Chevy Chase

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (/ˈtʃɛvi/; born October 8, 1943) is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. Born into a prominent New York family, he worked a plethora of strange jobs before moving into comedy and began acting with National Lampoon. He immediately became a key cast member in the debut season of Saturday Night Live, where his recurring Weekend Update segment soon became a staple of the show. Chase is well known for his portrayal of the character Clark Griswold in five National Lampoon's Vacation films, and for his roles in comedies including Foul Play (1978), Caddyshack (1980), Seems Like Old Times (1980), Fletch (1985), Spies Like Us (1985), and ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He has hosted the Academy Awards twice (1987 and 1988) and briefly had his own late-night talk show, The Chevy Chase Show. He became a regular cast member as the character Pierce Hawthorne on the NBC comedy series Community, which began in 2009, though he left the show in 2012 after filming most of the episodes of the fourth season. 2Early life 3Family Chase was born in Lower Manhattan, New York, and was raised in Woodstock, New York. His father, Edward Tinsley "Ned" Chase, was a prominent Manhattan book editor and magazine writer. His mother, Cathalene Parker (née Browning), a concert pianist and librettist, was the daughter of Admiral Miles Browning, who most notably served as Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance's Chief of Staff on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) at the Battle of Midway in World War II; she was adopted as a child by her stepfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, heir to The Crane Company, and took the name Cathalene Cran