Suzanne Chase married Chevy Chase on February 23, 1973, in New York City, years before Saturday Night Live turned him into a household name. Born Susan Hewitt in 1949, she became his first wife during a quiet chapter of his life that most people know little about. Their marriage lasted roughly three years and ended in divorce on February 1, 1976, without children. Since then, Suzanne Chase has stayed almost entirely out of public view, giving no interviews and making no public statements about her marriage or her life afterward.
Who Is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase was born Susan Hewitt in 1949 in the United States. Details about her upbringing, family, and education were never made public, and no interviews, school records, or family accounts have surfaced over the decades to fill in those gaps. This absence of information is not unusual for a private American woman born in the late 1940s, particularly one who married before the era of social media and before a spouse’s family history became routine tabloid fodder. What sets Suzanne Chase apart is the fact that her brief marriage placed her, however reluctantly, in the orbit of someone who would go on to become one of American comedy’s most recognizable stars. That connection is the reason her name still appears in searches today, even though Suzanne Chase herself never sought or maintained a public profile of any kind.
It’s worth noting up front that much of what circulates online about Suzanne Chase traces back to a single source: comments Chevy Chase made about their marriage years after it ended, most notably in interviews and his own memoir. Suzanne Chase has never given an interview, written a book, or otherwise offered her own account of their relationship. Readers should treat any characterization of the marriage, its dynamics, or its end as one-sided unless otherwise noted, since Suzanne Chase’s own perspective has never been part of the public record.
Suzanne Chase’s Marriage to Chevy Chase
Suzanne Chase married Chevy Chase, born Cornelius Crane Chase, on February 23, 1973, in New York City. At the time, Chevy Chase was still years away from the fame that would come with Saturday Night Live’s debut in 1975. He was working as a writer and performer on the fringes of the New York comedy scene, and his marriage to Suzanne Chase took place during a period when his career was still very much in progress rather than an established success. This timing matters for understanding Suzanne Chase’s story: she was not marrying a celebrity, but rather a young comedian whose biggest professional breakthroughs were still ahead of him.
The marriage between Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase lasted approximately three years. The couple divorced on February 1, 1976, just months before Chevy Chase’s career would accelerate dramatically with his rise on Saturday Night Live later that year. Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase did not have any children during their marriage, a detail that is consistently confirmed across the limited public records available. After the divorce was finalized, Suzanne Chase largely disappeared from public view, while Chevy Chase’s life moved in the opposite direction, toward increasing visibility and fame.
The specific reasons behind the divorce between Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase have never been publicly confirmed by either party. Chevy Chase has offered his own general reflections on his early marriages in later interviews, but Suzanne Chase has not responded publicly to any characterization of their relationship or its ending. Because only one side of this story has ever been shared, and because that account came years after the fact, it should be read as personal recollection rather than settled history.
Life Before and Beyond the Spotlight
Very little is documented about Suzanne Chase’s life before she met and married Chevy Chase. Unlike many people who later become connected to public figures, Suzanne Chase left behind no clear trail of early career ambitions, hometown records, or personal essays describing her path to New York. Some sources suggest she may have had brief involvement in small entertainment or film projects under her birth name, Susan Hewitt, during the 1970s and into the early 1980s. However, this claim is not well corroborated by reliable film industry records, and readers should treat it as unverified rather than fact. Given how little else is confirmed about Suzanne Chase’s life, it is worth exercising real caution before accepting any specific claims about her professional activities that appear only on lesser-known websites without corroborating sources.
What can be said with more confidence is that after her divorce from Chevy Chase in 1976, Suzanne Chase made a lasting choice to stay out of public life entirely. She gave no interviews discussing the marriage, made no public statements responding to Chevy Chase’s later remarks about their relationship, and did not pursue any kind of media presence tied to her connection with a famous former spouse. This is a notably different path than the one taken by many people who find themselves briefly married to someone who later becomes famous; some such individuals eventually give interviews, write memoirs, or otherwise engage with the public interest in their story. Suzanne Chase chose the opposite approach, and that choice appears to have been consistent and deliberate rather than circumstantial.
There are no publicly confirmed details about where Suzanne Chase has lived since the 1970s, what career she may have pursued, or what her life looks like today. As of 2026, given her birth year of 1949, Suzanne Chase would be approximately 77 years old. Beyond that basic calculation, nothing about her current circumstances, health, family life, or whereabouts has been documented in any credible public source. Any claims suggesting detailed knowledge of Suzanne Chase’s present-day life should be treated with skepticism, since no verified reporting supports them.
Chevy Chase’s Later Marriages, for Context
Understanding Suzanne Chase’s place in Chevy Chase’s biography is easier with some context about the marriages that followed hers. After divorcing Suzanne Chase in 1976, Chevy Chase married actress Jacqueline Carlin later that same year. Carlin, who had a brief role on Saturday Night Live, was married to Chevy Chase until their divorce in 1980; she passed away from cancer in 2021. Chevy Chase’s third marriage, to Jayni Luke, began in 1982 and has lasted for more than four decades, making it by far his longest and most stable relationship. Chevy Chase and Jayni Luke have three daughters together: Cydney, Caley, and Emily.
