Ivan Reitman, who was best known for directing such classics like Ghostbusters and Dave, has sadly passed away at the age of 75. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reitman passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday night in his home in Montecito, California, and in a joint statement his children Jason, Catherine, and Caroline Reitman told The Associated Press:

“Our family is grieving the unexpected loss of a husband, father, and grandfather who taught us to always seek the magic in life. We take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world. While we mourn privately, we hope those who knew him through his films will remember him always.”

Reitman made a career directing comedy with his first feature film being 1971’s Foxy Lady before moving on to such genre-defining classics like Stripes, Meatballs, Twins, and Kindergarten Cop. He also had a hand in producing other comedy gems like Animal House and Space Jam. However, as previously mentioned, he is best known for the 1984 supernatural comedy Ghostbusters which featured the all-star talent of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, the late Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver. This horror-comedy blend was lightning in a bottle, and it made nearly $300 million worldwide. It also was nominated for two Oscars. The film was so popular it garnered a sequel Ghostbusters 2 in 1989 also directed by Reitman.

Since then the Ghostbusters franchise has never left the pop culture conversation as, like most popular franchises from the 80s, it got a successful cartoon show entitled The Real Ghostbusters which ran for 7 seasons from 1986 to 1984, multiple video game adaptations, comic books, and a film reboot in 2016.

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Image via Sony

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While Reitman’s last directed film was in 2014 with the NFL sports drama Draft Day, he never left the Ghostbusters family as his final producing credit was the franchise sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife which was directed by his son Jason Reitman. Afterlife was a complete family aware and although the film was dedicated to Ramis, the entire film was a joyful love letter to Reitman’s work. From all the promotional material and up until Afterlife’s release you could feel how strong their father-son relationship was. Afterlife was an emotional movie for so many reasons and Reitman’s passing adds another tearful reason to that list.

Reitman was a family man and that could be seen throughout all his films. From Stripes to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, that is how he will be remembered. His loving energy and passion will live on through his iconic work. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.