Ivan Raimi - Career

Career

Ivan, the third of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi, who owned home furnishing stores. Ivan was raised in Conservative Judaism; and comes from jewish descent, his ancestors immigrated from Russia and Hungary. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree from Des Moines University in 1984.

Ivan sometimes collaborates on projects with brothers Sam Raimi and Ted Raimi. Dr. Raimi's most well-known work is Army of Darkness, 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. Dr. Raimi was credited as "Alan Smithee, Sr."

Dr. 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.