WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.439 Okay, let's unpack this. Today we are undertaking 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:05.440 a deep dive into, well, the really extraordinary 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.820 career and, frankly, complex personal life of 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:11.439 Cornelius Crane, Chevy Chase. Yeah, this is quite 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.820 a story. It really is. It's a story of immediate, 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:17.719 like, defining stardom, massive cultural influence, 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:20.920 and a career path that's almost defined by these 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:24.960 dramatic peaks and surprising valleys. And conflict. 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.980 A level of public and professional conflict that... 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:30.679 Honestly, few stars ever really navigate, let 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:33.240 alone survive. Right. What's fascinating here, 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:35.560 I think, is we're looking at more than just a 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:37.460 comedian's biography. We're really trying to 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:40.659 analyze the anatomy of a breakthrough star whose 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:43.280 success seemed rooted in contradiction. So our 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.520 mission today? To dig into those foundational 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.820 paradoxes of his success. We've got comprehensive 00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:51.939 sources detailing his elite, almost blue blood 00:00:51.939 --> 00:00:54.799 origins, his raw physical comedic talent. Which 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.640 was undeniable early on. Absolutely. And then. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:01.619 the significant personal complexities, the burdens, 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:04.620 the reported trauma, the volatility that seemed 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:08.560 to fuel his incredible rise, but also kind of 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.599 perpetually challenges longevity, especially 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:12.879 in collaborative settings. It's a really potent 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.359 mix. And when you think about his cinematic legacy, 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:17.239 I mean, you realize he created characters who 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:20.379 are still cultural touchstones today. Oh, definitely. 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:23.459 You instantly conjure Ty Webb, right? Effortlessly 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:28.359 cool, often detached. Or Erwin Fletcher, the 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:31.040 quipping master of disguise reporter. A classic. 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:33.959 And of course, the immortal, high energy, but 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.420 totally disastrous dad, Clark Griswold from the... 00:01:38.630 --> 00:01:41.349 You can't escape Clark Griswold. No way. These 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:43.250 roles didn't just succeed. They really defined 00:01:43.250 --> 00:01:45.609 a whole era of cinematic comedy, particularly 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:47.890 in the 80s. But, you know, his importance isn't 00:01:47.890 --> 00:01:50.450 just measured by those movie grosses, big as 00:01:50.450 --> 00:01:52.769 they were, before all that film success. Yeah. 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.530 He was the undisputed breakout star, the singular 00:01:55.530 --> 00:01:57.769 force, really, of Saturday Night Live's initial 00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:00.430 completely groundbreaking cast. That first season. 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:02.250 Just think about the scope of that influence. 00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:05.569 In like one single season, he essentially defined 00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:08.629 the entire franchise's original tone. He set 00:02:08.629 --> 00:02:11.490 the blueprint. Exactly. For that self -aware, 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:14.710 often deadpan, slightly arrogant sketch humor 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:17.870 that became the show's signature identity. He 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:21.250 immediately established SNL as like a cultural 00:02:21.250 --> 00:02:24.009 phenomenon, not just another TV show. Okay, so 00:02:24.009 --> 00:02:25.969 to really get a handle on the origin of that 00:02:25.969 --> 00:02:29.030 deadpan arrogance, as Rolling Stone called it, 00:02:29.090 --> 00:02:31.710 we have to start at the beginning. His background. 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:34.949 Because it is, well, it's not typical for a guy 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:37.189 who got famous falling down. Not at all. His 00:02:37.189 --> 00:02:40.330 birth name, Cornelius Crane Chase, born October 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:43.949 8th, 1943. And the first layer of complexity 00:02:43.949 --> 00:02:46.969 is right there in his nickname, Chevy. Where 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:48.849 did that come from? It really tells you everything 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:50.469 about the world he came from. It wasn't just 00:02:50.469 --> 00:02:52.530 short for Cornelius or something simple. No, 00:02:52.710 --> 00:02:54.849 it was given to him by his grandmother. And it 00:02:54.849 --> 00:02:56.990 came directly from the medieval English ballad, 00:02:57.009 --> 00:03:00.030 The Ballad of Chevy Chase. Yeah. She thought 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:01.550 it was appropriate because they were descended 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:04.490 from the Scottish Clan Douglas. That one detail 00:03:04.490 --> 00:03:07.469 just paints a picture, doesn't it? High society, 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:11.150 history, deep family roots. Wow. And when you 00:03:11.150 --> 00:03:13.469 start pulling on those family threads, the connections 00:03:13.469 --> 00:03:16.689 are, frankly, astonishing. And they seem totally 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:19.550 at odds with his later comedic persona. Completely. 00:03:19.629 --> 00:03:22.229 His maternal grandmother, for instance, she was 00:03:22.229 --> 00:03:24.930 adopted by Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane. The heir 00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:27.189 to the Crane Company, the industrial fortune. 00:03:27.270 --> 00:03:30.270 That's the one. Huge deal. And then his maternal 00:03:30.270 --> 00:03:33.009 grandfather was Rear Admiral Miles Browning. 00:03:33.050 --> 00:03:35.270 The name sounds familiar. He famously served 00:03:35.270 --> 00:03:37.629 as Admiral Raymond Spruance's chief of staff 00:03:37.629 --> 00:03:39.949 during the Battle of Midway in World War II, 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:43.189 a pivotal figure. So you've got war heroes, industrial 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:46.449 tycoons. Old world aristocracy sort of woven 00:03:46.449 --> 00:03:49.050 in there. And his father, Edward Tinsley Ned 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:51.750 Chase, was a Princeton -educated book editor 00:03:51.750 --> 00:03:54.280 in Manhattan. So a very rarefied, established 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.580 kind of upper crust background. Definitely. He 00:03:56.580 --> 00:03:58.639 grew up, you know, technically upper middle class, 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:02.560 but surrounded by these echoes of immense historical 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.400 wealth and power. Yet the sources point to this 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:07.939 really interesting, almost immediate pushback 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.560 from him. His stepbrother mentioned that Chase 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.599 himself really hated being defined by ancestry. 