Suzanne Chase, also identified in major sources by her earlier name Susan Hewitt, holds an unusual place in the personal history of comedian Chevy Chase. She became his first wife in 1973, more than two years before Saturday Night Live turned him into a national celebrity. Their marriage lasted just under three years and ended in February 1976, right as Chevy’s fame was exploding. Unlike his later wives, however, Suzanne almost completely disappeared from public view, leaving surprisingly little verified information about her career, family or life after divorce. People confirms that Suzanne Chase and Susan Hewitt are two names used for Chevy’s first wife.
Quick Bio of Suzanne Chase
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Best Known As | Suzanne Chase |
| Also Known As | Susan Hewitt |
| Nationality | American |
| Famous For | First wife of Chevy Chase |
| Former Husband | Chevy Chase |
| Marriage Date | February 23, 1973 |
| Marriage Place | New York City |
| Divorce Date | February 1, 1976 |
| Length of Marriage | Just under 3 years |
| Children With Chevy | None publicly documented |
| Verified Profession | Not clearly established |
| Public Interviews | None widely documented |
| Recent Appearance | Archive footage in I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not |
| Current Life | Extremely private |
| Exact Age | Not reliably confirmed |
The marriage dates are unusually well established: Chevy and Susan Hewitt married in New York City on February 23, 1973, and divorced on February 1, 1976. IMDb lists the same dates, while People identifies her as Suzanne Chase, also known as Susan Hewitt.
Who Is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase is best known as Chevy Chase’s first wife.
That description sounds simple.
Her story is not.
She was part of Chevy’s life before the period most people associate with him. When they married, there was no Clark Griswold, no Fletch, no Caddyshack, and Chevy had not yet become the famous face sitting behind the Weekend Update desk.
In other words, Suzanne knew him before Hollywood stardom changed everything.
That gives her an unusual place in his biography.
She belonged to the chapter before the fame.
And unlike many people linked to major celebrities, she never seems to have tried to turn that connection into a career of her own.
Is Her Real Name Suzanne Chase or Susan Hewitt?
This is one of the biggest sources of confusion.
Major current sources use both names.
People describes Chevy as having been previously married to Suzanne Chase, aka Susan Hewitt. IMDb lists his first spouse as Susan Hewitt. Recent coverage sometimes uses Suzanne Hewitt as another variation.
That means readers should not treat Susan Hewitt and Suzanne Chase as two separate women in Chevy’s marriage history.
They refer to the same first wife.
What is less clear is why the first name appears as both Susan and Suzanne.
There is no strong public record explaining whether Suzanne was a nickname, a preferred name or simply the form later entertainment publications adopted.
For accuracy, the safest wording is:
Suzanne Chase, also known as Susan Hewitt.
Suzanne’s Early Life Remains a Mystery
This is where the biography becomes difficult.
Reliable major sources do not provide a confirmed birth date for Suzanne.
They do not give a well-sourced birthplace.
Her parents are not publicly established.
Neither are her school years or education.
Some recent biography websites claim that she was born in 1949.
Another site gives an entirely different year.
That disagreement itself is a warning sign.
Without a reliable original record, it is better not to pretend one exact date is certain.
So unlike many celebrity biographies, there is no trustworthy answer to:
How old is Suzanne Chase in 2026?
Her exact age remains publicly unverified.
What Did Suzanne Chase Do for a Living?
Suzanne’s professional history is also unclear.
This is an area where online biographies can easily make a major mistake.
There is an actress listed in entertainment databases under the name Suzanne Chase, with credits from around 1990 and 1991.
But there is no strong evidence proving that performer is Chevy Chase’s first wife.
IMDb actually maintains a separate entry for Susan Hewitt, identified specifically through archive footage as Chevy’s first wife in the documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not. That entry does not list those acting roles.
That difference matters.
Two people can share a name.
A search result does not prove they are the same person.
For that reason, it would be misleading to confidently give Suzanne a filmography unless stronger evidence appears.
Her verified profession remains unclear.
Suzanne Knew Chevy Before Saturday Night Live
The timing of their marriage tells us something important.
Suzanne and Chevy married on February 23, 1973.
