Chevy Chase - Biography

Last Editor: lynette.nelson				Chevy Chase Biography -   Name : Chevy Chase Date of birth : 8 October 1943 Place of birth : Woodstock, New York, USA Birth name : Cornelius Crane Chase Height : 6' 4

Chevy Chase Trivia -

Prefers to do family-oriented movies and has turned down roles in several films including the lead in American Beauty (1999). His now-famous "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" opening line on the "Weekend Update" segments of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) was a takeoff of New York news anchor Roger Grimsby's "Here now the news" opening line. Sat in with the college band The Leather Canary a couple of times. The band also included Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, later of Steely Dan fame. Winner of Harvard Lampoon Lifetime Achievement Award 1996. He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care." Convicted of drunk driving. [1995] His short-lived TV talk show was billed as a Cornelius Production, Cornelius being Chevy's real first name. Was nearly killed (electrocuted) during the filming of Modern Problems (1981) when, during the sequence in which he is wearing "landing lights" as he dreams that he is an airplane, the current in the lights short-circuited through his arm, back, and neck muscles. The near-death experience caused him to experience a period of deep depression. Attended Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Was valedictorian of his high school class. Has perfect pitch, a musical ability to remember the exact frequency of a note. Was the drummer for what he called "a bad jazz band." That band became Steely Dan. Parents divorced when he was four, and his father remarried into Folger coffee family, while mother's third marriage was to Juilliard School professor/composer Lawrence Widdoes. He and wife Jayni's three daughters are named Cydney Cathalene, Caley Leigh and Emily Evelyn. Chevy was actually a childhood nickname -- possibly based on the Maryland suburb -- bestowed by his grandmother. The Chase family was affluent and distinguished, and Chevy was listed in Social Register at early age. His paternal grandfather was painter/teacher Frank Swift Chase; his father, Ned Chase, was a prominent Manhattan book editor and magazine writer. His mother was descended from the Crane plumbing-fixture family. He appeared alongside Paul Simon in the music video "You Can Call Me Al," in which he sings all of Simon's lines. Was a long-time class clown expelled from private schools like NYC's Dalton but did well at Stockbridge School in Massachusetts. Expelled from Haverford College after bringing a cow into the third floor of a campus building. Transferred to Bard College, where he dated actress Blythe Danner and graduated in 1967. Used to spend his summer and other vacations at a castle on a beautiful beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts. His middle name, Crane, refers to Crane Castle, his childhood vacation home in Massachusetts. Roasted into the New York Friar's Club on September 28, 2002. Suffers from a fear of snakes. Chevy Chase is also the name of a 16th century ballad about the battle between Earl Douglas and Earl Percy. He was the first member of the original "Saturday Night Live" cast to leave the show. He was replaced by Bill Murray. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 102-103. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387. Paul Simon is one of his best friends. At the height of his career he earned around $7 million per film. Is a huge jazz fan. Runs five miles a day to stay fit and healthy. Admitted in an interview that making ˇThree Amigos! (1986) was the most 6fun he has had on a film. Helped campaign for John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election. Attended Riverdale Country School in New York City. His big break was performing on _"Saturday Night Live"_ (1975) . Ironically, he was never signed as a cast member. He signed a one year writer contract and became a cast member during rehearsals. Has said that he regrets leaving "Saturday Night Live" (1975) after just one year. Chase is a member of the exclusive Hollywood Gourmet Poker Club with fellow card players Johnny Carson, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Carl Reiner, Barry Diller and Neil Simon. In a 1975 New York magazine cover story, 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" (1962) within 6 months of the article (which proved to be false). At 6' 4", he was the tallest original cast member of "Saturday Night Live" and was the first tall guy on the show, cast members over 6 feet who usually dwarf their smaller cast mates. Among the other tall guys to follow were Dan Aykroyd, Dean Edwards, Will Ferrell, Anthony Michael Hall, David Koechner, Norm Macdonald, Finesse Mitchell, Bill Murray, Kevin Nealon, Randy Quaid, Rob Riggle, Charles Rocket, Damon Wayans, and Fred Wolf. Only Nealon and Quaid equaled Chase in height.

