Veteran actor Chevy Chase has revealed he was placed in a coma during a life-threatening hospital stay for heart failure — an ordeal he says led to lasting memory loss. The 82-year-old comedian opens up about the medical emergency in the new authorised CNN documentary I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, which premieres January 1. In the film, Chevy admits he does not recall several high-profile disputes and incidents from his long career, including moments tied to Community and Saturday Night Live.
His daughter, Caley Chase, explains that the memory gaps stem, at least in part, from the serious health crisis he endured in 2021.
"Well, I mean, he's 80-something and has basically come back from the dead," Caley, 40, says in the documentary, becoming emotional as she reflects on her father's condition. "Oh my God, he had heart failure. It's so hard to talk about."
Chevy was hospitalised for five weeks after what he initially described as a "heart issue." His wife of more than four decades, Jayni Chase, later reveals in the documentary that the diagnosis was cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens the heart muscle and reduces its ability to pump blood effectively.
"Something was wrong, and he couldn't explain to me what was wrong. So we went to the ER. His heart stopped," Jayni recalls, explaining that years of heavy drinking contributed to the condition.
Longtime friend Peter Aaron adds that doctors made the decision to place Chevy into a medically induced coma for approximately eight days. He believes the episode is directly linked to the comedian's ongoing memory issues.
Chevy himself confirms that doctors warned him his cognition could be affected. "According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it, and that's what's happened here," he says in the film. Following his recovery, he says he played card games and chess in an effort to improve what he describes as his "cognitive disability."
"Heart failure is what it is," he adds. "I'm fine now. It's just that it affects your memory, and the doctors have told me that, so I have to be reminded of things."
Two of Chevy's daughters, Caley and Cydney Chase, both reflect on the frightening period, which unfolded during the height of the COVID pandemic. "We were all there," Cydney, 42, says. "We were told to prepare ourselves for the worst."
Caley recalls the moment she realised her father was truly back. When a nurse entered the room and said she needed to insert a medical device, Chevy quipped, "That's what she said."
After returning home in 2021, Chevy told Page Six only that he had suffered a "heart issue," without disclosing the coma or the severity of the episode. "I'm feeling good," he said at the time. "I was in the hospital for five weeks… now I'm around the house."