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:16.339 Oh, really? Yeah. He compared people who did 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:19.000 that to potatoes. The best parts of them were 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.910 underground. Oh, that's quite a line. Isn't it? 00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:25.170 If you think about that, it suggests this early, 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.629 very active resistance against the well, the 00:04:28.629 --> 00:04:31.389 elite pretension tied to his mother's side of 00:04:31.389 --> 00:04:33.269 the family. Maybe that conflict right there, 00:04:33.310 --> 00:04:35.889 the blue blood background versus this desire 00:04:35.889 --> 00:04:39.230 for like anarchic self -definition. Maybe that's 00:04:39.230 --> 00:04:41.910 the engine that drove his later rebellious, almost 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:44.709 anti -establishment comedy. It had to be a factor. 00:04:44.750 --> 00:04:47.009 You see this high intelligence, but also this 00:04:47.009 --> 00:04:49.310 anti -authoritarian streak popping up in his 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:52.410 education. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride. Yeah. 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:54.670 He attended the Riverdale Country School, but 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:57.290 got expelled. Okay. He did manage to graduate 00:04:57.290 --> 00:04:59.449 as valedictorian from the Stockbridge School 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:03.149 in 62, but his academic path stayed pretty unconventional. 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:05.730 Right. He went to Haverford College first. Yeah, 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:08.269 and even there he was apparently notorious for 00:05:08.269 --> 00:05:11.449 slapstick and physical comedy. Our sources mention 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:13.910 this bizarre detail about him sticking forks 00:05:13.910 --> 00:05:16.790 into his orifices just for laughs. Slate chuckle. 00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:19.670 Okay. Wow. Along with the pratfalls, I assume? 00:05:19.829 --> 00:05:22.829 Exactly. Pure kind of anarchic performance art, 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:25.629 even then. He eventually transferred to Bard 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:27.990 College, apparently studied pre -med for a bit. 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:31.410 Pre -med? Really? Briefly, but ultimately graduated 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:35.569 in 1967 with a B .A. in English. And graduating 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:37.810 in 67 put him right in the path of the Vietnam 00:05:37.810 --> 00:05:40.149 War draft, didn't it? It did. And our sources 00:05:40.149 --> 00:05:43.250 detail a really startling account of how he handled 00:05:43.250 --> 00:05:45.829 that. Apparently, Chase managed to avoid the 00:05:45.829 --> 00:05:49.350 draft, got a 4F classification, by telling his 00:05:49.350 --> 00:05:52.660 draft board falsely. that he had homosexual tendencies. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.040 Wow. That was a significant claim to make back 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.360 then to avoid service. A risky move. It definitely 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:00.500 speaks to an intense need for self -preservation, 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:03.399 maybe desperation even, which becomes tragically 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:05.180 horribly understandable when you read the accounts 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:06.899 of his childhood. Yeah, this is where it gets 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.040 really dark. The sorts is detailed, pretty extensive, 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:12.639 systematic physical and psychological abuse. 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.980 A 2007 biography went into it in depth. It's 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.819 chilling stuff. this is where you see the profound 00:06:18.819 --> 00:06:21.779 burden beneath the surface of that charismatic 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:24.420 comedian chase himself said and this is a direct 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:28.420 quote i lived in fear all the time deathly fear 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:31.709 god The reports include things like being woken 00:06:31.709 --> 00:06:33.810 up at night by his mother just to be slapped 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:36.649 repeatedly across the face. Horrific. Being lashed 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:39.310 on the backs of his legs, being locked in a bedroom 00:06:39.310 --> 00:06:41.850 closet for hours as punishment. I mean, that's 00:06:41.850 --> 00:06:44.470 just devastating trauma for a child, especially 00:06:44.470 --> 00:06:46.769 cloaked in that seemingly privileged environment. 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:50.269 And the abuse reportedly extended to his stepfather, 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:52.790 too, Dr. John Sederquist. Yeah, accounts mention 00:06:52.790 --> 00:06:55.589 physical violence punches to the head and being 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:57.649 confined to the basement for days when he was 00:06:57.649 --> 00:07:00.670 14 after a school suspension. To internalize 00:07:00.670 --> 00:07:03.129 that kind of fear and volatility from your parents, 00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:06.069 your step parents, while also navigating the 00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:08.910 expectations of this high society family. It 00:07:08.910 --> 00:07:11.629 provides a really vital key, I think, to understanding 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:14.769 some of his later. Often described as volatile 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:17.730 professional behavior. It creates this huge internal 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:20.110 split, doesn't it? This sophisticated intellectual 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:23.529 background clashing violently with terror and, 00:07:23.629 --> 00:07:26.810 you know, the resulting emotional instability. 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:29.689 We have to acknowledge the weight of that trauma. 00:07:29.889 --> 00:07:32.870 It's a crucial lens for viewing his later anxieties, 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:35.310 maybe even his dependence on physical comedy 00:07:35.310 --> 00:07:37.879 as a way to process or deflect that pain. But 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:40.399 before he fully channeled all that internal conflict 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:42.800 into the comedy we know him for, he took this 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.819 really surprising detour into music. This is 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:47.379 one of those facts that always makes people do 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:48.959 a double take. Oh, yeah. This is where it gets 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.199 really interesting, historically speaking. While 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.120 he was at Bard, he played drums in a local band 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:56.439 called the Leather Canary. Okay. And the other 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:58.279 two main members of that band, the keyboardist 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:00.500 and the bassist. Who were they? Walter Becker 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:04.519 and Donald Fagan. No. The Steely Dan guys. The 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.290 very same. The two guys who went on to basically 00:08:07.290 --> 00:08:11.069 define an era of complex, sophisticated rock 00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:14.970 and jazz fusion by founding Steely Dan. Chase 00:08:14.970 --> 00:08:17.370 was literally part of the early musical foundation 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:19.610 for one of the most respected rock acts of the 00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:21.850 70s. That's incredible. I had no idea. Right. 