This pattern is relevant to Suzanne Chase’s story because it places her marriage in its proper historical position: the first, briefest, and least publicly documented of Chevy Chase’s three marriages. While Jacqueline Carlin had her own entertainment industry profile and Jayni Luke has occasionally appeared alongside Chevy Chase at public events over the years, Suzanne Chase remains the one former spouse who never engaged with public life in any capacity after her marriage ended. That contrast is part of what makes her story stand out to people researching Chevy Chase’s personal history.
How Suzanne Chase’s Privacy Compares to Other Early Celebrity Spouses
Suzanne Chase’s decades-long absence from public life stands out even among people who have briefly married someone before they became famous. Many early spouses of entertainers eventually resurface in some capacity, whether through a memoir, a documentary interview, or simply an old photograph shared decades later by a family member or former acquaintance. Suzanne Chase has done none of this. In nearly fifty years since her divorce from Chevy Chase, she has not given a single interview, made a public statement, or allowed any confirmed photograph of her adult life to circulate.
This consistency sets Suzanne Chase apart from other early partners of well-known entertainers who married before their spouse’s fame arrived. Some of those individuals eventually leaned into their connection, appearing at events or discussing their marriage once enough time had passed for the relationship to feel more like history than headline news. Others simply faded gradually, leaving behind scattered mentions here and there. Suzanne Chase’s disappearance from public view has been closer to total, which is part of why her story reads less like a fading footnote and more like a deliberate, maintained choice.
It’s also worth considering the era in which Suzanne Chase made that choice. She divorced Chevy Chase in 1976, well before cable entertainment news, celebrity gossip magazines at their peak, and eventually the internet made it far harder for anyone connected to fame to remain unseen. Suzanne Chase had the advantage of navigating her privacy during a period when doing so was still realistically achievable. Someone in a similar position today, married briefly to a rising star before a divorce, would likely find it far more difficult to maintain the kind of total anonymity Suzanne Chase has sustained for nearly half a century.
Separating Fact From Speculation
Because so little verified information exists about Suzanne Chase, it is easy for speculation to fill the gaps left by an incomplete record. A responsible look at her story requires being clear about what is actually documented versus what has simply been repeated across various websites without an original, credible source. The marriage date of February 23, 1973, the divorce date of February 1, 1976, and the absence of children from the marriage are consistently corroborated details that appear across multiple accounts of Chevy Chase’s biography, including his own public statements. Suzanne Chase’s birth name, Susan Hewitt, and her birth year of 1949 are similarly well established.
By contrast, claims about specific career activities, current whereabouts, family background, or personal life details beyond the marriage itself are far less reliable and, in many cases, appear to originate from a single unverified source that has simply been repeated and rephrased across numerous similar websites. Readers interested in Suzanne Chase’s story should approach these secondary claims with appropriate skepticism, recognizing that a private individual’s post-divorce life, by definition, generates little to no public documentation unless that individual chooses to share it herself.
Suzanne Chase’s Legacy in Chevy Chase’s Story
Suzanne Chase occupies a small but distinct place in the larger narrative of Chevy Chase’s life and career. She represents the period before his fame, a chapter that gets relatively little attention compared to his Saturday Night Live years or his string of successful comedy films in the late 1970s and 1980s. For that reason, Suzanne Chase’s story offers a useful counterpoint to the version of Chevy Chase most people know: not the seasoned performer with decades of Hollywood history, but a young man still building his career, married to a woman who chose privacy over any association with the fame that would eventually surround her former husband.
Suzanne Chase’s decision to remain entirely out of public view for nearly half a century is, in its own way, a notable feature of her story. In an entertainment culture that frequently rewards proximity to fame with continued visibility, Suzanne Chase took the opposite path and appears to have maintained it consistently. Whatever the reasons behind that choice, they remain hers alone, since she has never publicly explained them.
Conclusion
Suzanne Chase’s place in public memory rests almost entirely on a three-year marriage that ended nearly fifty years ago. Born Susan Hewitt in 1949, she married Chevy Chase in February 1973, before his career reached the heights that would later define him, and divorced him in February 1976, just before that career took off. Beyond those confirmed facts, very little about Suzanne Chase’s life has ever been made public, a reality that reflects her own consistent choice to stay away from the spotlight rather than any accident of incomplete record-keeping. As interest in Chevy Chase’s early life continues, Suzanne Chase’s story will likely keep drawing attention, even though the woman at the center of it has spent decades demonstrating that she wants no part of that attention at all.
FAQs
Who is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase, born Susan Hewitt in 1949, is best known as the first wife of comedian Chevy Chase.
What was Suzanne Chase’s marriage to Chevy Chase like?
Suzanne Chase married Chevy Chase on February 23, 1973, in New York City, several years before he became famous through Saturday Night Live. Little is known about the marriage itself, since neither party has described it publicly in detail.
Why did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorce?
Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorced on February 1, 1976, after roughly three years of marriage. The exact reasons were never publicly confirmed by either party.
Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase have children?
Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase did not have any children together. Chevy Chase’s three daughters were born during his later marriage to Jayni Luke.
Where is Suzanne Chase now?
Suzanne Chase’s current whereabouts and activities are not publicly documented. She has maintained a private life since her divorce nearly fifty years ago, with no interviews or public appearances on record.
