Happy birthday to legendary original Saturday Night Live cast member Chevy Chase! The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation actor turned 82 on Oct. 8 and revealed his intimate celebration of the milestone with his family in a funny Instagram post shared on Oct. 9.
“Smiling here as I sit next to my mother-in-law while my daughter [Cydney Chase] brings out my birthday cake and [longtime wife Jayni Chase] films,” he captioned the video, which shows a laughing and smiling Chevy blowing out his candles after making a wish using his signature humor: “I wish I could blow these out.” In the background, Jayni could be heard singing, “and many mooore!”
“I want to thank everybody for all the wonderful birthday wishes!” he said, snarkily adding: “Eat me. [wink emoji, cake emoji] 82 years young.”
Related: ‘Saturday Night Live’ Finalizes Season 51 Cast: Find Out Who’s Returning and Who’s Out
Fans sent lots of love to the legendary comedian in the comments for his special milestone. “Chevy, know it or not, you are the funny bone of my generation. You make the world a better place. Happy birthday to a legend,” said one commenter, with another adding, “82? Are you serious, Clark?” A third added, “Happy Birthday Chevy!! You’ve brought so much laughter to so many, have a great day!!”
Chevy Chase/Instagram
Chevy is set to celebrate another milestone this weekend: the 50th anniversary of the premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The show first debuted on Oct. 11, 1975, and Chevy was in the very first cast of the long-running, late-night sketch comedy show.
He has had a tumultuous history with the series, once admitting to Esquire he came “to fisticuffs” with former costar Bill Murray and calling the newest iteration of the show “the worst f–king humor in the world,” in an interview with Washington Post, in 2018, adding, “It just drives me nuts.”
However, he surprisingly appeared at the show’s official 50th anniversary special in February 2025, telling Variety “it’s been great, it’s been a lot of fun. Great to see everybody, and I’m happy about it.” When asked how different the show was today compared to his original season 50 years ago, he said, “Not much, it just doesn’t have me, which is a big change.”