00:08:21.990 --> 00:08:24.350 He also played drums and keyboards for another 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:27.769 band, Chameleon Church, a Boston psychedelic 00:08:27.769 --> 00:08:30.350 rock group. They even put out one album on MGM 00:08:30.350 --> 00:08:33.299 Records before breaking up. So this unlikely 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:35.759 kind of sophisticated musical apprenticeship 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.860 happened right before he defined the raw physical 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.399 side of American comedy. What a strange path. 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:43.740 Yeah, that musical phase eventually gave way 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:46.200 to a pretty decisive shift. Cheese moved into 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.019 comedy full time around 1973, but he actually 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:51.179 spent years honing his skills in the underground 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.639 scene, really laying the groundwork for the. 00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:56.169 well, meteoric rise that was about to happen. 00:08:56.210 --> 00:08:59.009 Right. Between 67 and 74, he was super active. 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:01.110 He co -founded an underground comedy group called 00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:04.590 Channel One back in 67. He wrote for Mad Magazine 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:07.330 in 1970, just a short spoof of Mission Impossible, 00:09:07.490 --> 00:09:09.970 apparently. Then he worked briefly as a writer 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:12.269 for that short -lived Smothers Brothers TV show 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:15.970 Comeback in the spring of 75. But the real incubator 00:09:15.970 --> 00:09:18.549 where the SNL core team kind of came together 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:21.590 was the National Lampoon Radio Hour. Ah, right. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.580 That makes sense. By 73, he was a writer and 00:09:24.580 --> 00:09:26.740 cast member there working right alongside the 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:28.539 people who become the not ready for primetime 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:31.899 players. John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray. 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:34.659 A whole crew. Pretty much. Yeah. That show was 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:37.200 basically the proving ground, testing out that 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.620 mix of counterculture satire and high concept 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:42.440 humor that was about to just explode onto network 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:44.639 TV. He also did some stage work, right? Yeah. 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:46.899 Appeared in the off -Broadway review Lemmings 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:50.379 and the film The Groove Tube in 1974. Kind of 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:52.740 building that resume. So all of that led directly 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:55.659 to October 1975 and the premiere of Saturday 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:57.779 Night Live. And he wasn't just an original cast 00:09:57.779 --> 00:10:00.279 member. His presence, his persona, it immediately 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:02.500 became central to the show's whole structure 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:04.639 and rhythm. Absolutely central. He got the most 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:08.299 crucial recurring bit of TV real estate, the 00:10:08.299 --> 00:10:10.740 cold open. Right. He introduced nearly every 00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:13.240 single episode of that first season with that 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.429 now iconic. Totally deadpan delivery. Live from 00:10:16.429 --> 00:10:18.990 New York, it's Saturday night. Often after falling 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:21.669 down first. Exactly. Often preceded by the show's 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:24.350 signature bit, the fall of the week, pratfall. 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:27.649 His physical comedy, which he'd clearly been 00:10:27.649 --> 00:10:30.409 practicing since college, became his instant 00:10:30.409 --> 00:10:33.889 trademark. It earned him immense, like, overnight 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:36.600 fame. And the biggest immediate cultural impact 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.139 of that physical comedy was probably his recurring 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:41.600 impression of President Gerald Ford. Oh, definitely. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.960 He famously, brilliantly perfected mimicking 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.360 that real life moment where Ford tripped coming 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.720 off Air Force One. It was more than just a funny 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.519 sketch, though, wasn't it? It really was. It 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.320 was almost like character assassination delivered 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:57.019 through precise physical humor. Chase's constant 00:10:57.019 --> 00:11:00.659 portrayal of Ford as this bumbling klutz absolutely 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:03.500 shaped public perception of the president. Even 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:05.100 though Ford was actually a pretty accomplished 00:11:05.100 --> 00:11:08.100 athlete in college. Yeah, a star athlete, they 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:11.779 call them. Completely unfair, arguably, but incredibly 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:14.679 effective comedy. Chase actually became friendly 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.360 with Ford later in life, but the comedic damage 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.320 was definitely done. It really cemented the show's 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.940 power, didn't it? To impact real world political 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:26.299 views through satire and slapstick. For sure. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:29.200 And then there was Weekend Update. The original 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.019 anchor. He created that segment, became its immediate 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.940 essential staple. And if you analyze the style 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:37.120 he brought to it, it wasn't just reading news 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.320 jokes. It was a full on character performance. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:43.100 I'm Chevy Chase. And you're not. That catchphrase 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:45.659 introduction just oozed what Rolling Stone later 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:48.159 called deadpan arrogance. And he'd sign off with 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.100 that equally confident good night and have a 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:52.580 pleasant tomorrow. He totally weaponized that 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:54.980 persona. The jokes were often layered with his 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:58.279 distinct. Kind of sophisticated wit. You also 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:00.639 saw his writing in segments like The News for 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.779 the Hard of Hearing, where Garrett Morris would 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:05.519 just shout the top story. Classic. What's crucial 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.259 here, though, is Chase later claimed his version 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:10.559 of Weekend Update was the direct inspiration 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:13.559 for later news satire shows. Like The Daily Show. 