Saturday Night Live did not premiere until October 1975.
Chevy therefore became nationally famous during the final months of their marriage rather than before it.
That must have created an enormous change.
Imagine marrying someone while he is still building his entertainment career.
Then, two years later, millions of Americans suddenly recognize his face.
Television fame can change schedules.
Money.
Attention.
Friendships.
Travel.
And relationships.
But because Suzanne never publicly discussed those years in detail, we cannot responsibly claim exactly how Chevy’s growing fame affected her.
We only know that the marriage and his breakthrough happened almost at the same time.
Chevy Chase Before He Became a Household Name
Before SNL, Chevy had already spent years experimenting with music and comedy.
He was a musician.
He worked with comedy groups.
He wrote material.
And eventually he became part of the original Saturday Night Live team.
His deadpan delivery and Weekend Update role quickly made him one of the show’s first breakout stars.
The young man Suzanne married in 1973 therefore had ambition and entertainment experience.
But he did not yet have the massive public profile that later made his private life newsworthy.
This explains why there are so few reliable photographs and magazine stories about Suzanne from the beginning of their relationship.
Nobody knew yet that historians and fans would someday be searching for Chevy Chase’s first wife.
Suzanne and Chevy Chase’s Wedding
Suzanne and Chevy married in New York City on February 23, 1973.
Chevy was 29 years old at the time.
The marriage took place more than two and a half years before the first SNL broadcast.
Reliable modern biographical records consistently preserve the wedding date, even though detailed stories about the ceremony itself are scarce.
There are no widely circulated reports describing a giant Hollywood wedding.
That makes sense.
Chevy was not yet a movie star.
Their marriage belonged to an earlier and much less public period.
Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase Have Children?
There are no publicly documented children from Suzanne and Chevy’s marriage.
Chevy later became a father to three daughters—Cydney, Caley and Emily—with his third wife, Jayni Luke. IMDb’s family records list those three children while identifying Susan Hewitt as his first spouse.
People likewise identifies the three daughters as children from Chevy’s marriage to Jayni.
So Suzanne is not the mother of Chevy Chase’s well-known children.
The Marriage Overlapped With Chevy’s SNL Breakthrough
SNL changed Chevy’s life incredibly quickly.
The show premiered in October 1975.
Suzanne and Chevy’s divorce became final on February 1, 1976.
That means only a few months separated his sudden television breakthrough from the legal end of their marriage.
The timing naturally encourages speculation.
Did fame destroy the marriage?
Was the relationship already struggling?
Did Chevy’s career play a role?
We do not have Suzanne’s public account explaining it.
That means no responsible biography should create a dramatic answer simply because the dates look interesting.
Why Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase Divorce?
The confirmed fact is simple:
They divorced on February 1, 1976.
The exact private reasons are much harder to establish.
Later accounts based on Chevy’s recollections say he claimed the relationship ended after Suzanne became involved with someone else and left him. TV Insider describes this as something Chase said in material connected with his biography.
But that is important wording:
Chevy claimed it.
It is his account.
Suzanne has not provided a widely documented public response explaining her side.
So it should not be presented as an independently proven fact.
A marriage involves two people.
Here, history mostly preserved one person’s voice.
Suzanne Never Publicly Told Her Side
This may be the most important thing to remember when reading about their divorce.
Chevy became famous.
Reporters interviewed him.
Books were written about him.
Documentaries were made about him.
Suzanne did not develop the same public platform.
There are no widely known major interviews in which she gives a detailed account of the marriage or separation.
That creates an imbalance.
We know what people wrote about Chevy.
We know some things Chevy later remembered.
But we know very little about Suzanne’s feelings.
Good biography writing should acknowledge that gap instead of filling it with gossip.
Chevy Married Again Later That Same Year
Suzanne and Chevy officially divorced in February 1976.
Only months later, Chevy married actress Jacqueline Carlin on December 4, 1976. Their second marriage lasted until November 1980.
Chevy later married Jayni Luke in June 1982.
That third marriage became his longest by far and remains intact today. People describes Jayni as his current wife and notes that the couple have been married since 1982.
Suzanne, meanwhile, followed a completely different path.
