Ivan Raimi

Last updated
Ivan Raimi
Born
Ivan Mitchell Raimi

(1956-06-21) June 21, 1956 (age 68)
Alma mater Michigan State University
Des Moines University
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, emergency medicine physician
Relatives Sam Raimi (brother)
Ted Raimi (brother)

Ivan Mitchell Raimi (born June 21, 1956) is an American emergency medicine physician [1] and screenwriter, and a brother of filmmaker Sam Raimi and actor Ted Raimi. Ivan works as an emergency physician in Chicago, traveling to Los Angeles occasionally to work in Hollywood. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Ivan M. Raimi was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. He is third of five children born to Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi, who owned home furnishing stores. [3] [4] Ivan was raised in Conservative Judaism, and his ancestors emigrated from Russia and Hungary. [5] His sister remains in Michigan. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and received his medical degree from the Des Moines University medical school in 1984. [6] Raimi then completed an emergency medicine residency at the Southside Medical Center. He is dually board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine. [1]

Career

Raimi sometimes collaborates on projects with brothers Sam Raimi and Ted Raimi, and his work Army of Darkness is the sequel to the horror films The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II . He also co-wrote the comic book adaption of Army for Dark Horse Comics. His work in the entertainment industry has been sparse due to his primary career as a doctor.

Prior to these successes, Dr. Raimi also contributed to several of the films that his brother Sam had made in his early career. Some of these were amateur efforts produced in suburban Michigan; some of them professional, theatrical efforts like Easy Wheels (though the script was heavily altered from the one the Raimis submitted). They also worked together on The Nutt House , which was, again, heavily altered—so much so that all those who worked on the script used pseudonyms. Raimi was credited as "Alan Smithee, Sr."

Raimi also co-wrote Darkman , a collaboration with Sam which also featured Ted. He created the short-lived television series Spy Game and co-wrote the stories and screenplays for Spider-Man 3 and Drag Me to Hell , both projects directed by Sam Raimi and featuring Ted Raimi.

Filmography

YearFilmNotes
1989 Easy Wheels
1990 Darkman
1992 The Nutt House Credited as Alan Smithee
1993 Army of Darkness
1997 Spy Game TV series; Co-Creator
2007 Spider-Man 3
2009 Drag Me to Hell
2015-2018 Ash vs Evil Dead TV series; Developed By
2020 50 States of Fright TV series; 3 episodes

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<i>Army of Darkness</i> 1992 film by Sam Raimi

Army of Darkness is a 1992 American dark fantasy comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead film series and the sequel to Evil Dead II (1987). Starring Bruce Campbell and Embeth Davidtz, it follows Ash Williams (Campbell) as he is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Campbell</span> American actor (born 1958)

Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known best for his role as Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead horror series, beginning with the short movie Within the Woods (1978). He has also featured in many low-budget cult movies such as Crimewave (1985), Maniac Cop (1988), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).

<i>The Evil Dead</i> 1981 film by Sam Raimi

The Evil Dead is a 1981 American independent supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi. The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, and Theresa Tilly as five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in the woods, where they find an audio tape that, when played, releases a legion of demons and spirits. Four members of the group suffer from demonic possession, forcing the fifth member, Ash Williams (Campbell), to survive an onslaught of increasingly gory mayhem.

<i>Evil Dead II</i> 1987 film by Sam Raimi

Evil Dead II is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Sam Raimi, who co-wrote it with Scott Spiegel. The second installment in the Evil Dead film series, it is considered both a remake and sequel to The Evil Dead (1981). It stars Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, who vacations with his girlfriend to a remote cabin in the woods. He discovers an audio tape of recitations from a book of ancient texts, and when the recording is played, it unleashes a number of demons which possess and torment him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Raimi</span> American filmmaker (born 1959)

Samuel M. Raimi is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for directing the first three films in the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present) and the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the superhero movie Darkman (1990), the revisionist western The Quick and the Dead (1995), the neo-noir crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998), the supernatural thriller The Gift (2000), the supernatural horror Drag Me to Hell (2009), the Disney fantasy Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and the Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Raimi</span> American actor

Theodore Raimi is an American character actor, director and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in The Evil Dead, possessed Henrietta in Evil Dead II, and Ted Hoffman in the Spider-Man trilogy. He later reprised his role as Henrietta in the television series Ash vs. Evil Dead, in which he also played the character Chet Kaminski. He is also known for his roles as Lieutenant JG Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV his recurring role as the merchant in Legend of the Seeker and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

