I'm Chevy Chase... and You're Not: Revised & Updated » (Revised and Updated)

Rena Fruchter is the author of the critically acclaimed Dudley Moore: An Intimate Portrait. For twelve years, she was a music columnist for The New York Times. Fruchter lives in New Jersey.

A lot has happened to Chevy Chase since this authorized biography was published last year. In this revised and updated paperback edition, Rena Fruchter captures it all, along with new behind-thescene stories from the life of one of America’s foremost comedians.

From Time, People, and “Page Six” to The Late Show With David Letterman and a hilarious return to Saturday Night Live, America embraced Chevy Chase upon the 2007 publication of I’m Chevy Chase . . . and You’re Not. Author Rena Fruchter reveals what this resurgence has been like for Chevy and offers both new insights into his career and more anecdotes from Chevy’s friends and colleagues “in the biz.”

Chevy candidly sets the record straight about his most celebrated exploits and his relationships with Presidents Ford, Carter, and Clinton. He also reveals that his privileged upbringing was dominated by continual physical and emotional abuse by his mother and stepfather, and reflects on how this abuse has shaped his personal and professional decisions throughout his life. But in the end, there’s more comedy than tragedy in this unforgettable biography.

Prelude: I'm Not Chevy Chase     ix
Formative Years
The Pain of a Child     3
Roller-coaster Education     19
Searching for a Path     31
Setting the Record Straight: Saturday Night Live     45
Stormy Return     62
Sex, Drums, and Rock 'n' Roll     72
Chevy's Desk I     81
Hollywood and Fame
Foul Play, in More Ways Than One     91
"The Next Cary Grant"     98
Caddyshack Era     102
Chevy and Jayni and the Girls     108
National Lampoon's Vacation     119
Fear of Fame     126
Fletches and a Flurry of Films     139
A Few Good Amigos     148
Nothing But Trouble     158
Visions of a Visible Man     163
The Chevy Chase Show     168
Hollywood and the White House     179
Chevy's Desk II     193
Over the Rainbow
New York Here We Come     203
Long Commute to Hollywood     220
Just Under the Rug     228
Today     237
Tomorrow     253
Chevy's Desk III     257
Filmography     264
Acknowledgments     280
Index     282
About the Author     289