‘He was brought back from the edge’: The comedy legend was in eight days in a coma during Covid pandemic.
The famed comedian suffered a “potentially fatal” cardiac event that resulted in him being put into an induced coma amid the global health crisis, according to a new film about the American actor and comedian.
As documented in I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, the legend of movies such as Caddyshack and the National Lampoon series, who emceed the Oscars on two occasions, spent a total of five weeks in the hospital.
“He wasn't right, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So, we went to the ER. His heart stops. During those years he was drinking, he developed cardiomyopathy; which is when the heart muscles get weaker, and they are unable to pump as much blood through the body with each beat.”
Physicians subsequently induced him into a state of unconsciousness for more than a week, before cautioning his child, his daughter: “His return is uncertain. We don’t know how cognizant he’ll be. You must prepare for the worst.”
“After regaining consciousness, all he was able to do was use his voice,” she stated further. “He has practically come back from the dead.”
Chase himself has stated that he has dealt with memory problems since his medical ordeal, and in the documentary he does not recollect some of his past on-set and backstage disputes, including a physical altercation with Bill Murray in a Saturday Night Live backstage area.
Chase said he was “disappointed” by his exclusion from the 50th anniversary special of SNL this year, at which he was in attendance but not featured.
“To be frank, it was disappointing,” he said. “I haven't spoken about this until now. But I thought that I could have been on the stage too with all the other actors. When former castmates Garrett Morris and Laraine were called up, I was curious as to why I didn’t. I wasn't invited. Why was I overlooked?”
Chase, 82, almost died in 1980 when he was shocked by electricity on the set of Modern Problems, an accident which precipitated a period of severe depression.