<i>Darkman</i> 1990 American film by Sam Raimi

Darkman is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. The film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is brutally attacked, disfigured, and left for dead by ruthless mobster Robert Durant, after his girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings, runs afoul of corrupt developer Louis Strack Jr.. An experimental treatment gives Westlake super-human strength and resilience, with the unintended side-effect of rendering him mentally unstable and borderline psychotic. Consumed with vengeance, Westlake continues his research with the new goal of hunting down those who disfigured him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash Williams</span> Fictional character

Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Evil Dead franchise. Created by Sam Raimi, he is portrayed by Bruce Campbell and is the only character to appear in each entry of the series, including a post-credits and audio cameo in the 2013 and 2023 soft reboot films, respectively. Throughout the series, Ash faces off against "Deadites", evil creatures possessed by the ancient evil of the Kandarian Demon. Ash, since his debut, has been considered a cultural icon and an iconic horror hero. In 2008, Ash was selected by Empire magazine as the 24th greatest movie character of all time, and in 2013, was voted by Empire as the greatest horror movie character ever.

<i>Crimewave</i> 1985 film by Sam Raimi

Crimewave is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Sam Raimi, from a screenplay he co-wrote with the Coen brothers. It stars Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Paul L. Smith, Brion James, Louise Lasser and Bruce Campbell, with the latter also serving as a co-producer. An unusual slapstick mix of film noir, black comedy, Hitchcockian suspense, and B-movie conventions, Crimewave portrays bizarre situations involving a nebbish everyman (Birney) entangled in a murderous plot while pursuing his love interest (Wilson).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Tapert</span> American film producer

Robert Gerard Tapert is an American film and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-creating the television series Xena: Warrior Princess.

<i>Evil Dead</i> American comedy horror franchise

Evil Dead is an American comedy horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series originally revolves around the grimoire the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a group of cabin inhabitants in a wooded area in Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Becker (filmmaker)</span> American film and TV writer and director and author

Joshua Matthew Becker is an American film and television writer and director and author whose credits include episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess as well as collaborations with Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi.

<i>Its Murder!</i> 1977 film

It's Murder! is a 1977 feature-length crime film shot on Super 8 film directed by Sam Raimi while he was still in college. It was co-written and produced by Raimi and Scott Spiegel, and stars both Raimi and Spiegel. Raimi's first directorial work, it co-stars his frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell.

<i>Drag Me to Hell</i> 2009 supernatural horror film by Sam Raimi

Drag Me to Hell is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi with Ivan Raimi, starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Adriana Barraza. The story focuses on a loan officer, who, because she has to prove to her boss that she can make the "hard decisions" at work, chooses not to extend an elderly woman's mortgage. The old woman places a retaliatory curse on her that, after three days of escalating torment, will plunge her into the depths of Hell to burn for eternity.

<i>Ash vs Evil Dead</i> American comedy horror television series

Ash vs Evil Dead is an American comedy horror television series developed by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, and Tom Spezialy for Starz. The series is set in the Evil Dead universe created by Raimi, with Bruce Campbell reprising his role as Ash Williams from the film series. Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, and Lucy Lawless also star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Raimi's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Sam Raimi projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director and producer Sam Raimi has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially cancelled and scrapped or fell in development hell.

Tom Sullivan is an American special effects artist and actor, known primarily for his work on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy—comprising The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992)—as well as The Fly II (1989). Sullivan was responsible for helping design the Book of the Dead in The Evil Dead, and drew the illustrations and symbols seen on the pages of the book.

<i>Evil Dead Rise</i> 2023 American film by Lee Cronin

Evil Dead Rise is a 2023 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Lee Cronin. It is a standalone entry and the fifth installment in the Evil Dead film series. The film stars Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland as two estranged sisters trying to survive and save their family from deadites. Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher appear in supporting roles.

Rodo Sayagues is an Uruguayan writer, producer, film director, and songwriter. He is best known for his work as a co-writer on the Fede Álvarez-directed films Evil Dead (2013), Don't Breathe (2016), and Alien: Romulus (2024), and for directing Don't Breathe 2 (2021).

"El Jefe" is the series premiere of the American comedy horror television series Ash vs Evil Dead, which serves as a continuation of the Evil Dead trilogy, the first episodes of its first season. The episode was written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy, and directed by Sam Raimi. It originally aired on the premium channel Starz on October 31, 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dr. Ivan Raimi, DO – Howell, MI". Doximity. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  2. Raymond, Rose (November 9, 2012). "From the ER to Oz: DO screenwriter splits time between Michigan, Hollywood". The DO. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  3. Sam Raimi Biography (1959-)
  4. Ted Raimi Biography (1965-)
  5. "JewishJournal.com". Archived from the original on 2005-11-13. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  6. "AOA "Find a DO"". Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2008.