Suzanne Chase, also identified in established records as Susan Hewitt or Suzanne Hewitt, is best known as the first wife of comedian and actor Chevy Chase. Their marriage began in New York City on February 23, 1973, before Chase became nationally famous on Saturday Night Live, and ended in divorce on February 1, 1976. Unlike Chevy’s later wives, Suzanne never developed a public entertainment career or regularly discussed their relationship. Even decades later, verified details about her age, family, profession and life after divorce remain remarkably scarce.
Suzanne Chase Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Best Known As | Chevy Chase’s first wife |
| Name in Records | Susan Hewitt / Suzanne Hewitt |
| Married Name | Suzanne Chase |
| Nationality | American, commonly reported |
| Exact Birth Date | Not reliably verified |
| Birth Year | Often reported online, but not firmly confirmed |
| Former Husband | Chevy Chase |
| Marriage Date | February 23, 1973 |
| Marriage Location | New York City |
| Divorce Date | February 1, 1976 |
| Length of Marriage | Just under three years |
| Children With Chevy Chase | None publicly documented |
| Public Career | Not reliably established |
| Current Relationship | Private |
| Current Residence | Not reliably public |
| Current Status | No verified public death announcement located |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
Who Is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase belongs to a very early chapter of Chevy Chase’s life.
Today, Chevy is associated with Saturday Night Live, Caddyshack, Fletch, National Lampoon’s Vacation and Community.
When Suzanne knew him, that enormous fame had not yet arrived.
Their relationship developed during a period when Chase was experimenting with music, comedy and writing rather than enjoying the financial security of an established Hollywood career.
By the time their marriage ended in early 1976, everything was changing.
Chevy had joined one of the most important new comedy programs in American television.
Suzanne, meanwhile, moved in exactly the opposite direction.
She became more private.
Is Her Name Suzanne Chase or Susan Hewitt?
This is one of the biggest sources of confusion.
IMDb lists Chevy Chase’s first wife as Susan Hewitt and records their marriage from February 23, 1973 to February 1, 1976.
Recent Us Weekly reporting refers to her as Suzanne Hewitt while discussing Chevy’s three marriages.
Other publications use:
Susan Hewitt.
Suzanne Hewitt.
Suzanne Chase.
These names are generally being used for the same woman.
The surname Chase is easily explained as the surname she used during her marriage.
What is less clear is why reputable references alternate between Susan and Suzanne.
There is no strong public record explaining whether Suzanne was a nickname, preferred name or simply a later variation repeated by entertainment publications.
Because of that uncertainty, an accurate biography should mention both rather than pretending one version has been conclusively proven wrong.
When Was Suzanne Chase Born?
This is where many online articles become unreliable.
Different websites give different birth years and even exact birthdays.
However, major entertainment references documenting Chevy’s marriages generally do not provide a confirmed date of birth for Susan/Suzanne Hewitt. IMDb’s Susan Hewitt entry, for example, provides no birthday.
Some newer biography sites claim she was born in 1949.
Another claims March 30, 1943.
Those dates cannot both be correct.
Without a dependable primary record clearly identifying Chevy Chase’s former wife, it would be irresponsible to choose one simply because it appears frequently in search results.
So the best answer is:
Suzanne Chase’s exact birthday and present age have not been reliably verified.
Suzanne Chase’s Early Life
Very little trustworthy information exists about Suzanne’s childhood.
Her parents are not reliably identified.
Neither are her siblings.
There is no strong public record establishing where she attended school or college.
There is also no dependable long-form interview in which Suzanne explains her early ambitions.
This lack of information may feel unusual today, when even relatively minor public figures maintain social-media histories.
But Suzanne came into public awareness during the 1970s.
She then left that attention behind before the internet existed.
For decades, there was little reason for journalists to document her personal background.
How Did Suzanne Meet Chevy Chase?
One widely repeated account comes from biographies of Chevy.
Later relationship profiles drawing from Rena Fruchter’s book I’m Chevy Chase… and You’re Not say Chase met Susan Hewitt when she attended a concert involving his band Chameleon Church.
Before comedy made him famous, Chase had serious musical interests.
He played drums and keyboards and was involved in several music projects.
Chameleon Church released psychedelic-pop material during the late 1960s.
The account therefore places Suzanne in Chase’s life years before Saturday Night Live made him a household name.
The precise details of their courtship are much less securely documented.
Suzanne herself has never publicly provided her version of their first meeting.
