R.I.P. Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters and producer of Animal House

Ivan Reitman, the comedy icon who had a hand in some of the most beloved movies of all time—Ghostbusters, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Space Jam, and Stripes, just to name a few—has died. That comes from the Associated Press, which says that a statement from his children confirmed that he “died peacefully in his sleep” last night. No specific cause of death was given, but the statement says his death was “unexpected,” adding, “we take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world.” Reitman was 75.

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, Reitman’s family fled Europe when he was just four and moved to Canada. He was interested in show business at a young age, studying music in school and later working on his own short films. He befriended Dan Aykroyd when they were both working at a TV station in Toronto, eventually leading to him meeting future collaborators Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner. Before that, though, he produced two David Cronenberg movies: Shivers and Rabid.

Working with his comedy buddies to produce Animal House effectively made him (and everyone else involved) a star, and he parlayed that success into opportunities to direct the goofy “Bill Murray goes to camp” movie Meatballs and the goofy “Bill Murray joins the army” movie Stripes, both of which were big hits, but they were nothing compared to Reitman’s next directing gig, a goofy “Bill Murray hunts ghosts” movie—which, obviously, is now one of the most iconic comedy films of all time.

Though Reitman continued working as a director and producer for decades, it could be argued that nearly everything post-Ghostbusters was an attempt to chase Ghostbusters. He eventually passed that legacy down to his son, Jason Reitman, who directed last year’s deeply reverent legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a film that features the ghost of Reitman’s longtime friend Harold Ramis and was the final movie that Reitman worked on to come out during his lifetime.

But before that, his directing career still had a handful of bright spots: Kindergarten Cop, Junior, No Strings Attached, Draft Day, and Ghostbusters II are all memorable at least, and he was nothing if not a prolific producer. Behind the scenes, Reitman was at least somewhat involved in the Beethoven movies, Heavy Metal, Space Jam, Road Trip, Old School, I Love You Man, Up In The Air, the 2016 Ghostbusters, and more than a half-dozen films that aren’t even out yet.

Reitman is survived by his wife and three children, including the aforementioned director Jason Reitman and actor Catherine Reitman (Maureen Ponderosa from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia).