Biography and Wiki
Chevy Chase was born on October 8, 1943, in New York City. He is best known for his work on SNL and his leading roles in films like "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation." Chase's career spans over five decades, with a legacy that includes numerous iconic comedy roles.
| Occupation | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 8 October 1943 |
| Age | 81 Years |
| Birth Place | New York City, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 1.91 meters (6 feet 3 inches)
- Weight: 95 kilograms (209 pounds).
Chase narrowly escaped death by electrocution during the filming of Modern Problems in 1980. During a sequence in which Chase's character wears "landing lights" as he dreams that he is an airplane, the lights malfunctioned and an electric current passed through Chase's arm, back, and neck muscles. The near-death experience followed the end of his marriage to Carlin, and Chase experienced a period of deep depression. He married Jayni Luke in 1982. Chase continued his film career by playing Clark Griswold in 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation. Directed by Ramis and written by John Hughes, the movie grossed $61 million on a $15 million budget—his most successful movie at the time.
In 1989, Chase starred in a sequel to Fletch, Fletch Lives, which went on to gross more than $35 million, and made a third Vacation film, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which pulled in $71 million and, thanks to its holiday theme, has become one of his more durable films. At the height of his career in the late 1980s, Chase earned around US$7 million per film and was a highly visible celebrity.
| Height | 6 feet 3 inches |
| Weight | 209 pounds |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Chevy Chase has been married to Jayni Chase since 1982. The couple resides primarily in upstate New York.
His father, Edward Tinsley "Ned" Chase (1919–2005), was a Princeton-educated Manhattan book editor and magazine writer. Chase's paternal grandfather was artist and illustrator Edward Leigh Chase, and his great-uncle was painter and teacher Frank Swift Chase. His mother, Cathalene Parker (née Browning; 1923–2005), was a concert pianist and librettist, whose father, Rear Admiral Miles Browning, served as Admiral Raymond A. Spruance's Chief of Staff on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise at the Battle of Midway in World War II. Cathalene was adopted as a child by her stepfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, heir to The Crane Company, and took the name Catherine Crane. Her mother, also named Cathalene, was an opera singer who performed several times at Carnegie Hall.
[Chevy] once told me that people who defined themselves in terms of their ancestry were like potatoes—the best parts of them were underground. He disdained the pretension of his mother's side of the family, as embodied by her mother, Cattie.
As a child, Chase vacationed at Castle Hill, the Cranes' summer estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Chase's parents divorced when he was four; his father remarried into the Folgers coffee family, and his mother remarried twice. He has stated that he grew up in an upper middle class environment and that his adoptive maternal grandfather did not bequeath any assets to Chase's mother when he died. In a 2007 biography, Chase stated that he was physically and psychologically abused as a child by his mother and stepfather, Dr. John Cederquist, a psychoanalyst. In that biography, he said, "I lived in fear all the time, deathly fear." Abuse he was subjected to as a child included being awakened in the middle of the night by his mother to be slapped repeatedly across the face, lashes to the backs of his legs, punches to the head by his stepfather, and being locked in a bedroom closet for hours. As a punishment for being suspended from school at the age of 14, Chase was locked in a basement for several days. Both of his parents died in 2005.
In late 1976, in the middle of SNL's second season, Chase became the first member of the original cast to leave the show. While he landed starring roles in several films on the strength of his SNL fame, he asserted that the principal reason for his departure was the reluctance of his girlfriend, Jacqueline Carlin, to move to New York. Chase moved to Los Angeles, married Carlin, and was replaced by Bill Murray, although he made a few cameo appearances on the show during the second season.
He was roasted by the New York Friars Club for a Comedy Central television special in 2002. This roast was noted for being unusually vitriolic, even by the standards of a roast. Some of the more recent films starring Chase (e.g., Vacuums, Rent-a-Husband, Goose!) have not been widely released in the United States. He returned to mainstream movie-making in 2006, co-starring with Tim Allen and Courteney Cox in the comedy Zoom, though it was both a critical and commercial failure. Chase guest-starred as an anti-Semitic murder suspect in "In Vino Veritas", the November 3, 2006, episode of Law & Order. He also guest-starred in the ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters in two episodes as a former love interest of Sally Field's character. Chase appeared in a prominent recurring role as villainous software magnate Ted Roark on the NBC spy-comedy Chuck. In 2009, Chase and Dan Aykroyd voiced themselves in the Family Guy episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us".
In 2010, Chase appeared in an online Vacation short film Hotel Hell Vacation, featuring the Griswold parents, and in the Funny or Die original comedy sketch "Presidential Reunion", where he played President Ford alongside other current and former SNL president impersonators. That same year, Chase appeared in the film Hot Tub Time Machine which received some praise, and a sequel.
He married his third wife, Jayni Luke, in Pacific Palisades on June 19, 1982. He and Luke have three daughters, Cydney, Caley, and Emily. The couple reside in Bedford, New York.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Suzanne Hewitt (m. 1973-1976) Jacqueline Carlin (m. 1976-1980) Jayni Luke (m. 1982) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Chevy Chase's net worth is estimated to be around $60 million, with an annual salary of approximately $4 million. His wealth comes from a successful career in film and television, including his time on SNL and various movie franchises.
Career, Business, and Investments
Early Career: Chase began his career in comedy as a writer and cast member on SNL in the 1970s. He quickly gained fame for anchoring Weekend Update and his physical comedy style.
Film Career Highlights:
Chase was a member of an early underground comedy ensemble called Channel One, which he co-founded in 1967. He also wrote a one-page spoof of Mission: Impossible for Mad magazine in 1970 and was a writer for the short-lived Smothers Brothers TV show comeback in the spring of 1975. Chase made the move to comedy as a full-time career by 1973, when he became a writer and cast member of The National Lampoon Radio Hour, a syndicated satirical radio series. The National Lampoon Radio Hour also featured John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray, all of whom later became the "Not-Ready-For-Prime Time Players" on NBC Saturday Night (later re-titled NBC's Saturday Night and finally Saturday Night Live). Chase and Belushi also appeared in National Lampoon's off-Broadway revue Lemmings, a sketch and musical send-up of popular youth culture, in which Chase also played the drums and piano during the musical numbers. He appeared in the movie The Groove Tube (1974), which was directed by another co-founder of Channel One, Ken Shapiro, featuring several Channel One sketches.
Chase's early film roles included Tunnel Vision (1976); Foul Play (1978, a box-office hit that made more than $44 million and earned Chase a Golden Globe nomination); and Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980). The role of Eric "Otter" Stratton in National Lampoon's Animal House was written with Chase in mind, but he turned the role down to work on Foul Play. The role went to Tim Matheson instead. Chase said in an interview that he chose to do Foul Play so he could do "real acting" for the first time in his career instead of just "schtick".
In September 1993, Chase hosted The Chevy Chase Show, a weeknight talk show, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Although it had high commercial expectations, the show was cancelled by Fox after five weeks. Chase later appeared in a commercial for Doritos, airing during the Super Bowl, in which he made humorous reference to the show's failure.
Social Network
Chevy Chase maintains a somewhat private online presence, focusing more on his work and personal life rather than being highly active on social media platforms.
After leaving Saturday Night Live early in its second season, he established himself as a leading man, starring in some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980s, starting with his Golden Globe–nominated role in the romantic comedy Foul Play (1978). Most famously, he portrayed Ty Webb in Caddyshack (1980), Clark Griswold in five National Lampoon's Vacation films, and Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher in Fletch (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989). He also starred in Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980), Modern Problems (1981), Spies Like Us (1985) and ¡Three Amigos! (1986).
Chase was the original anchor for the Weekend Update segment of SNL, and his catchphrase introduction, "I'm Chevy Chase… and you're not" became well known. His trademark conclusion, "Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow" was later resurrected by Jane Curtin and Tina Fey. Chase also wrote comedy material for Weekend Update. For example, he wrote and performed "The News for the Hard of Hearing". In this skit, Chase read the top story of the day, aided by Garrett Morris, who repeated the story by loudly shouting it. Chase claimed that his version of Weekend Update was the inspiration for later news satire shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Weekend Update was later revived as a segment on The Chevy Chase Show, a short-lived late-night talk show produced by Chase and broadcast by Fox Broadcasting Company.
In a 1975 New York magazine cover story, which called him "The funniest man in America", NBC executives referred to Chase as "The first real potential successor to Johnny Carson" and claimed he would begin guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson within six months of the article. Chase dismissed rumors that he could be the next Carson by telling New York, "I'd never be tied down for five years interviewing TV personalities." Chase did not appear on the program until May 4, 1977, when he was promoting a prime-time special for NBC. Carson later said of Chase: "He couldn't ad-lib a fart after a baked-bean dinner."