Chevy Chase Before Saturday Night Live
It can be difficult to imagine Chevy Chase as an unknown performer.
But when Suzanne entered his life, he was still searching for the career that would eventually make him famous.
He performed music.
He worked in comedy.
He wrote material.
He moved through New York’s creative scene.
Eventually, he became involved with the National Lampoon comedy world.
Then NBC created a new late-night program that would change everything.
In 1975, Chase became part of the original cast of what became Saturday Night Live.
That breakthrough occurred while he was still legally married to Suzanne.
When Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase Marry?
Suzanne and Chevy married on February 23, 1973, in New York City.
Multiple biographical records agree on both the date and location.
Chevy was 29 years old.
The couple’s marriage therefore began more than two years before Saturday Night Live premiered.
That timing matters.
Suzanne was not someone who met Chevy after he became a wealthy movie star.
She knew him before his biggest breakthrough.
What Was Their Marriage Like?
Very little can responsibly be said about the private details of the marriage.
There are no lengthy interviews from Suzanne.
There are few contemporary photographs publicly indexed under her name.
There is no memoir from her explaining their household.
And there is no reason to fill those empty spaces with guesses.
What we can say is that their marriage overlapped with a period of enormous professional change for Chevy.
Between 1973 and 1975, he moved rapidly toward television comedy.
By October 1975, he was appearing every week before a national audience.
A relationship that began before fame was suddenly happening while one spouse became famous almost overnight.
Chevy Chase Became Saturday Night Live’s First Breakout Star
SNL premiered on October 11, 1975.
Chevy was one of its original performers and became the first anchor of Weekend Update.
His physical comedy also became famous.
He would fall dramatically while opening shows.
He impersonated President Gerald Ford.
And his confident on-camera persona made him one of the program’s earliest breakout stars.
His familiar introduction became:
“I’m Chevy Chase … and you’re not.”
Suzanne was still legally his wife when this dramatic rise began.
But only a few months later, their marriage was over.
When Did Suzanne and Chevy Divorce?
Their divorce was finalized on February 1, 1976.
That means the marriage lasted just under three years.
It also means the divorce came during Saturday Night Live’s first season.
Chevy’s fame had only recently exploded.
Within months, his entire personal and professional world would change again.
Why Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase Divorce?
This question needs careful handling.
Chevy later gave his own account of why the relationship ended in a biography, and recent Us Weekly coverage summarized his perspective. Suzanne, however, has never publicly presented her own version of the breakup.
Because only one former spouse appears to have discussed the matter publicly, it would be unfair to treat that account as a fully established description of what happened inside their marriage.
Relationships are rarely explained completely by one sentence.
The strongest facts are therefore simpler:
They married in 1973.
Their marriage deteriorated.
They divorced in February 1976.
Suzanne did not publicly discuss the breakup.
Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase Have Children?
There are no publicly documented children from the marriage.
Chevy’s major biographical records list his three daughters—Cydney, Caley and Emily—as children from his later marriage to Jayni Luke.
No child is listed from the Suzanne Hewitt marriage.
This is worth clarifying because family information online is sometimes mixed together.
Cydney Chase is not Suzanne’s daughter.
Caley Chase is not Suzanne’s daughter.
Emily Chase is not Suzanne’s daughter.
Their mother is Jayni Chase.
What Happened After the Divorce?
Chevy’s next chapter was extremely public.
Suzanne’s was not.
Later in 1976, Chevy married actress Jacqueline Carlin, making her his second wife. Their marriage ended in 1980.
He married Jayni Luke in 1982.
That third marriage became his lasting one and produced his three daughters.
Suzanne did not follow a similar celebrity path.
She appears to have stepped almost completely away from entertainment coverage after her divorce.
Did Suzanne Chase Become an Actress?
There is no strong evidence establishing a significant acting career for Chevy Chase’s first wife.
This is another area where search results can become confusing.
There have been numerous actresses and professionals named Susan Hewitt.
A name match alone does not prove they are the same woman.
IMDb’s entry for Chevy’s first wife contains essentially one modern screen-related credit: archive footage in the Chevy Chase documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.
That is not evidence of an acting career.
Therefore, it is safest to describe Suzanne as a private individual rather than an actress, unless stronger documentation emerges.
Suzanne Appears Through Archive Footage in Chevy’s Documentary
There is one interesting modern development.
The documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not includes Susan Hewitt in its credits as “Self – First Wife,” using archival footage.
That does not mean Suzanne returned to give a new interview.
The credit specifically identifies the material as archival.
Still, the documentary brought renewed attention to her name.
People learning about Chevy’s early years naturally began searching for the woman who was married to him before and during the beginning of his SNL breakthrough.
Suzanne Has Never Built Fame Around Her Marriage
This may be the most striking part of her story.
Think about the opportunities she could have had.
Chevy became famous.
Then controversial.
Then famous again through movies.
His career produced decades of interviews, books, documentaries and stories.
A former spouse could easily have built a public identity around that connection.
Suzanne apparently did not.
There was no major memoir.
No long television interview.
No reality show.
No regular red-carpet appearances.
No known social-media celebrity career.
She simply moved away from the story.
Is Suzanne Chase Still Alive?
No reliable source located for this article confirms the death of Chevy Chase’s first wife.
There are obituaries online for several women named Susan Hewitt and Suzanne Chase, but those are common enough names that they cannot responsibly be connected to her without matching biographical evidence.
That means websites should not take an unrelated obituary and announce that Chevy Chase’s former wife has died.
The most accurate wording in 2026 is:
There is no verified public death announcement clearly identified as belonging to Chevy Chase’s first wife, but her current personal circumstances remain private.
Where Is Suzanne Chase Now?
Her current residence is not reliably public.
Some biography websites claim particular states or cities.
Those claims usually lack strong sourcing.
Because Suzanne has not maintained a public career, there is little legitimate reason for entertainment publications to track her private address.
So the answer is simply:
Suzanne Chase’s present location is not publicly confirmed.
Her privacy should not be mistaken for disappearance, tragedy or mystery requiring speculation.
Sometimes a private person simply chooses not to be famous.
Did Suzanne Chase Remarry?
No dependable mainstream source clearly documents a later husband.
Again, this does not mean she definitely never remarried.
It only means her later relationships were not publicly documented in a way that can confidently be tied to Chevy Chase’s former wife.
Searching public databases by the name Susan Hewitt produces countless unrelated people.
Without another identifying detail, assigning any of those marriages to Suzanne would be guesswork.
Her later relationship status should therefore remain private/unknown.
Suzanne Chase’s Net Worth
Suzanne’s personal net worth has never been reliably published.
There is no trustworthy information showing her:
Career earnings.
Property.
Investments.
Business ownership.
Divorce settlement.
Inheritance.
Retirement assets.
Current income.
Chevy Chase’s later Hollywood wealth should obviously not be used as Suzanne’s net worth.
They divorced in 1976, before many of his biggest movies were even made.
Any exact dollar figure attached to Suzanne Chase online should therefore be treated cautiously.
Was Suzanne Chase Chevy Chase’s First Love?
Not exactly.
Chevy had relationships before marrying Suzanne.
Recent reporting has revisited his earlier romance with actress Blythe Danner, whom he knew during his college years.
So Suzanne should not automatically be called his first girlfriend or first love.
She does, however, hold one clear place in his personal history:
She was his first wife.
How Suzanne Fits Into Chevy Chase’s Three Marriages
Chevy has married three times.
His first marriage was to Suzanne/Susan Hewitt from 1973 to 1976.
His second was to Jacqueline Carlin from 1976 to 1980.
His third marriage, to Jayni Luke, began in 1982 and continues in 2026.
The three relationships happened during very different phases of his life.
Suzanne knew him before and during his first explosion of fame.
Jacqueline was associated with the transition from SNL into Hollywood movies.
Jayni became his partner through decades of established celebrity and family life.
That timeline makes Suzanne particularly interesting to fans studying Chevy’s beginnings.
Why Is Suzanne Chase Still Searched in 2026?
A major reason is renewed interest in Chevy’s personal history.
SNL celebrated its 50th anniversary era.
New documentaries looked back at Chevy’s career.
Recent entertainment articles revisited his marriages and relationships.
And the 2026 documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not included Susan Hewitt in archival material as his first wife.
Naturally, viewers asked:
Who was she?
How long were they married?
Did they have children?
Where is she now?
The surprising answer is that even after decades of celebrity journalism, much of Suzanne’s life remains private.
Suzanne Chase’s Story Is Really About Privacy
Many articles use words such as “mysterious” when discussing Suzanne.
That can be misleading.
There is no evidence that she deliberately created a mystery.
She simply does not appear to have chosen a public career.
