Chevy Chase, the beloved comedian who was a monster off camera: ‘Not everyone hated him, just the people who’ve worked with him’
Chevy Chase, the beloved comedian who was a monster off camera: ‘Not everyone hated him, just the people who’ve worked with him’
A film about ‘Saturday Night Live’ has revived interest in its first star’s controversial career as a beloved icon of humor who was a real nightmare for those with whom he shared a set
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I'm still curious as to why he was so popular back in the day if this arrogance showed through. I guess the public love a heel if they are funny with it?
I've seen his movies, and i had no idea he was such a colossol tool behind the scenes. I suspect a lot of other people didn't know either.
But, on the flip side, back in the day, I think you could get away with a lot more without the media crucified you for it.
Some of his best characters were also perfectly suited to him in hindsight. Spies like us where he was the charming but sleazy face man and Dan Akroyd was a tech nerd, Caddyshack where he was the cocky upstart golf pro...
Man was acting but not by much.
Imagine thinking of being held extremely mildly accountable for your shitty actions as "getting crucified".
You have to remember, pre-internet he was a tall, charismatic, handsome, very funny man and he was a movie star, of course he was arrogant. The industry knew he was a jerk, but he was a jerk who got everyone paid. He also had family money, which allowed him to call people's bluffs and take risks most people trying to build a career wouldn't dare take.
And the fans, the parasocial thing just didn't exist back then, they weren't our friends. They were an elite class who could do no wrong. If you wanted to talk to Chevy and he didn't talk to you, you apologised to him for taking up his time.
I feel like that was a vibe for 80's comedians. I don't know if they were all jerks or not. Dan Aykrod, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Danny devito... a lot of these guys played jerks. In a lot of movies and shows.
There was probably a lot of cocaine too. I doubt that helped. I wonder if we underestimate that sometimes.
Because he's Chevy Chase, and you're not.
Have you seen the Christmas Vacation?
Favorite Christmas Movie by generation (according to me):
- Silent Gen - Miracle on 34th Street
- Boomers - It's a Wonderful Life
- Jones/Elder Gen-X - A Christmas Story
- Gen-X/Xennials - Christmas Vacation
- Millennial - Elf
- All of the above - Die Hard
I would like to submit Better Off Dead for consideration for Gen X
EDIT: It certainly is in the "Most Quotable Movie by generation" category.
"I've been going to this high school for seven and a half years. I'm no dummy."
2 DOLLARS
I'd like to subscribe to your lists. Top by generation seems like a unique idea to me.
Kind of similar to those "Pages of Time refrigerator magnets" people have sometimes.
Millenial here! No one agrees with me but my favorite Xmas movie is "The Ref"
Mine is "Bad Santa". What gen am I?
I've seen at least one national lampoon's vacation but I have no idea which one it was. I think I've probably seen Spies like us the most if that dates me.
It doesn't date you as much as it confirms that you are a person of class and exceptionally good taste.
"Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor."
In retrospect, the womanizing is a bit cringe-worthy and over the top, the rest holds up well.
Hard to avoid in movies, especially of that time.
Oh, I agree, it wasn't much worse than average for the time, pretty typical for a movie targeted towards men. And still better than the first 15 minutes of Sausage Party.
There are a lot of shitty people in movies and tv that we used to hear nothing about due to the "celebrity" status. Celebrities are to be revered not reviled and so the asshole was and still is overlooked for the so called talent.
I personally don't have an answer to that, but then again I was the weird child at 7 watching cartoons Saturday morning and then SNL at night....the shenanigans on that show are deep, deep burnt memories coupled with Monty Python's Flying Circus on PBS (again, way too young to fully absorb) but probably shaped the type of unconscious humor my person embodies.
Chevy was funny and his behind the scenes performance didn't interact in a way that was fully appreciated by the regular American audience.
He really was not when you compare him to other snl cast like belushi and murphy and murray.
