RIP Harold Ramis.

I loved him best as Russell Ziskey in Stripes:

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• I've always been kind of a pacifist. When I was a kid, my father told me, "Never hit anyone in anger, unless you're absolutely sure you can get away with it." I don't know what kind of soldier I'm gonna make, but I want you guys to know that if we ever get into real heavy combat... I'll be right behind you guys. Every step of the way.

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Winger: C'mon, it's Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip right out again. We're not going to Moscow. It's Czechoslovakia. It's like we're going into Wisconsin.

Russell: Well, I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin once. Forget it.

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Russell: Do the words "Act of War" mean anything to you?

Winger: I have a plan.

Russell: Great! Custer had a plan.

He was a product of a Chicago's comedy scene:

Ramis' roots in humor date back to his college years at Washington University in St. Louis, when he wrote parodies for the stage. After graduating, he moved back to Chicago. And by the early '70s he was sharing the stage at Second City with John Belushi and other fellow collaborators, also launching skit comedy show "SCTV." In 1974, Ramis, Belushi, and Bill Murray moved to New York with other performers from the famed Chicago comedy troupe to do "The National Lampoon Radio Hour."

Ramis' big-screen break came when he wrote the seminal 1978 frat house comedy "National Lampoon's Animal House," starring Belushi. From there, Ramis wrote 1979's "Meatballs," starring his other creative collaborator, Bill Murray — with whom he would go on to "Caddyshack," "Stripes," "Ghostbusters," and "Groundhog Day."