Hey, Summer Campers!
Millions of kids have been attending summer camps for a very long time. Nowadays, it seems like everywhere you turn, there’s SOMEbody who went to camp when they were a kid—even celebrities—wait no, ESPECIALLY celebrities! Did you know that Hollywood legend Chevy Chase was a summer camper just like yourself when he was closer to your age?
Yep! Clark Griswold himself (Chevy’s serial character from the National Lampoon movies) was once a summer camper at Camp Tamakwa. There, in the beautiful environment of Algonquin Park in Canada, Chevy had a blast doing fun activities, making friends, and getting know himself.
Speaking of learning more about Chevy, first things first, his real name isn’t Chevy. It’s Cornelius. Cornelius Crane Chase. Nicknamed by his grandmother, the name Chevy comes from a folk song from the 14th Century called ‘The Ballad of Chevy Chase’.
Despite how well-off Chevy’s family was, Chevy still understood a solid work ethic as he put in the effort to support himself while pursuing a career in writing. He gained a lot of experience to put on his resumé by waiting tables, selling wine, managing a supermarket department, driving a cab and a truck, and working in construction.
He caught his first big break around 1975 when he landed a writing gig on NBC’s hit show, ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Originally hired on as a writer, it was during the show’s auditions that Chevy’s talents as a performer were just as valuable as his writing skills. SNL’s premiere sketch featured Chevy Chase who was then the first person to shout out, “Live from New York! It’s Saturday Night!”
Whether on an old SNL sketch, through the invention of Clark Griswold, or his latest character, Pierce Hawthorne, from the show ‘Community,’ over the years, Chevy has made us all laugh (sometimes until we cry). Summer camp did Chevy good. What will it do for you? As always, thanks for reading.
- John
Chevy Chase was a counselor at Tamakwa in 1972. I was there that year. My first year.