3 min read
Murray Rubin (June 6, 1925, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - September 10, 2015)1 was an American character actor whose four-decade television career spanned more than 40 credits. He is best remembered in the Ghostbusters community for his brief but memorable appearance in Ghostbusters (1984) as the Man at Elevator at the Sedgewick Hotel.
Join the community
Free accounts post in the forum, upload to the gallery, edit the wiki, and follow your favorite franchises. No credit card. No catch.
Murray Rubin was born on June 6, 1925 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.1 Details of his early life and formal training are not on public record.
Rubin built a long career playing character roles in film and television, often cast as ethnic patriarch figures. His television work spanned from the late 1970s through the early 2000s, accumulating more than 40 credits across network dramas, sitcoms, and anthology series.1
Among his more sustained television engagements were four episodes of the medical drama St. Elsewhere (1984-1986) and four episodes of the nostalgic family drama Brooklyn Bridge (1991-1992). His sitcom credits included single appearances on Seinfeld, Mad About You, Roseanne, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Ally McBeal, and recurring spots on Babes and the short-lived Down the Shore. Other television appearances included L.A. Law, Highway to Heaven, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Tracey Ullman Show, Beverly Hills Buntz, Chicago Hope, Malcolm in the Middle, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Once and Again, Reasonable Doubts, True Colors, Common Law, What's Happening Now!!, The New Dragnet, Baby Talk, Working, and the soap opera Forever Fernwood.2
On film, Rubin appeared in Walk Like a Man (1987), I Madman (1989), Delirious (1991), Doctor Mordrid (1992), and Under Investigation (1993), along with several additional features and television movies.1
Murray Rubin appeared in Ghostbusters (1984) as the Man at Elevator, credited informally on set as "Cosmonaut guy," in Chapter 11: "We Got One!"3 On the night of the Ghostbusters' first call, the team arrived at the Sedgewick Hotel and were directed to the 12th floor. While waiting for an elevator, they encountered Rubin's character: a gentleman smoking a cigar. He asked whether the team were cosmonauts, prompted by the unusual appearance of their jumpsuits and proton packs. Peter Venkman deflected the question by explaining they were exterminators brought in for a large cockroach on the 12th floor. The man replied that had to be some cockroach, and Venkman warned him it could bite his head off. When Ray Stantz turned and offered him a spot in the elevator, the man declined and waited for the next one.3
The scene is among the more fondly quoted minor exchanges in the first film, and the Man at Elevator's dry reaction to the Ghostbusters has made him a recognizable background figure among fans.
The character received a small nod in IDW Comics continuity: the Man at Elevator appears briefly in Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression Issue #14 and Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4,5 when Peter Venkman reminisces about the team's first bust as he enters the Grand Palace Hotel and Saloon during the Old West storyline.
Murray Rubin died on September 10, 2015 at the age of 90.1
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Murray Rubin," IMDb (nm0748133), https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748133/, accessed 2026-06-13. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
TV Guide, "Murray Rubin: Movies, TV Shows, and Credits," https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/murray-rubin/credits/3030521502/, accessed 2026-06-13. ↩
Ghostbusters (1984), dir. Ivan Reitman. Columbia Pictures. Chapter 11: "We Got One!" Sedgewick Hotel lobby elevator scene. ↩ ↩2
Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression Issue #1 (IDW Publishing, 2009). Written by Scott Lobdell, art by Ilias Kyriazis. Peter Venkman enters the Grand Palace Hotel and Saloon in the Old West, triggering a reminiscence of the Sedgewick bust. ↩
Ghostbusters: Year One Issue #4 (IDW Publishing, 2020). Man at Elevator appears in Peter Venkman's recollection of the team's first call at the Sedgewick Hotel. ↩
