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Chevy Chase revealed he was placed in a coma during a five-week hospitalization in 2021 after experiencing near-fatal heart failure, a health crisis stemming from years of battling addiction and a weakened heart.
A History of Health Struggles
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The actor, known for his roles in National Lampoon’s Vacation and as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live, detailed his health battles in the upcoming CNN documentary, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, premiering Jan. 1. The film explores not only the recent heart failure but also a decades-long struggle with substance abuse.
Early Battles with Addiction
Chase first sought treatment for painkiller addiction at the Betty Ford Center in 1986, with his then-agent, Pat Kingsley, explaining to The New York Times that the dependency arose from chronic back pain sustained during his physically demanding work on Saturday Night Live. For years, Chase maintained he avoided other drugs, telling Esquire in 2010, “I was pretty low-level when it came to drug abuse. I checked myself into the Betty Ford Clinic after my nose started to hurt.”
However, his wife, Jayne Chase, shared in the CNN documentary that he also battled cocaine addiction in the 1980s, prompting a family intervention. Thirty years later, in 2016, Chase entered the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota for alcohol addiction, described by his publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, as a “tuneup” for his recovery. Jayne later revealed he was consuming six bottles of wine every four days, appearing functional despite the heavy drinking.
Chase announced he was sober in 2018, telling The Washington Post he quit after a final drink on his porch.
Cardiomyopathy and a Near-Fatal Coma
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Years of alcohol abuse led to alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle weakens, according to the Cleveland Clinic. “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,” Jayne Chase recounted in the documentary.
His daughter, Caley Chase, had previously distanced herself from her father due to his alcohol addiction but reconnected after learning of his diagnosis. “At that point, I had given up, and I assumed he would die soon,” Caley told The Washington Post in 2018.
In 2021, Chase was hospitalized for five weeks due to heart failure. Jayne recalled the terrifying moment, “Something was wrong, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So, we go to the ER. His heart stops.” Doctors ultimately placed him in a coma for approximately eight days in an attempt to save his life, according to his longtime friend, Peter Aaron.
“He has basically come back from the dead,” Caley Chase said after his recovery.
Memory Loss Following Recovery
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The coma and subsequent recovery left Chase with significant memory loss. He admitted in the documentary that he struggles to recall details of his career and past controversies, including incidents on the sets of Community and Saturday Night Live. “According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it, and that’s what’s happened here,” he explained. “Heart failure is what it is. I’m fine now. It’s just that it affects your memory, and the doctors have told me that, so I have to be reminded of things.”
Chase has been playing card games and chess to try and improve his cognitive function.
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