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:17.019 Colbert Report. Exactly. He argued he laid the 00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:19.259 foundational blueprint for how political comedy 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:22.899 works on TV today. Which, if true, means his 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.360 influence stretches way beyond just his own performing 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.759 career. The industry certainly saw his immediate 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.600 impact. The awards just poured in. Right. Two 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.139 primetime Emmys for that single first season, 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:37.620 one for performing, one for writing, plus a Golden 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:39.899 Globe for his work on the show. And Rolling Stone 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.539 years later ranked him 10th overall among all 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:45.259 the SNL cast members ever, specifically saying 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:47.179 it only took him one season to define the whole 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:50.759 franchise. His fame just skyrocketed so fast 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:53.179 that the media immediately started speculating 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:56.879 about what was next for him. By 1975, a New York 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.379 Magazine cover story literally called him the 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:02.370 funniest man in America. And NBC executives were 00:13:02.370 --> 00:13:05.230 publicly talking him up as the first real potential 00:13:05.230 --> 00:13:08.809 successor to Johnny Carson. Which, in 1975 television, 00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:11.129 was basically the highest possible compliment, 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:13.490 the ultimate goal. But this is where that high 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:15.990 wire act showed its first wobble, right? Chase 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:17.970 immediately pushed back against the rumors, against 00:13:17.970 --> 00:13:19.889 the idea of that kind of long term structure. 00:13:20.190 --> 00:13:22.590 Yeah, he famously told New York Magazine he'd 00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:24.690 never be tied down for five years interviewing 00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:28.370 TV personalities. This aversion to structure, 00:13:28.490 --> 00:13:32.059 to long term commitment. it really becomes a 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:34.940 recurring theme, maybe stemming from that difficulty 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:37.399 connecting, collaborating we talked about. And 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.519 that rejection created instant friction with 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:42.120 the king of late night himself. Oh, yeah. Carson, 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.419 who generally wasn't a fan of the new SNL generation 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:48.259 anyway, later delivered one of the most legendary 00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:51.240 and meanest late night burns ever about Chase. 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:54.860 What did he say? He said he couldn't ad lib a 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.639 fart after a baked bean dinner. Ouch. Brutal. 00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:00.190 It perfectly captures that generational clash, 00:14:00.429 --> 00:14:02.490 right? The controlled, measured comedy of the 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:05.769 old guard versus the new, fast, arrogant, almost 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:08.750 contemptuous style Chase represented. So despite 00:14:08.750 --> 00:14:11.090 this unprecedented success, he made that famously 00:14:11.090 --> 00:14:14.110 quick exit. Yeah. Left early in the second season. 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:16.049 He was only the second original cast member to 00:14:16.049 --> 00:14:18.649 leave after George Coe. Why did he say he left? 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:21.210 The official reason he gave was that his girlfriend 00:14:21.210 --> 00:14:23.789 at the time, Jacqueline Carlin, didn't want to 00:14:23.789 --> 00:14:25.789 move to New York. So he moved to L .A., married 00:14:25.789 --> 00:14:28.379 her. and was famously replaced by Bill Murray. 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:30.799 Setting up a rivalry we definitely need to come 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:33.259 back to later. Absolutely. His quick departure 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:35.580 was a shock, but he did maintain a connection, 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:38.460 didn't he? Hosted SNL a bunch of times. Eight 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:42.080 times, between 78 and 97. Though even his later 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.440 hosting gigs, like in 97, sparked these persistent 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.820 rumors about terrible on -set behavior, even 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:51.919 getting banned. Claims Lorne Michaels later called 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.120 idiotic. But the drama, or at least the perception 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.519 of volatility, always seemed to follow him around, 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.259 even when the facts were a bit murky. Totally. 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.419 He left behind this legacy that was both immediate 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:06.179 and defining, but it set him up for the huge 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:08.580 challenge of transitioning that specific persona 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:11.210 into movie stardom. Leaving the biggest show 00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:13.870 on TV after just one season, that was a massive 00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:16.610 gamble. But Chase somehow managed to immediately 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:18.990 establish himself as a dominant leading man in 00:15:18.990 --> 00:15:21.730 movies. He really did. He famously turned down 00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:24.330 the role of Eric Otter Stratton in National Lampoon's 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:26.850 Animal House. Which became a huge instant classic. 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:28.889 Why turn that down? He said he wanted to pursue 00:15:28.889 --> 00:15:31.450 real acting. So he chose the romantic mystery 00:15:31.450 --> 00:15:34.970 comedy Foul Play in 1978 instead. With Goldie 00:15:34.970 --> 00:15:37.809 on. Exactly. And that decision paid off big time. 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:40.470 Totally validated the gamble. Foul Play was a 00:15:40.470 --> 00:15:44.190 smash hit. Grossed over $44 million. Earned Chase 00:15:44.190 --> 00:15:47.250 a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. So 00:15:47.250 --> 00:15:50.029 he proved his charm, that deadpan reaction thing, 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:52.549 could carry a whole feature film. Definitely. 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:55.830 But his physical comedy background, the very 00:15:55.830 --> 00:15:58.289 thing that made him famous on SNL, continued 00:15:58.289 --> 00:16:01.210 to take a literal physical toll on him. Yeah, 00:16:01.289 --> 00:16:03.210 you mentioned something about an accident. A 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:06.029 really terrifying one. In 1980, filming the movie 00:16:06.029 --> 00:16:08.889 Modern Problems, there was this sequence where 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:11.490 his character wears landing lights while dreaming 00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:13.769 he's an airplane. Okay. Sounds like a typical 00:16:13.769 --> 00:16:16.570 Chevy Chase visual gag. But the lights malfunctioned 00:16:16.570 --> 00:16:19.509 horribly. A strong electric current passed right 00:16:19.509 --> 00:16:21.269 through his arm, his back, his neck muscles. 