She disappeared from celebrity coverage.
What Happened to Suzanne Chase After the Divorce?
This question has frustrated readers for decades.
There is no well-documented answer.
After the 1976 divorce, Suzanne did not remain a regular figure in entertainment newspapers.
No major later marriage is consistently verified.
No clearly documented public career is attached to her.
No verified social-media profile allows readers to follow her current life.
Her modern residence has not been established by a strong public source.
That means the most accurate answer is not dramatic:
Suzanne Chase maintained an exceptionally private life after her divorce from Chevy Chase.
Anything more specific risks turning guesswork into fact.
Did Suzanne Chase Remarry?
There is no widely verified public evidence confirming a later marriage for Suzanne.
That does not mean she definitely never remarried.
It simply means dependable public sources do not document one clearly enough for us to state it as fact.
The same rule applies to later romantic relationships.
Suzanne became a private person.
Private people do not necessarily have their marriages, relationships and family changes documented in entertainment publications.
Did Suzanne Have Children Later?
Again, no reliable public record gives a clear answer.
We know she and Chevy did not have publicly documented children together.
But her personal life after 1976 is so poorly documented that it would be unsafe to claim she never became a mother at another point.
Many websites say she has no children at all.
That claim goes further than the strongest evidence allows.
The accurate statement is:
No children from her marriage to Chevy Chase are documented, while her later private family life remains unknown.
Where Is Suzanne Chase Today in 2026?
There is no reliable recent report establishing exactly where Suzanne lives today.
Her current occupation is also unknown.
Even whether she uses the surname Chase, Hewitt or another name today is not publicly clear.
What we can verify is that her name returned to public attention through Chevy’s recent documentary.
IMDb’s credits for I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not identify Susan Hewitt as “Self – First Wife” through archive footage.
The CNN documentary aired on January 1, 2026, and examined Chevy’s life, career and complicated personal history.
So Suzanne became part of the story again.
But through old footage.
Not through a new interview.
That distinction perfectly matches the way she has lived for decades.
The 2026 Documentary Renewed Interest in Suzanne
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not introduced younger audiences to more than Chevy’s movie career.
It looked at his childhood.
His personality.
His relationships.
His Hollywood reputation.
And his family life.
CNN’s director Marina Zenovich acknowledged that Chase’s first two marriages did not go well, while the documentary places greater focus on the stability he ultimately found with Jayni and their family.
Susan Hewitt appears only through archival material according to IMDb.
Still, that was enough to make viewers search her name again.
Who was Chevy’s first wife?
Why had almost nobody heard about her?
And what happened after they divorced?
More than 50 years after the wedding, those questions remain surprisingly difficult to answer.
Suzanne Chase Is Often Confused With Jayni Chase
One major online problem is photographs.
Search for “Suzanne Chase” and you may see photos of Chevy with Jayni Chase, his current wife.
Some websites incorrectly label those images as Suzanne.
People’s photographs clearly show Jayni as the woman who has accompanied Chevy publicly during his later decades.
This is why readers should be careful.
Suzanne’s verified photographic record is much smaller.
An image of an older Chevy standing beside a blonde woman at a modern red carpet is almost certainly not Suzanne.
It is usually Jayni.
Suzanne Chase Is Also Different From Jacqueline Carlin
Another common mix-up involves Chevy’s second wife.
The timeline is:
Susan Hewitt / Suzanne Chase: 1973–1976
Jacqueline Carlin: 1976–1980
Jayni Luke Chase: 1982–present.
Jacqueline had an acting and modeling career of her own.
Jayni became known for environmental activism.
Suzanne is different because her independent public biography is far less documented.
That is why it is important not to borrow details from Chevy’s other wives when writing about her.
What Is Suzanne Chase’s Net Worth?
There is no trustworthy public estimate of Suzanne Chase’s personal net worth.
Her career is not clearly documented.
Her current assets are private.
There is no public financial disclosure establishing her wealth.
Many biography websites invent or estimate celebrity-spouse fortunes simply because readers search for the question.
An exact number for Suzanne would be speculation.
The most accurate answer is:
Her net worth is not publicly verified.
How Old Is Suzanne Chase?
