I forgot to post this yesterday, but I grew up loving Chevy Chase. To this day when my sister and I see a bush of a certain shape, we burst into “Oh Susanna” or “Dixieland”. Then in the late 90s a series of interviews and articles on Chase (during his failed late-night show?) made him into this humourless fiasco, and painted him to be a self-absorbed prick. I lost interest in him as a person, but still liked his movies.
Yesterday he was on Howard Stern’s show on Sirius. They had beef a few years ago but he came across as very warm, very nice. I was listening to him with sympathy until an exchange discussing childhood abuse from his stepfather to his mother that followed along these lines.
Stern: Did you ever try to confront him, or did you just say I can’t do anything about this, I’m just a kid or what?
Chase: Oh no, I confronted him.
Stern: You did? What did you say, hey lay off my mother?
Chase: I blew him. (Shocked silence, followed by hysterical laughter)
Yeah, I figured if I kept him busy…
The sheer deviousness and excellent timing of that comment made me react in the exact same way as those in studio. I listened to the whole thing and remembered why I liked him. People may talk crap about Stern, but I doubt anyone else could have had that exchange with him. Great interview.