Murray's character Tripper in Meatballs, and Egon's references Ramis' character Russell in Stripes; and an article on Peter's locker door, "Ghostbusters chief tells all," is drawn from a real July 2, 1984 Daily News interview with Reitman, with a photo of Peter swapped in for Ivan's.11
Personal life
Reitman married French Canadian actress and director Geneviève Robert in 1976, and the two remained married until his death. They had three children: Jason Reitman (born 1977), the Oscar-nominated director of Juno, Up in the Air, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife; Catherine Reitman (born 1981), an actress and the creator and star of the series Workin' Moms; and Caroline Reitman (born 1988). He was a longtime resident of Montecito, California.1
Death and legacy
Reitman died on February 12, 2022, at age 75, passing peacefully in his sleep at his home in Montecito, California; a cause of death was not publicly released.121314 He was buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. His death drew tributes from across the film industry and the Ghostbusters community.
On June 8, 2022, the street at Sony Pictures Studios where Ghost Corps is located was officially renamed "Ivan Reitman Way." The same day, Jenny Whitlock of Hasbro revealed that the company had made two special Ivan Reitman Plasma Series figures, each featuring a megaphone modeled on the one Reitman used on the set of the original Ghostbusters. Jason Reitman located the actual megaphone in the family basement and sent photographs to Hasbro so they could recreate it accurately. One figure went to Ghost Corps and one was auctioned to benefit the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) carries an on-screen dedication to him.10
Reitman maintained a personal collection of the original Kenner Ghostbusters toys displayed in a trophy case. His connection to the toys that launched GBFans.com's core collector community is a consistent point of interest in discussions of the franchise's history. The Plasma Series tribute figure, with its replica of Reitman's on-set megaphone, has been a subject of collector discussion on GBFans.com given that it bridges the prop-authenticity and action-figure collecting sides of the community.
