‘Saturday Night Live’: Chevy Chase Insulted a Former U.S. President With an Impersonation
Comedian and actor Chevy Chase was a key cast member in the first season of Saturday Night Live. His career would see new heights beyond the late-night sketch comedy show. However, he initially encountered some feedback that he didn’t understand until much later. Chase admitted that one Saturday Night Live impression of a former American president didn’t sit too well with the man himself.
Chevy Chase impersonated Gerald Ford on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Chase immediately saw success with his inclusion as the first anchor of “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live. Many cast members have several original characters that they bring to the show, but he only had one called Landshark. It was a Jaws parody that earned big reactions from co-stars Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
However, Chase did do several impressions on Saturday Night Live. Some of them included David Eisenhower, Greg Allman, Jeffrey Dahmer, Leonard Nimoy, and Ronald Reagan. Additionally, he brought his impression of the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford, onto the show on multiple occasions.
Gerald Ford didn’t like how ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member Chevy Chase impersonated him
According to Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years, Chase talked about the times when he heard from the real person whom he impersonated on the show. He referred to the fact that he heard from one of Ford’s sons, whose father didn’t necessarily appreciate the impersonation. Chase didn’t initially understand why he would take offense to that, but retrospectively he gets it.
“I did hear ultimately from one of Ford’s sons that some of the things had hurt his feelings, and that was a shocker to me,” Chase said. “But I figured, ‘Oh, well, he’s the president, he can take it. I mean, he has to, he’s a public figure.’ Of course, now my feelings have been hurt so much, I know exactly what he means.”
Chase also recognized that “many things didn’t work,” but he thought of it as part of the joy of starring on the show. Saturday Night Live was actually live, so he thought seeing mistakes was perhaps one of the best attributes of the show.
He left the cast the earliest of the cast members
Chase was one of the first cast members on Saturday Night Live, but he also set the record as one of the first to leave. He only starred on the late-night sketch show for a little over a year until 1976. Additionally, no other cast member ever got the ban hammer before him.
The actor and comedian had an infamous fight with Bill Murray backstage in season 3. However, the major moment that defined his ban was after returning eight times to host. He was frequently rude to the cast members, which would once again turn physical. Chase slapped Cheri Oteri in the back of the head, which sent Will Ferrell into an outrage. Then, he reported it to show creator Lorne Michaels. As a result, he was never allowed to return to the show as a host.