Chase followed Foul Play in 1980 by portraying Ty Webb in the Harold Ramis comedy Caddyshack. A major box office success that pulled in $39 million off a $6 million budget, the movie has become a classic. It reached a 73% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics saying: "Though unabashedly crude and juvenile, Caddyshack nevertheless scores with its classic slapstick, unforgettable characters, and endlessly quotable dialogue". That same year, he reunited with Foul Play co-star Goldie Hawn for Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times, a box-office success that earned more than $43 million. He then released a self-titled record album, co-produced by Chase and Tom Scott, with novelty and cover versions of songs by Randy Newman, Barry White, Bob Marley, the Beatles, Donna Summer, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Troggs, and The Sugarhill Gang.
In 1985, Chase played Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher in Fletch, based on Gregory Mcdonald's Fletch books, which grossed more than $50 million off an $8 million budget. That same year, he appeared in a sequel to Vacation, National Lampoon's European Vacation, which pulled in just shy of $50 million at the box office, and co-starred with fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd in Spies Like Us, which made $60 million. In 1986, Chase joined SNL veterans Steve Martin and Martin Short in the Lorne Michaels–produced comedy ¡Three Amigos! that made nearly $40 million, with Chase declaring in an interview that making Three Amigos was the most fun he had making a film. He also appeared alongside Paul Simon, one of his best friends, in Simon's 1986 second video for "You Can Call Me Al", in which he lip-syncs all of Simon's lyrics. In 1987, his Cornelius Productions company signed a non-exclusive, first-refusal deal to develop four feature projects at the Warner Bros. studio, and set up a fifth project at Universal Pictures. Chase hosted the Academy Awards in 1987 and 1988, opening the telecast in 1988 with the quip, "Good evening, Hollywood phonies!" In 1988, he starred alongside Madolyn Smith in Funny Farm, a sizeable hit at $25 million that reached 64% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes. That same year, he appeared (albeit via a glorified cameo) in a sequel to Caddyshack, Caddyshack II, which made less than $12 million, becoming one of his few flops at the time.
While filming an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1978, Chase got into a fistfight with Bill Murray in John Belushi's dressing room. Murray and Chase's backstage brawl took place when Chase returned to host the show after his exit as a full-time cast member in 1976. Murray had reportedly made a derogatory comment about Chase's troubled marriage to Jacqueline Carlin, leading Chase to criticize Murray's physical appearance. The fight was witnessed by cast members Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner.
Education
Chevy Chase attended Stockbridge School in Massachusetts and later Bard College in New York, where he studied pre-med but eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
In summary, Chevy Chase's enduring career and iconic roles have cemented his status as a comedy legend, with a net worth that reflects his lasting impact on American entertainment.
Chase was educated at Riverdale Country School, an independent day school in the Riverdale neighborhood of The Bronx, New York City, before being expelled. He ultimately graduated as valedictorian in 1962 from the Stockbridge School, an independent boarding school in the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. At Stockbridge, he was known as a practical joker with an occasional mean streak. He attended Haverford College during the 1962–1963 term, where he was noted for slapstick comedy and an absurd sense of physical humor, including his signature pratfalls and "sticking forks into his orifices". During a 2009 interview on the Today show, he ostensibly verified the oft-publicized urban legend that he was expelled for harboring a cow in his fourth floor room, although his former roommate David Felsen asserted in a 2003 interview that Chase left for academic reasons. Chase transferred to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where he studied a pre-med curriculum and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Chase did not enter medical school, which meant he was subject to the military draft. Chase was not drafted, and when he appeared in January 1989 as the first guest of the just-launched late-night The Pat Sajak Show, he said he had tricked his draft board into believing he deserved a 4-F classification by falsely claiming that he had "homosexual tendencies".
Chase was one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live (SNL), NBC's late-night comedy television show, beginning in October 1975. During the first season, he introduced every show except two, with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" The remark was often preceded by a pratfall, known as "The Fall of the Week". Chase became known for his skill at physical comedy. In one comedy sketch, he mimicked a real-life incident in which President Gerald Ford accidentally tripped while disembarking from Air Force One in Salzburg, Austria. This portrayal of President Ford as a bumbling klutz became a favorite device of Chase's, and helped form the popular concept of Ford as being a clumsy man despite Ford having been a "star athlete" during his university years. In later years, Chase met and became friendly with President Ford.
