Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman (born
October 27,
1946 in
Komárno in
Czechoslovakia (now
Slovakia) is a
Slovakian-born,
Canadian-raised
Jewish film actor, producer, and director. He is most remembered for directing and producing a string of comedies, mostly in the
1980s and
1990s.
Reitman worked on a number of films after graduating from
McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ontario. He produced two films for director
David Cronenberg with
Shivers/They Came from Within/The Parasite Murders (1974) and
Rabid (1976). His big break came when he produced
National Lampoon's Animal House in
1978 and directed
Meatballs in
1979. From there, he directed and produced a number of comedies including
Stripes (
1981),
Ghostbusters (
1984),
Legal Eagles (
1986),
Twins (
1988),
Ghostbusters II (
1989),
Kindergarten Cop (
1990),
Dave (
1993),
Junior (
1994),
Six Days Seven Nights (1998) and
Evolution (
2001).
In the early 1990s, Reitman began to direct fewer films, but increased his role as a producer and executive producer. He helped to produce the
animated film Heavy Metal (
1981),
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (
1983),
Beethoven (
1992),
Beethoven's 2nd (
1993),
Space Jam (
1996),
Private Parts (
1997),
Road Trip (
2000),
Old School (
2003) and
Eurotrip (
2004).
Reitman was working on a remake of
The Pink Panther in
2005 but backed out.
Trivia
Reitman's first producing job was with the then-brand new station
CITY-TV in Toronto. CITY also was also the home of the first announcing job of his later friend and collaborator
Dan Aykroyd. However, Reitman's tenure at CITY was short and he was fired during his first year by station owner
Moses Znaimer.
Reitman now works at the Montecito Picture Company, a film production company located just south of
Santa Barbara.
Ivan's most recent film is entitled
My Super Ex-Girlfriend starring
Uma Thurman and
Luke Wilson.
His son,
Jason Reitman, is also a film director.
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