I'm Chevy Chase ... And You're Not

The Truth About Chevy Chase ... Or Not

Most 30+ year-old males have a great affection for Chevy Chase. He starred in some of the funniest and most quotable movies of all time, including Fletch, Caddyshack, and the Vacation movies. And perhaps it is because of this that most of us look at the current Chevy as a pathetic figure. The negative stories about how evil Chase could be when he hosted SNL, the vicious roast of him on Comedy Central, and a string of movie flops served to turn him from a comedy God to the punchline of a sad, unfunny joke. And so, it was with great interest that I picked up I'm Chevy Chase ...and you're not from the library. The book is an authorized biography of the comedian and actor, written by Rena Fruchter, who previously had written a well-received biography of Dudley Moore.

Fruchter does do some extensive interviews with Chevy Chase and his family, in which we learn that he and his siblings were abused by his emotionally troubled mother. Chevy was bright, but an underacheiver in school. He also was an accomplished musician, a passion he continues to purse until this day. According to Fruchter, Chevy's seemingly bizarre career choices, including leaving SNL after only one year, and agreeing to star in some terrible movies, were driven by his personal life and friendships. Chevy took the bad movies out a sense of loyalty or to make some money to help him with his main pursuit, raising his kids and maintaining a happy marriage.

Unfortunately, Fruchter does little to address the complaints and outright hatred of the actor. In Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, former cast member Terry Sweeney, describes Chevy as a complete jerk, making jokes about homosexuality and AIDS, criticizing Robert Downey Jr., and making a complete fool out of himself. Tim Meadows describes liking Chevy, but that he could be incredibly harsh with anyone he didn't like. This does not square with the description of Chevy in this book, a person who hates bullies and mean people.