Being married to someone who later became famous does not automatically make every detail of a person’s life public.
Suzanne’s limited record actually makes an important point about celebrity culture.
Chevy Chase chose a profession based on being seen.
Suzanne did not.
After their marriage ended, their paths separated not only romantically but publicly.
One remained famous.
The other largely disappeared from the entertainment press.
Final Thoughts
Suzanne Chase remains one of the least-documented people connected with Chevy Chase’s long public career.
Reliable records identify her as Susan Hewitt, while newer entertainment coverage frequently calls her Suzanne Hewitt or Suzanne Chase.
What we know with confidence is straightforward.
She was Chevy Chase’s first wife.
They married in New York City on February 23, 1973.
At that point, Chevy had not yet become a national television star.
Their marriage continued while his career moved toward the opportunity that transformed everything.
In October 1975, Saturday Night Live premiered, and Chase quickly became one of its most recognizable performers through Weekend Update and his physical comedy.
Then, on February 1, 1976, Suzanne and Chevy divorced.
They had no publicly documented children together.
Chevy went on to two more marriages and decades of movies and television.
Suzanne chose a much quieter route.
Even the modern documentary about Chevy includes her only through archival footage rather than a new public interview.
Her exact birthday remains uncertain.
Her career is not reliably established.
Her current relationship status and residence are private.
Her net worth is unknown.
And no trustworthy source provides a detailed update on her life in 2026.
Those missing facts should not be filled with invented answers.
Suzanne Chase’s story is interesting precisely because she was present before Chevy Chase became one of American comedy’s most recognizable faces—and then, when their marriage ended, she largely chose to leave celebrity behind.
FAQs About Suzanne Chase
Who is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase is best known as the first wife of actor and comedian Chevy Chase. Reliable records also identify her as Susan Hewitt or Suzanne Hewitt.
Is Suzanne Chase the same person as Susan Hewitt?
Yes. Entertainment and biographical sources use Susan Hewitt, Suzanne Hewitt and Suzanne Chase for Chevy Chase’s first wife.
When did Suzanne Chase marry Chevy Chase?
They married on February 23, 1973.
Where did Suzanne and Chevy marry?
They married in New York City.
When did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorce?
Their divorce was finalized on February 1, 1976.
How long were Suzanne and Chevy Chase married?
They were married for just under three years.
Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase have children?
No publicly documented children came from their marriage. Chevy’s three daughters were born during his later marriage to Jayni Luke.
What is Suzanne Chase’s date of birth?
Her exact birth date is not reliably established. Different biography websites give conflicting dates, while stronger entertainment records do not provide one.
How old is Suzanne Chase in 2026?
Her age cannot be given confidently because her verified birth date is unavailable.
How did Suzanne Chase meet Chevy Chase?
Biographical accounts say they met around the period when Chevy was performing music with Chameleon Church, before his comedy fame.
Was Suzanne Chase married to Chevy during Saturday Night Live?
Yes. They were still legally married when Saturday Night Live premiered in October 1975, but divorced in February 1976.
Why did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorce?
Chevy later gave his own account of the breakup, but Suzanne has not publicly shared her side. Because only one perspective is available, the complete reason should be considered private rather than treated as conclusively established.
Was Suzanne Chase an actress?
No reliable source establishes a substantial professional acting career for Chevy Chase’s first wife.
Is Suzanne Chase in the Chevy Chase documentary?
Susan Hewitt is credited as “Self – First Wife” through archive footage in I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.
Did Suzanne Chase remarry?
No later marriage has been reliably documented in major sources.
Is Suzanne Chase still alive?
No verified public death announcement clearly connected with Chevy Chase’s first wife was located. Her current circumstances remain private.
Where does Suzanne Chase live today?
Her current residence is not reliably public.
What is Suzanne Chase doing in 2026?
No dependable recent source documents her present profession or daily life. She has maintained a very private profile for decades.
What is Suzanne Chase’s net worth?
Her individual net worth has never been reliably verified.
Who was Chevy Chase’s second wife?
After Suzanne, Chevy married actress Jacqueline Carlin in December 1976. Their marriage ended in 1980.
Who is Chevy Chase married to now?
Chevy is married to Jayni Luke Chase, whom he married in June 1982. They have three daughters.
Why is Suzanne Chase famous?
She is primarily known because she was Chevy Chase’s first wife during the years immediately before and at the beginning of his rise to national fame.
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