00:16:21.409 --> 00:16:24.309 A near -death experience. Oh, my God. That's 00:16:24.309 --> 00:16:26.529 horrific. Just an astonishing, dangerous thing 00:16:26.529 --> 00:16:29.110 to happen on a film set. And that incident happened 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:31.169 shortly after his divorce from Jacqueline Carlin. 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:34.049 Wow. Double whammy. Yeah, the combination of 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:37.009 severe physical trauma and the marriage breakdown 00:16:37.009 --> 00:16:39.549 reportedly contributed to a significant period 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:41.899 of deep depression for him. And this connects 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:43.600 back to what you were saying earlier, like the 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.740 physical comedy, the source of his fame. Was 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:48.460 literally damaging his body. And subsequently, 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.899 it seems, forcing him into a pattern of needing 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:54.200 pain management, relying on prescriptions, a 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:55.919 theme we definitely need to revisit later when 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.279 we talk about health. Great. But despite that 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:01.379 physical and emotional cost, the 1980s became 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:03.980 his absolute commercial peak. He went on this 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:06.559 incredible run of iconic roles. Starting with 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.200 Caddyshack in 1980. Ty Webb, the enigmatic, philosophical, 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.660 rich golfer. Such a unique character. The film 00:17:13.660 --> 00:17:16.619 was a cultural phenomena, grossed $39 million 00:17:16.619 --> 00:17:20.200 on a tiny $6 million budget. It's become this 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.079 enduring classic known for its anarchic humor, 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.000 slapstick, and just endlessly quotable lines. 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:28.019 He followed that up quickly, too. Reunited with 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:30.380 Goldie Hawn and Neil Simons seems like old times 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:33.539 in 80. Another hit, $43 million gross. But the 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:35.619 role that really, truly defined him for the masses 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:38.970 was Clark Griswold. Starting in 83 with National 00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:41.769 Lampoon's Vacation. Written by John Hughes, directed 00:17:41.769 --> 00:17:45.349 by Harold Ramis. Huge hit. Massive. Grossed $61 00:17:45.349 --> 00:17:49.269 million on a $15 million budget. It established 00:17:49.269 --> 00:17:52.990 the Griswold character, the suburban dad, well 00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:56.299 -meaning idiot, whose eternal optimism... just 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:58.640 leads to catastrophe. It was his most successful 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.299 film up to that point, and it created this persona 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:03.779 that felt different from Ty Webb or, say, Fletch. 00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:06.200 Griswold was fundamentally vulnerable, kind of 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:08.559 relatable, despite the absurdity. Yeah, and then 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:12.420 came 1985's Fletch, where he played Erwin Fletcher, 00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:15.019 the quick -witted, disguise -loving investigative 00:18:15.019 --> 00:18:17.180 reporter. That character was like the absolute 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:20.079 epitome of deadpan arrogance translated to film. 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.480 Totally. And that movie grossed over $50 million. 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:25.220 Yeah. Led to the sequel in 89, Fletch Lives. 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:28.819 which pulled in over $35 million. He'd found 00:18:28.819 --> 00:18:31.799 this clear, bankable formula, the charming, glib, 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:33.680 kind of arrogant, every man thrown into total 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:35.519 chaos. And he proved he could work well with 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:37.640 others, especially his old SNL buddies, when 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:39.700 the chemistry clicked. Right. He co -starred 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:42.619 with Dan Aykroyd in Spies Like Us in 85, made 00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:46.180 $60 million. And three amigos in 86, with Steve 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:48.630 Martin and Martin Short. produced by Lorne Michaels, 00:18:48.910 --> 00:18:52.410 earned nearly $40 million. And Chase specifically 00:18:52.410 --> 00:18:54.829 said making Three Amigos was the most fun he 00:18:54.829 --> 00:18:57.109 ever had making a movie. Which kind of reinforces 00:18:57.109 --> 00:18:59.390 that idea, doesn't it? He thrived in those high 00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.730 -stakes creative places when the camaraderie 00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:05.630 felt genuine, maybe less structured. Seems that 00:19:05.630 --> 00:19:08.009 way. And if we just look at the money for a second, 00:19:08.089 --> 00:19:10.309 it shows the real height of his power back then. 00:19:10.369 --> 00:19:13.230 How much was he making? By the late 1980s, sources 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:16.130 say Chase was commanding around $7 million per 00:19:16.130 --> 00:19:20.049 film. Seven million in the late 80s. Yeah. To 00:19:20.049 --> 00:19:22.730 put that in perspective, only a handful of stars, 00:19:22.950 --> 00:19:26.130 maybe Eddie Murphy, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:28.549 were getting that kind of paycheck then. He was, 00:19:28.589 --> 00:19:30.450 for a time, one of the absolute highest paid 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:32.970 comedic actors in the world. Wow. And that decade 00:19:32.970 --> 00:19:35.289 of dominance was really capped off by what's... 00:19:35.549 --> 00:19:37.950 Arguably his most durable film ever. Has to be 00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:40.049 Natural Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in 1989. 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:42.430 Still watch it every year. Everyone does. It 00:19:42.430 --> 00:19:45.750 grows $71 million and just keeps generating revenue 00:19:45.750 --> 00:19:48.349 and cultural relevance decades later because 00:19:48.349 --> 00:19:51.549 it's a holiday movie. It ensures Clark Griswold 00:19:51.549 --> 00:19:53.869 is forever linked with his name. Outside the 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:56.410 box office, he was literally the face of Hollywood 00:19:56.410 --> 00:19:59.289 on its biggest nights. Hosted the Academy Awards 00:19:59.289 --> 00:20:02.970 twice. Yeah, 87 and 88. He even opened the 88 00:20:02.970 --> 00:20:05.289 show with one of his classic sarcastic boundary 00:20:05.289 --> 00:20:07.890 pushing lines. Quipped, good evening, Hollywood 00:20:07.890 --> 00:20:10.369 phonies. Chuckles. Only he could get away with 00:20:10.369 --> 00:20:13.069 that. It perfectly sums up his persona, right? 00:20:13.210 --> 00:20:16.049 The blue blood insider using his talent to mock 00:20:16.049 --> 00:20:18.710 the very system, paying him millions. And we 00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:21.750 can't forget that iconic music video moment either. 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:25.789 Oh, you can call me Al. 1986 with Paul Simon. 00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:28.690 Jay's just perfectly lip syncing all of Simon's 00:20:28.690 --> 00:20:31.470 lyrics. It cemented his presence across movies, 00:20:31.710 --> 00:20:34.309 TV, and the booming music video culture all at 00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:37.089 once. What a decade for him. But, you know, despite 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:39.009 that incredible high point in the 80s, the money, 00:20:39.069 --> 00:20:41.789 the cultural impact, the 1990s brought some pretty 00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:44.049 significant career turbulence. This is really 00:20:44.049 --> 00:20:45.869 the periods where that instability we've hinted 00:20:45.869 --> 00:20:47.869 at. The aversion to structure, the difficulty 00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:50.990 with long term collaboration. Exactly. That stuff 00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:53.349 started to seriously impact his commercial success. 