HR: I've got to believe that how one handles success or failure is determined by their early childhood. Whatever Doug went through, he had a painful childhood and adolescence. He was always in the shadow of an older brother who was a perfect preppie: athletic, smart, popular, successful. His brother died before he reached his full promise and I think Doug always imagined that he was a disappointment to his parents somehow. Even before I ever met him he was considered flaky. After Lampoon he disappeared for a year; he lived in a tent on Martha's Vineyard and was chronically abusing alcohol and drugs.
He had no reason to doubt he could become wildly successful. Lampoon was very popular. Then our first film was Animal House. That spoiled us, because it turned out to be the biggest-grossing comedy of that time And Caddyshack wasn't. It was like cold water for Doug: "This isn't gonna be easy Not everything I do will be a home run."
PT: It's hard to believe that somebody could feel bad about doing Caddyshack, after selling his share of National Lampoon for seven million dollars.
HR: Doug's crises started long before he ever saw the several million dollars that he had. If you don't feel good about yourself, no amount of money or success is enough to change that.
John died the year following Doug's death. And just as in Doug's case, John's problems predated his stardom. John was a tragedy waiting to happen for several years. He was pulled from more than one burning bed. If you're so intoxicated you fall asleep with a lit cigarette, that is a form of suicide by negligence, isn't it? And letting someone else inject you with anything is insanity. John lived really hard. He was very generous when I knew him best.
PT: What is the dumbest thing you've done?
HR: I couldn't begin to tell you. I've wrestled with substance abuse. I smoked cigarettes for almost 30 years, pot for 20. I went through a period of cocaine abuse. I gave it all up in the mid-80s.
PT: Slowly or all at once?
HR: All at once. I've not been back to any of it since. I'm 45 pounds heavier now--about 10 pounds per substance. But I'm happier as a fat, sober man.
PHOTO (COLOR): Harold Ramis
Photographs by Bonnie Schiffman
Tags:
Chevy Chase,
country clubs,
film,
Harold Ramis,
Jews,
John Belushi,
movie,
multiplicity,
outsider,
outsiders,
summer camp,
those guys,
young men
