Chevy Chase recounts health scare in new documentary

Chevy Chase is opening up about a health scare that landed him in the hospital for five weeks.

In the upcoming documentary, “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” which will premiere on Jan. 1 on CNN, the 82-year-old actor and his family discuss his stay in the hospital following a heart issue, with his daughter, Caley saying, “[He] has basically come back from the dead,” per Variety.

“Something was wrong, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So, we go to the ER. His heart stops,” Chase’s wife, Jayni, said in the documentary. “During those years he was drinking, he got cardiomyopathy; when the heart muscles get weaker, and they can’t pump as much blood out with each beat.”

His longtime friend, Peter Aaron, also appeared in the documentary, revealing that following his heart issue, doctors “decided to put him into a coma for maybe eight days.”

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His daughter went on to explain that the doctors then advised the family to “prepare yourselves for the worst,” telling them, “we might not get him back” and even if they do, “we don’t know how present he’ll be.”

The actor spent five weeks in the hospital in 2021 following his health scare, although he didn’t elaborate on the nature of his illness at the time.

“These are my first few days home. I can only say how happy I am to now be back with my family. I’m feeling good,” he told Page Six at the time. “I was in the hospital five weeks. A heart issue. So, for now, I’m around the house. Not going anywhere.”

Chase previously spoke about his diagnosis of alcohol cardiomyopathy—a condition characterized by a weakening of the heart muscle caused by excessive drinking—in 2018, when speaking to The Washington Post.

“Heart failure is what it is,” Chase said in the documentary, adding that he “is fine now.”

The “National Lampoon’s Vacation” star had his breakthrough in Hollywood as one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live.” He became the first cast member to leave the show, making his exit following the end of the first season, with hopes of pursuing a music career.

In February, the popular sketch comedy show celebrated its 50th anniversary with a three-hour live special featuring current and former cast members coming together to celebrate some of the show’s most iconic moments. Noticeably left out of the celebration was Chase, who attended, but didn’t participate in a bit on stage.

“It was kind of upsetting, actually,” he said in the documentary. “This is probably the first time I’m saying it. But I expected that I would’ve been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn’t. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?”

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Chase went on to add that he reached out to “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels about being excluded, but said he took it back and played it off as a joke, but in reality he felt as if “somebody made a mistake,” and that “they should’ve had me on that stage. It hurt.”

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