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 next film is entitled My Super Ex-Girlfriend starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson.
His son, Jason Reitman, is also a film director.
Evolution (2001)
