Chevy Chase remembers Gerald Ford; Update: Called Ford “totally compassionless” in 1976
posted at 4:30 pm on January 6, 2007 by Allahpundit
Could a man with “Oh Heavenly Dog” on his resume really be capable of a fond, affecting presidential eulogy?
Update: Ed Driscoll notes that Chase wasn’t always this magnanimous towards Ford.
Nessen eventually concluded that Saturday Night had in fact been out to get him. He was helped to that conclusion when Chevy Chase, who’d got along so well with Ford at the correspondents’ dinner, started excoriating the President in interviews, calling him “a totally compassionless man” whose eyes were so empty that looking into them “was like looking into the eyes of 50 milligrams of Valium.”
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Beautiful tribute – Mr. Ford would smile…
Too bad the carricature stuck at the time and hurt beyond humor…
Entelechy on January 6, 2007 at 4:38 PM
Nice…a classy gesture from Mr. Chase.
And I don’t know that it “hurt beyond humor”. I don’t remember anyone taking it as fact that Ford was a klutz in the manner that the left today takes it for “fact” that Bush is a moron.
flipflop on January 6, 2007 at 5:00 PM
That’s a nice contrast from 1976, when Chevy was telling interviewers that Ford was “a totally compassionless man” whose were so empty that looking into them “was like looking into the eyes of 50 milligrams of Valium.”
Unlike Fidel, I guess.
Ed Driscoll on January 6, 2007 at 5:06 PM
PIMF–that should be “whose eyes were so empty”.
Ed Driscoll on January 6, 2007 at 5:08 PM
Well, Ed, Chevy was on a lot of drugs back then.
Farmer_Joe on January 6, 2007 at 5:19 PM
I think Chase’s skits about Ford really hurt the man’s image and cost him quite a bit of the “youth vote” in ’76. He didn’t just portray him as bumbling, but an idiot, too.
SOP for the Hollyweird Left and a GOP President.
I’m glad to say that the SNL skits didn’t affect me and when I voted in my first presidential election in 1976, it was for Ford.
I would have loved to see him get his own term in office.
Oh, well. RIP President Ford and Chevy can go pound sand–his Ford skits are about his only claim to fame and that died last week, although he is pretty funny as Clark W. Griswald.
Maybe he doesn’t have to act for that part!
Jen the Neocon on January 6, 2007 at 5:23 PM
If I recall correctly, chevy was on painkillers for a back problem as a result of some of the pratfalls he took impersonating Ford and such.
actions have consequences, poetic justice, imo.
normsrevenge on January 6, 2007 at 5:56 PM
If you read “Live From New York,” not a lot of people in the cast were that fond of Chevy when he was on, partially because a lot in the cast though the was hogging the spotlight from the ensemble and partially because he had an attitude with other cast members. He had a rivalry with John Belushi that dated back to their National Lampoon days.
He was later banned from hosting the show in the late 1990s because of how he’s treated later casts when he’s come back to host, although he gets asked back to do small cameos on occassion. I don’t know why — he stopped being funny a long time ago.
ScoopPC11 on January 6, 2007 at 6:07 PM
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find most Marxists to be very funny…and no, I’m not referring to Harpo or Groucho.
stonemeister on January 6, 2007 at 6:21 PM
I am not willing to forgive or even believe Chevy’s comments now versus then. The quote about Ford was not forgivable and shows what a hypocrit he is. I wrote the NYT and told them so.
Glynn on January 6, 2007 at 6:36 PM
That was a great book, but if you’re a huge Chevy Chase fan, I wouldn’t recommend it. He really doesn’t come across well at all.
Slublog on January 6, 2007 at 6:39 PM
I thought Chevy Chase was dead…
Opinionnation on January 6, 2007 at 6:58 PM
I think his so-called Roast says a lot about him. None of his old colleagues showed up.
I still like a lot of the roles he did, though. I’d like to know as little about celebrities personal lives & political views as possible, but that’s just not the case these days. I used to really love movies, and actually watched the Oscars, now I just can’t stand it anymore.
Shut up and act.
reaganaut on January 6, 2007 at 6:58 PM
Same here. I used to love the movies. Never followed celebrity lives beyond hanging a poster up; What did I care what they did when they weren’t making movies? Now, you can’t get away from it. We follow them obsessively…and for the most part they are a pack of feckless morons. As a result, i hardly watch TV anymore. Casino Royale was my first trip to the movies in 2 years…and thankfully I haven’t heard of any of the people in it.
austinnelly on January 6, 2007 at 8:38 PM
Chevy didn’t cost Jerry Ford the election. There were many factors involved in his 1976 defeat, but the one thing that I admired most about President Ford, is the fact that he took responsibility for his loss. The Chases and the Fords were friends in ‘real’ life.
Pam on January 6, 2007 at 9:18 PM
Chevy Chase is an ass.
spmat on January 6, 2007 at 11:35 PM
I was never a fan, didn’t care so much for pratfall humor. Even as a teenager in those days, the relative genius of Dan Aykroyd was clear, in spite of Chevy getting the most camera time on SNL. And Aykroyd matured as an actor. I think of Trading Places, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dragnet, Driving Miss Daisy, Sneakers, Gross Pointe Blank and Pearl Harbor, and Chevy Chase couldn’t have touched any of those roles. And in the 70′s, he certainly raised his celebrity status on the back of President Ford’s weaker moments.
That aside, his words were gracious and understated, so good for him.
Freelancer on January 7, 2007 at 12:26 AM
One of the SNL skits was a debate between Ford (Chase) and Carter (Ackroyd). At the end of the skit, Chase is doing his bumbling Ford routine. He knocks his podium over and then falls on top of the podium. In the process he broke his leg, live on stage. Karma????
Mallard T. Drake on January 7, 2007 at 1:16 AM
Back in the day, I actually had a crush on Chase. I was 18 at the time. But ever since he called President Bush a stupid f— at an awards show, I have no use for him.
ClericalGal on January 7, 2007 at 9:57 PM
I pretty much agree with Jen the Neocon’s position on Chase. I don’t think much of him as either a person or an actor. And I clearly do not agree with any of his political views.
georgej on January 8, 2007 at 2:35 PM