00:20:53.950 --> 00:20:56.490 It was a rough patch, really highlights how quickly 00:20:56.490 --> 00:20:59.069 a star can drop from that $7 million a picture 00:20:59.069 --> 00:21:02.130 level. He had three consecutive film flops right 00:21:02.130 --> 00:21:03.789 at the start of the decade. Yeah, Nothing But 00:21:03.789 --> 00:21:06.910 Trouble in 91, they got Razzie nominations, then 00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:09.930 Memoirs of an Invisible Man in 92, and Cops and 00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:12.769 Robbersons in 94. Critically panned, commercially 00:21:12.769 --> 00:21:15.789 disastrous, their combined domestic gross was 00:21:15.789 --> 00:21:18.970 only, what, $34 million for three movies? Yeah, 00:21:19.009 --> 00:21:22.309 brutal. The single biggest failure and maybe 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:25.990 the most professionally humbling was his attempt 00:21:25.990 --> 00:21:29.710 to break into late night TV. Ah, the Chevy Chase 00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:32.930 show, September 1993. Launched on the Fox network. 00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:35.650 This was the moment really where that old NBC 00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:38.069 prediction that he was Carson's successor was 00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:40.470 finally put to the test. And it failed spectacularly. 00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:43.049 Infamously. Yeah. Canceled after only five weeks. 00:21:43.150 --> 00:21:45.769 Just completely crashed and burned. Why do you 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:48.910 think it failed so badly looking back? I think 00:21:48.910 --> 00:21:51.730 it really comes down to a clash between his specific 00:21:51.730 --> 00:21:54.329 persona and the actual demands of that format. 00:21:54.529 --> 00:21:56.970 Chase's whole style was based on anarchic energy, 00:21:57.150 --> 00:21:59.690 scripted deadpan delivery, physical gags. Not 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.210 spontaneous interviews or witty banter. Exactly. 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:05.390 Which is the absolute cornerstone of successful 00:22:05.390 --> 00:22:08.410 late night hosting. The structure of a weeknight 00:22:08.410 --> 00:22:10.849 talk show, interviewing guests, dealing with 00:22:10.849 --> 00:22:13.390 constant scheduling, maintaining that nightly 00:22:13.390 --> 00:22:15.930 persona, it was precisely the kind of restrictive 00:22:15.930 --> 00:22:19.089 setup he'd rejected back in 75 when he bolted 00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:22.109 from SNL. So the volatility, the arrogance that 00:22:22.109 --> 00:22:24.650 worked in short sketches. Proved disastrous when 00:22:24.650 --> 00:22:27.069 confined to an hour -long format five nights 00:22:27.069 --> 00:22:29.950 a week. He couldn't sustain it or maybe didn't 00:22:29.950 --> 00:22:32.069 want to. He did poke fun at himself later though, 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.369 right? In that Doritos Super Bowl ad. Yeah, he 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:36.670 showed some capacity for self -deprecation about 00:22:36.670 --> 00:22:38.970 it later on. And even during this professional 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:41.970 downturn, his celebrity status remained pretty 00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:44.470 potent. He got a star on the Hollywood Walk of 00:22:44.470 --> 00:22:46.730 Fame in 93. And was Hasty Puddings Man of the 00:22:46.730 --> 00:22:48.910 Year the same year? Right. Confirming he was 00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:51.190 still seen as an icon, even when his current 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:53.670 projects weren't landing. He did have some smaller 00:22:53.670 --> 00:22:55.910 successes later in the 90s that kind of stabilized 00:22:55.910 --> 00:22:58.990 things. Man of the House in 95 made $40 million. 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:02.890 Vegas Vacation in 97, another Griswold outing, 00:23:02.890 --> 00:23:07.230 did okay, $36 .4 million. And Snow Day in 2000 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:10.509 made over $60 million. So he kept working, stayed 00:23:10.509 --> 00:23:12.509 in the game. But the real return to critical 00:23:12.509 --> 00:23:15.309 acclaim came quite a bit later in the late 2000s, 00:23:15.309 --> 00:23:18.150 which almost inevitably, it seems, also brought 00:23:18.150 --> 00:23:20.390 back that intense volatility. And that brings 00:23:20.390 --> 00:23:23.900 us to Community. starting in 2009. Back on NBC 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:27.180 in this really critically acclaimed, clever sitcom, 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:30.119 he played Pierce Hawthorne. The aging, totally 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:32.200 out of touch, kind of offensive, moist tell a 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.660 tycoon. It was brilliant metacasting, wasn't 00:23:34.660 --> 00:23:36.579 it? Basically playing on his established public 00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:39.000 image. The New York Times even praised it, saying 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.000 the character's sardonic repartee and slapdash 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.220 nonchalance echoed his old Fletch days. Like 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:47.420 the casting itself was an inside joke about his 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:49.559 fame. The show really thrived on its smart writing, 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:51.619 its ensemble. But the conflict started almost 00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:53.559 right away and just got... got worse, primarily 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:55.460 because Chase grew really uncomfortable with 00:23:55.460 --> 00:23:57.680 where Pierce's character was going. He got meaner. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.059 Right. More bigoted. Yeah. Often cruel. And it 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:03.519 started reflecting, maybe uncomfortably, some 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.579 of the very real life volatility and whimpered 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:09.259 offset behavior that had followed Chase for years. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:11.619 This tension blew up in that shocking incident 00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:14.789 in 2012. Right. He had this explosive outburst 00:24:14.789 --> 00:24:17.349 on set, yelling basically that if the character 00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:19.529 kept going down this path, he might eventually 00:24:19.529 --> 00:24:22.269 be asked to call Donald Glover's or Yvette Nicole 00:24:22.269 --> 00:24:24.890 Brown's character the N -word in some misguided 00:24:24.890 --> 00:24:28.420 attempt at edgy comedy. Wow. That's crossing 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.759 a major line. Huge line. An extreme, unfiltered 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.039 expression of frustration that went way beyond 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:36.880 professional disagreement. Even in a comedy writer's 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.180 room context, he did apologize later for the 00:24:39.180 --> 00:24:41.519 outburst. But the damage was done. Pretty much. 