Posted on 12/27/2006 11:05:07 AM PST by Roberts
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Comedian Chevy Chase, who became famous in the 1970s portraying Gerald Ford as an amiable klutz, praised the former president on Wednesday and said they later became friendly in spite of the biting comedy routines.
Chase, 63, was an original cast member on the trend-setting late-night comedy television show "Saturday Night Live" and frequently opened the show pretending to be Ford stumbling and falling. The parody in 1975-6 helped reinforce a popular image about Ford's clumsiness, even though the president had been a star athlete in college.
"He had never been elected period, so I never felt that he deserved to be there to begin with," the actor said about Ford, who died on Tuesday at age 93. "That was just the way I felt then as a young man and as a writer and a liberal."
"Later on we became friends and he was a very, very sweet man," Chase said in a telephone interview from a Colorado ski resort. "He took my wife and I on a whole lovely trip through Grand Rapids to show us where he had been as a child and what not. We kept in touch and he was just a terrific guy."
Chase, who has since starred in many film comedies, said Ford helped boost his career, but said another politician could have just as easily become the comedic punching bag in such politically turbulent times.
Chase was initially hired as a writer, not an actor but the humor he wrote mocking Ford helped change that.
"I wrote all those Gerald Ford jokes and (producer) Lorne (Michaels) put me on the air," he said. "Doing the stunt falls and stuff ... started me."
"As far as making my career, it could have been anybody who had been a Republican after Nixon and pardoned him."
Stupid knee-jerk Hollywood liberal.
Who did "deserve" to be there?
As a liberal, I'm sure he was all for Spiro Agnew's resignation, and I'm sure he was all for Nixon's resignation.
So according to his liberal logic, we should have been without a president for about two years, since no one "deserved" to be there.
I loved Carvey's routine where he described his meeting with Bush.
In the routine, Bush kept asking Dana to do impersonations to trick the Secret Service guys and wanted him to call the Russian Prime Minister.... Funny stuff.
Letterman is not a pleasant person.
Arrgghh, for real. I had the pleasure of actually shaking hands with Ford and exchanging chit chat for minute until the line moved on.
And whatever Chevy Chase's politics, he was pretty quiet about it (unlike some other hollywood big mouths) and was just a plain funny guy.
I just got through viewing the box set of the first season of SNL and was a little stunned how much they raked Ford over the coals on that show. It was done in every episode.
I never liked Chevy Chase. I didn't like him then, I don't like him now.
I think he's an arrogant rhymes with stick.
As a matter of fact, I despise him. I hope somebody beats the crap out of him.
Chevy Chase is a jerk. And that's putting it mildly.
But you gotta love this heartfelt outpouring of totally appropriate responses to a presidential passing showing how wonderful us real Americans are and all.
What a wonderful display of noble and completely unforgettable memoirs befitting the passage of a great historical figure. ( the one about a boston bean fart is especially touching!)
LOL....too funny. I still say "not gonna DO it!"
No need to sugar-coat it sweetie, tell us how you really feel. ;o)
Was Barack Obama Just Joking When He Said He Was Sensitive About His Ears? (December 15, 2006)
I'm glad to know that Chevy has suffered chronic back pain from all his pratfalls.
His karma ran over his dogma, so to speak.
That's the way of attacking "authority figures". That is, until they become the ones in charge.
It's been awhile, wasn't there some opening to the show where Chase says something like "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" and then it flashes to Pres. Ford saying "I'm Gerald Ford and you're not" and then goes back to Chase who's speechless?
Chase beat him up pretty badly, I think you would have had to have been asleep not to guess his politics, but at least he wasn't as vocal as that smarmy no-necked not-funny what's his name loser who's on Air-unAmerica.
I received a DVD titled "The Best of John Belushi" from Saturday Night Live this Christmas.
I'm 46, so I remember the skits the first time around. In the extras section of the DVD is interviews with surviving cast members and writers. Chevy Chase was one of them. Tried as they could, the ugly truth came out - Belushi was an unstable person and used comedy and drugs to dull the pain of his existence before the drugs finished the job.
Sad to watch.
Moronic.
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