Chevy Chase Detailed Biography -

Chevy Chase is often considered one of the most likeable comedic personalities of his generation, even though the immediate popularity he achieved following a single season on Saturday Night Live never translated into more than a couple hit movies, and none after the 1980s. The prematurely balding, intelligent, fast-talking Chase created a couple classic characters, notably Irwin M. Fletcher (aka Fletch) and Vacation's Clark Griswold, but his career is often thought of as plagued by misfires and missed opportunities, rather than touched by comic brilliance. Born on October 8, 1943, in New York City, Cornelius Crane Chase became known as "Chevy" when his grandmother nicknamed him after Chevy Chase, the wealthy Maryland community. The 6'4" future writer and actor was valedictorian of his high school class before attending Bard College, where he earned a B.A. in English. With a pre-celebrity resumé as varied as any (tennis pro, truck driver, bartender), Chase spent his twenties as a comedy writer for such outlets as the Smothers Brothers and National Lampoon, the latter of which eventually led to a lucrative franchise of Vacation movies. Chase's first stint as a performer was with the New York comedy video workshop Channel One, which evolved into the 1974 film Groove Tube. This afforded Chase the necessary exposure to be hired by Lorne Michaels for the first season of Saturday Night Live in 1975. Initially hired on as a writer, Chase soon began appearing in front of the camera as the anchor of the popular Weekend Update segment of the ensemble variety show. With the catchphrase opening "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not," and aided by his bumbling impersonation of President Gerald Ford, the actor quickly assumed breakout status, earning Emmys for both his writing and acting. He left after a single season to pursue film opportunities, but did not really strike gold until Caddyshack (1980), in which he played a rich golf pro who oozed confidence and a dry sarcastic wit three steps ahead of anyone else. These would become Chase's trademarks. During the filming of his next project, Modern Problems (1981), Chase was nearly electrocuted when a gag involving landing lights attached to his body short-circuited. The experience sunk him into a deep depression. But he recovered his stride in 1983 with the release of National Lampoon's Vacation, the first of four in an eventual series of epic misadventures of the Griswold family (European Vacation [1985], Christmas Vacation [1989], Vegas Vacation [1997]). As daffy father Clark, Chase turned the film into a huge hit, harnessing a likable befuddlement that kept the series going even as the sequels were increasingly less well received and tiresomely slapstick. Chase's other big hit came in 1985, when he starred as the title character in Fletch, the film widely considered the actor's best and most complimentary of his sharp talent for wordplay. As an undercover newspaper reporter with a quick answer -- not to mention a goofy disguise -- for every situation, Chase created a classic comic hero with a genius for confusing his adversaries. He reprised the role in the lesser sequel Fletch Lives (1989). Chase achieved moderate success by pairing with other Saturday Night Live alums in the mixed-bag comedies Spies Like Us (1985) and Three Amigos! (1986); though these had dedicated fans, they didn't achieve the critical praise of Fletch or Vacation. Despite an all-star cast, Caddyshack II (1988) went nowhere, and by the beginning of the 1990s, Chase had slipped from his status as a reliable comedic performer. Such well-documented failures as Nothing But Trouble (1991) and Cops and Robbersons (1994) became his crosses to bear during a decade that also saw the colossal failure of his Fox comeback variety show, which was canceled two months after it premiered in 1993. Chase was also arrested for drunk driving in 1995, just one incident in a career sometimes checkered by drug and alcohol abuse. In later years, Chase has preferred family oriented films, starring in such features as Man of the House (1995) (opposite Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and the kiddie-on-holiday flick Snow Day (2000). This stance prompted Chase to turn down the comeback-worthy role that won Kevin Spacey an Oscar in American Beauty (1999); had he accepted, it might have resulted in a very different film. As Chase's work has shifted more to the supporting role variety, including Dirty Work (1998) and Orange County (2002), he has seemed more comfortable.