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:44.200 It just solidified this pattern. Difficulty accepting 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:46.660 the long -term, structured evolution of a character, 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.460 especially one that maybe required him to expose 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:52.440 or ridicule uncomfortable parts of his own aging 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:54.940 public image. So the result was, what, a mutual 00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:58.000 agreement for him to leave? Yeah. the show due 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.240 to these irreconcilable disagreements about the 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.740 character about the direction and with the show's 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:05.680 creator dan harman interestingly after he left 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.400 chase apparently claimed the show wasn't funny 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.980 enough Which kind of contradicts all the critical 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.740 praise it got. His character was eventually killed 00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:16.940 off in the fifth season. The whole arc just perfectly 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:20.259 encapsulates the paradox. Incredible talent delivering 00:25:20.259 --> 00:25:23.380 brilliant moments, but limited ability to maintain 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:25.880 those long -term collaborative professional bonds. 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:29.180 And this pattern of conflict, it goes way back, 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:32.759 right back to his early post -SNL days. We have 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:35.599 to talk about that infamous 1978 fistfight with 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.599 Bill Murray backstage at SNL. Oh, yeah. The stuff 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.420 of legend. Happened when Chase came back to host 00:25:41.420 --> 00:25:43.759 after leaving. It just highlights the intense 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:46.059 rivalry simmering since Murray replaced him. 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:48.319 Where did it happen? Who saw it? Sources say 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:50.420 it was in John Belushi's dressing room, witnessed 00:25:50.420 --> 00:25:52.319 by pretty much the entire remaining original 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.799 cast. What started it? Apparently, Murray made 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:57.339 a really derogatory comment about Chase's then 00:25:57.339 --> 00:25:59.960 -troubled marriage to Jacqueline Carlin. Chase 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:02.299 fired back, criticizing Murray's physical appearance. 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.039 It got ugly fast, personally. Lorraine Newman 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.480 later called it very sad and painful and awful. 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:09.940 Said both guys immediately went for the thing 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:11.960 that would hurt the other one the most. It shows 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:14.940 this deep underlying tension, doesn't it? Rooted 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:17.079 in professional jealousy, the whole departed 00:26:17.079 --> 00:26:19.700 star versus replacement dynamic, and just raw 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:22.500 personal vulnerability. But despite how intense 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.859 that fight was, they somehow reconciled enough 00:26:24.859 --> 00:26:27.599 to start together in Caddyshack just two years 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.819 later, in 1980. Which shows that sometimes... 00:26:31.450 --> 00:26:33.849 I guess professional necessity or maybe just 00:26:33.849 --> 00:26:36.690 the appeal of a great project could outweigh 00:26:36.690 --> 00:26:39.289 even a really bitter personal feud, at least 00:26:39.289 --> 00:26:41.430 for a while. OK, let's turn to his personal life 00:26:41.430 --> 00:26:43.269 for a bit. He's been married three times, correct? 00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:45.990 That's right. First marriage was to Suzanne Hewitt 00:26:45.990 --> 00:26:49.509 from 73 to 76. Then to Jacqueline Carlin, the 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:51.529 one whose reluctance to move to New York was 00:26:51.529 --> 00:26:54.269 cited for his SNL departure. That lasted from 00:26:54.269 --> 00:26:57.250 76 to 80. No children from those first two marriages. 00:26:57.509 --> 00:27:00.109 But he found long -term stability with his third 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:03.650 wife. Yes, Janie Luke. They married in 1982 and 00:27:03.650 --> 00:27:05.930 are still together today. They have three daughters, 00:27:06.130 --> 00:27:08.509 Sydney, Kaylee, and Emily, and they live up in 00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:11.170 Bedford, New York now. And there's that interesting 00:27:11.170 --> 00:27:13.849 little detail about him being honorary mayor 00:27:13.849 --> 00:27:16.730 of Pacific Palisades back in the 80s. Yeah, between 00:27:16.730 --> 00:27:19.309 86 and 88. Yeah. Just a little footnote showing 00:27:19.309 --> 00:27:21.730 some civic engagement amidst all the Hollywood 00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:24.170 chaos. We also need to circle back to the substance 00:27:24.170 --> 00:27:27.089 abuse issues because they seem so directly tied 00:27:27.089 --> 00:27:29.390 into the career narrative we've been building. 00:27:29.549 --> 00:27:32.509 Definitely. Our sources are pretty explicit that 00:27:32.509 --> 00:27:35.450 his initial use of prescription painkillers started 00:27:35.450 --> 00:27:39.380 back in 1986 and it was due to chronic. ongoing 00:27:39.380 --> 00:27:41.960 back pain. Pain resulting from? Directly from 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.079 his career choice. Specifically related to all 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:47.480 the physical comedy, the constant pratfalls he 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:50.099 performed, especially on SNL and in those early 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:53.400 films. And that near -death electric shock incident 00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:56.180 in 1980 probably didn't help things long -term 00:27:56.180 --> 00:27:58.980 either. Likely exacerbated everything. So the 00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:00.720 very thing that made him famous, the physical 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.859 comedy, was literally breaking down his body, 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:05.500 which then led directly to addiction issues. 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:07.640 He went into treatment. Yeah, he entered the 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:11.000 Betty Ford Center in 1986, specifically for prescription 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.700 painkiller addiction. And then much later, in 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:16.839 2016, he sought treatment again, entering the 00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:19.759 Hazelden Clinic, this time for alcoholism. It 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.980 really highlights how that complex mix, the internal 00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:25.500 turmoil from his childhood, maybe, combined with 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:27.859 the physical demands and damage from his career, 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.599 led to this long pattern of self -medication 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.680 and substance reliance. It's a tough cycle. Very 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.460 tough. Now, shifting gears slightly, looking 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:39.299 at his public and political side, Chase is generally 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:41.539 identified as a political liberal, right? Yeah. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:43.880 And he's been quite active over the years as 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:46.480 an environmentalist and philanthropist, campaigned 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:49.019 for Democrats like Bill Clinton in the 90s. John 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:51.960 Kerry in 2004, endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2008. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:54.759 But his political outspokenness sometimes manifested 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:57.519 in that same kind of volatile, unfiltered way 00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:59.880 we saw directed at colleagues. You're thinking 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:02.859 of that 2004 incident. Exactly. During a speech 00:29:02.859 --> 00:29:05.480 at a People for the American Way, benefit a typically 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:08.200 liberal group. Mind you, he delivered these incredibly 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:11.140 controversial remarks, just savaging the then 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:13.059 President George W. Bush. What did he say again? 00:29:13.180 --> 00:29:16.240 He called Bush an uneducated, real lying schmuck. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:20.400 And a dumb fuck. On stage. At a benefit. Yeah. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:22.740 The comments were apparently so extreme they 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:24.880 upset both the event organizers and people in 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:27.000 the generally sympathetic audience. It just shows 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:29.319 that tendency again, doesn't it? That comedic 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:32.200 persona built on deadpan arrogance and pushing 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:35.000 boundaries often lack the filter needed for well 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:37.000 -structured professional settings or even political 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:39.660 discourse. Absolutely. But despite all the career 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:42.259 ups and downs, the personal issues, the recurring 00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:45.039 conflicts, Chase has shown some real enduring 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:48.299 star power, especially in recent years. The sheer 00:29:48.299 --> 00:29:50.980 power of his most famous character, Clark Griswold, 00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:54.059 brought him back. That 2015 vacation movie, the 00:29:54.059 --> 00:29:56.880 reboot sequel thing. Right. He reprised the role 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:00.220 for just a brief but... Pretty pivotal cameo 00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:02.259 in that fifth installment, also just called Vacation. 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:04.980 And even though critics mostly hated the movie. 00:30:05.180 --> 00:30:07.160 It made a ton of money, didn't it? Yeah, over 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:10.680 $107 million worldwide. Which just confirms that 00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:12.640 the cultural attachment people have to those 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:15.680 iconic 80s characters, especially Griswold, remains 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.660 incredibly strong. He also popped up in Hot Tub 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:22.500 Time Machine 2 around the same time, 2015. And 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:24.759 more recently, he starred with Richard Dreyfuss 00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:27.480 in that Netflix movie The Last Laugh in 2019. 00:30:28.089 --> 00:30:30.369 And he's listed in a new Christmas movie coming 00:30:30.369 --> 00:30:32.650 out, The Christmas Letter, with Randy Quaid and 00:30:32.650 --> 00:30:35.190 Brian Doyle Murray. Right. So it shows his enduring 00:30:35.190 --> 00:30:37.470 celebrity, particularly in that kind of ensemble 00:30:37.470 --> 00:30:40.609 or family comedy space, still draws him back 00:30:40.609 --> 00:30:42.589 into projects, often playing on their classic 00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:45.829 comedic persona, even if his relationship with 00:30:45.829 --> 00:30:47.930 the actual structure of Hollywood seems, well, 00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:51.490 persistently strained. So if we try to tie this 00:30:51.490 --> 00:30:53.210 whole history together, connect it to the bigger 00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:56.400 picture. The story of Chevy Chase is really one 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.319 of immense, immediate, almost singular talent, 00:30:59.420 --> 00:31:01.500 isn't it? Undeniable. A generational talent. 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:04.460 Won multiple Emmys in his first year out. Commanded 00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:07.759 a $7 million salary at his absolute peak. Fundamentally 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:10.119 defined the style and tone of modern sketch comedy. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:14.299 This incredible talent. was consistently, dramatically 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:17.019 contrasted with the volatility of his personal 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:20.440 interactions. That 1978 fistfight with Bill Murray, 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:23.720 the abrupt, explosive exit from community, the 00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:26.859 infamous short -lived talk show disaster. He 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:29.740 was, professionally and personally, just this 00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:32.380 constant high -wire act of comedy and conflict. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:34.940 So what does it all mean then? I mean, he was 00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:37.400 an undeniable cultural force. He transformed 00:31:37.400 --> 00:31:40.319 slapstick for a new generation, often delivering 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:43.299 comedic performances that looked completely effortless 00:31:43.299 --> 00:31:45.900 on screen. Deceptively effortless. Right. Yet 00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:48.680 his genius clearly came at a cost. His career 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:50.859 journey was just marked by these intensely complex 00:31:50.859 --> 00:31:53.140 relationships, both in his personal life, maybe 00:31:53.140 --> 00:31:54.579 stemming, like you said, from that difficult, 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:57.079 abusive, yet highly privileged background, and 00:31:57.079 --> 00:31:58.900 definitely in his professional life, where the 00:31:58.900 --> 00:32:01.400 basic demands of collaboration seemed to constantly 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:03.680 clash with his. I guess, anarchic personality. 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:06.299 Indeed. And that leads us to the final thought, 00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:08.339 maybe something for you, the listener, to ponder. 00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:11.960 For someone whose entire career hinged on perfectly 00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:14.700 timed physical comedy and that projection of 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:18.299 effortless charm, why did the transition to structured, 00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:20.460 long -term collaboration, whether it was in a 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:23.619 writer's room, on a nightly talk show set, or 00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:26.980 anchoring a sitcom for years, why did that consistently 00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:29.180 prove to be his most difficult, almost career 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:31.700 -defining challenge? We've seen how maybe that 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.599 trauma -driven need for self -preservation, for 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:37.359 control, combined perhaps with the physical toll 00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:40.079 his craft took on him, maybe created a personality 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.319 fundamentally resistant to the vulnerability 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.900 and compromise that long -term teamwork requires. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.519 Exactly. That's something to consider as you 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:50.240 reflect on this deep dive into the complex, often 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:52.400 contradictory, undeniably impactful history of 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:52.759 Chevy Chase.