Veteran comedian Chevy Chase is opening up about a terrifying health crisis that nearly cost him his life — and the lasting toll it’s taken on his memory.
The 82-year-old actor reveals in the new authorized CNN documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, premiering January 1, that he was placed in a medically induced coma during a life-threatening hospitalization for heart failure. Chase says the ordeal left him with significant memory loss, to the point that he no longer recalls several infamous disputes and headline-making moments from his decades-long career — including incidents connected to Community and Saturday Night Live.
In the film, Chase’s daughter Caley Chase explains that the memory gaps stem, at least in part, from the medical emergency he suffered in 2021.
“Well, I mean, he’s 80-something and has basically come back from the dead,” Caley, 40, says emotionally. “Oh my God, he had heart failure. It’s so hard to talk about.”
Chase was hospitalized for five weeks after initially downplaying the situation as a simple “heart issue.” His wife of more than four decades, Jayni Chase, later reveals in the documentary that doctors diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy — a serious condition that weakens the heart muscle and limits its ability to pump blood.
“Something was wrong, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So we went to the ER. His heart stopped,” Jayni recalls. She also notes that years of heavy drinking contributed to the condition.
Longtime friend Peter Aaron adds that doctors ultimately placed Chase into a medically induced coma for about eight days. He believes that decision is directly tied to the cognitive struggles Chase continues to face.
Chevy himself confirms doctors warned him the damage could be permanent. “According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it, and that’s what’s happened here,” he says. After waking up, Chase says he tried to rebuild his cognition by playing card games and chess, referring to his condition as a “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 Chase’s daughters, Caley and Cydney, also reflect on how dire the situation became during the height of the COVID pandemic. “We were all there,” Cydney, 42, says. “We were told to prepare ourselves for the worst.”
Caley remembers the exact moment she knew her father was truly back. When a nurse entered the room and said she needed to insert a medical device, Chevy cracked a joke: “That’s what she said.”
After returning home later in 2021, Chase publicly described the ordeal only as a “heart issue,” avoiding mention of the coma or how close he came to dying. “I’m feeling good,” he told Page Six at the time. “I was in the hospital for five weeks… now I’m around the house.”
The documentary offers the most candid look yet at just how serious that chapter was — and how it quietly reshaped the life and legacy of one of comedy’s most recognizable stars.