Chevy Chase
American comedian, writer and actor (born 1943)
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- Grace Baine & Chevy Chase were Hero planeteers for Ted Turner's Captain Planet's xmasparty.org to support Laura Turner Seydel
- Wanted to be a doctor when he was younger.
- Helped campaign for John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election.
- At 6' 4", he was the tallest original "Saturday Night Live" (1975) cast member and was the first "tall guy" on the show. Cast members over 6 feet usually dwarfed the rest of the cast. 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.
- His short-lived TV talk show was billed as a Cornelius Production, Cornelius being Chevy's real first name.
- Chevy was actually a childhood nickname -- possibly based on the Washington, DC 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.
- Paul Simon is one of his best friends. He appeared alongside Simon in the music video "You Can Call Me Al," in which he lip-syncs all of Simon's lines. Due to that video's remarkable success, Chase was asked to return when Simon released his follow-up album. In the music video for "Proof", Chase was accompanied by another of his best friends, Steve Martin.
- Parents divorced when he was four, and his father remarried into Folger coffee family. His mother's third marriage was to Juilliard School professor/ composer Lawrence Widdoes.
- Is a huge jazz fan.
- Used to spend his summer and other vacations at a castle on a beautiful beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
- Prefers to do family-oriented movies and has turned down roles in several films including the lead in American Beauty (1999).
- In 2003, he appeared in two television commercials for Cola Turka, a soft drink developed to be in direct competition with both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, while keeping the money in the Turkish economy. The commercials, which were both comic and nationalistic in theme, feature Chase playing a confused American who notices his friend and family using Turkish idioms and exhibiting Turkish customs after consuming the drink. The commercials, exclusively shown in Turkey, were filmed in New York in English, but have Turkish subtitles.
- Has perfect pitch, a musical ability to remember the exact frequency of a note.
- Graduated from Bard College with a bachelor of arts degree in English (1967).
- Brea, California (92621) also has a street named "Chevy Chase.".
- He was the first member of the original "Saturday Night Live" (1975) cast to leave the show - after only one season, a decision he later said he regretted. He was replaced by Bill Murray.
- His middle name, Crane, is from his mother's family, He spent childhood vacations at Crane Castle, his mother's family' vacation home in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
- Chevy Chase is the name of a 16th century ballad about the battle between Earl Douglas and Earl Percy, as well as the name of a city in Maryland.
- After joking about Cary Grant being gay in a 1980 television interview, the Hollywood legend sued him for slander, but they later settled out of court.
- Has a street named after him in Cochranton PA (NWPA). - Chevy Chase Street
- At the height of his career he earned around $7 million per film.
- 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.
- Fans often imitate his famous, straight-faced, "I like it!" (from Modern Problems (1981)).
- 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.