13 Quotes & Sayings By Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase was born William H. Stevenson in New York City on April 1, 1950. Chase's parents were from the upper middle classes. His father, Robert Lee Stevenson, was a doctor, and his mother, Margaret Rose (née Nelson), was a homemaker Read more

They owned a small radio and appliance store that sold to the wealthy elite of New York City. Although Chase did well in school, he did not excel academically. He went to school with Barron Hilton and Ron Jeremy and performed in the off-Broadway play "The Threepenny Opera".

At age fourteen he began performing at The Improv with his comedy partner Dana Carvey. It was there that he met his future wife Geise Krell who was an actress. In 1971 he joined Saturday Night Live as a writer and performer, but left after only three months, frustrated by his lack of creative control over sketches and scripts that were being written by others.

In 1972 he teamed up with Dana Carvey for their second short-lived show, Chappelle's Show which led to them being hired for "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 where they remained until Chase left in 1981. He has appeared in a number of movies both comedic and dramatic including Teen Wolf Too, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Wayne's World 2, The Blues Brothers (with John Belushi) and Beverly Hills Cop II (which also starred John Candy). He is one of the most popular comedians of all time and has won an Emmy Award (for writing The Jamie Kennedy Experiment), two Grammy Awards (for Best Spoken Word Album for The Medicine Show: On the Road to Wellville and Best Comedy Album for You're Welcome), four American Comedy Awards (for Best Male TV Personality; Best Talk Show; Best Writing; and Favorite Male TV Personality), and has an asteroid named after him (1866 Chase).

1
I was always the guy getting kicked out of my classes at school for having an attitude problem. Chevy Chase
2
A laugh is a surprise. And all humor is physical. I was always athletic, so that came naturally to me. Chevy Chase
3
Let's not call physical comedy falling down and pratfalls. All humor is physical, no matter how you dish it out. It's timing, like a dancer or an athlete would have. Chevy Chase
4
I come from a much freer kind of performance thing, where I rely on my own improv and my own sense of humor. Chevy Chase
5
Comparing 'Christmas Vacation' to 'It's A Wonderful Life' is the silliest thing. That film starred the greatest movie actor of all time, and the idea that our movie could ever be connected in some fashion to something so brilliant and beautiful always made feel like, 'That's all they had to write about?' Chevy Chase
6
Frank Capra's grandson was a second Assistant Director on 'Christmas Vacation.' Chevy Chase
7
Nobody prepares you for what happens when you get famous, and I didn't handle it well. Chevy Chase
8
Who made me laugh when I was growing was Chaplin and the Marx Brothers, and then moving on, there were so many that I was a writer for for many years: I was a writer for the Smothers Brothers, Lily Tomlin, then I started on 'Saturday Night Live' as the head writer the first year we started it. Chevy Chase
9
All my children inherited perfect pitch. Chevy Chase
10
Parrots make great pets. They have more personality than goldfish. Chevy Chase
11
I would love to do a movie with Albert Brooks; we're so different, but I find him so funny, and I can be just as seemingly narcissistic as he comes off, the 'it's all about me' kind of thing. Chevy Chase
12
Once I got married and had kids, I moved away from romantic roles, because it seemed wrong to have my three-year-old wondering why Daddy was kissing someone else. Chevy Chase