There is no dependable public birth date for Suzanne Chase.
Some recent websites give 1949.
Another site has published 1943.
Those conflicting figures make it especially important not to pretend certainty.
A trustworthy biography should therefore leave her exact age open.
Until a reliable primary or major biographical source establishes her birth date, Suzanne’s exact age in 2026 remains unknown.
Interesting Facts About Suzanne Chase
Suzanne Chase is also known as Susan Hewitt. She was Chevy Chase’s first wife and married him in New York City on February 23, 1973. Their relationship belonged to the period before Chevy became famous on Saturday Night Live. The couple divorced on February 1, 1976, shortly after SNL made him nationally recognizable. They had no publicly documented children together. Suzanne did not build a lasting public celebrity career and has rarely been heard from since the divorce. In the recent documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, Susan Hewitt is credited through archival footage as Chevy’s first wife.
Why People Still Search for Suzanne Chase
Chevy Chase has now been famous for more than half a century.
Each generation discovers him differently.
Some know Saturday Night Live.
Some know Caddyshack.
Others know Fletch.
Millions know Clark Griswold from the Vacation movies.
Younger viewers may know him from Community.
Eventually, fans search his personal life.
They discover Jayni.
Then Jacqueline.
Then an unfamiliar name appears:
Suzanne Chase.
And suddenly the mystery becomes interesting.
She was there before everything.
Before SNL.
Before Hollywood movie stardom.
Before Chevy became one of America’s most recognizable comedy stars.
Yet she became the wife we know the least about.
Why Suzanne’s Privacy Is the Most Important Part of Her Story
It is tempting to look at the gaps in Suzanne’s biography as a problem to solve.
Maybe they are not.
Perhaps the gaps are the story.
Suzanne was married to someone who became internationally famous.
Their marriage ended.
He stayed in entertainment.
She did not stay publicly connected with him.
She did not spend decades selling stories about their relationship.
She did not build an obvious celebrity identity from the surname Chase.
And she did not appear for a new interview in the recent documentary.
That level of privacy is increasingly unusual.
It also deserves respect.
Final Thoughts
Suzanne Chase, also known as Susan Hewitt, represents one of the quietest chapters in Chevy Chase’s much-discussed personal history.
They married on February 23, 1973, when Chevy was still years away from becoming a national television star.
Then Saturday Night Live happened.
His career suddenly changed.
Only months after SNL premiered, their marriage was over.
The divorce became final on February 1, 1976.
Chevy went on to marry Jacqueline Carlin later that year and eventually found a lasting marriage with Jayni Luke.
Suzanne took another route.
She disappeared from the spotlight.
Even today, basic questions about her birthday, career, later relationships and current residence cannot be answered confidently.
The 2026 documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not brought her name back through archival footage, but she still did not step forward to retell the old story.
That may be the clearest answer to the question of who Suzanne Chase became.
She became private.
More than 50 years after marrying a future comedy icon, she remains known for one short period of her life while keeping almost everything that followed for herself.
FAQs About Suzanne Chase
Who is Suzanne Chase?
Suzanne Chase, also known as Susan Hewitt, is best known as the first wife of comedian and actor Chevy Chase. People confirms that both names refer to his first wife.
Is Suzanne Chase the same person as Susan Hewitt?
Yes. People identifies Chevy’s former wife as Suzanne Chase, aka Susan Hewitt.
When did Suzanne Chase marry Chevy Chase?
They married in New York City on February 23, 1973.
When did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorce?
Their divorce became final on February 1, 1976.
How long were Suzanne and Chevy Chase married?
They were married for just under three years.
Was Suzanne Chase married to Chevy before Saturday Night Live?
Yes. They married in 1973, while Saturday Night Live did not premiere until 1975. Their divorce followed in early 1976.
Did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase have children?
There are no publicly documented children from their marriage. Chevy’s three daughters were born during his later marriage to Jayni Luke.
Why did Suzanne Chase and Chevy Chase divorce?
The exact reason has never been independently established from both sides. Chevy later gave his own account of how the relationship ended, but Suzanne has not publicly provided a widely documented version.
Was Suzanne Chase an actress?
There is no strong evidence establishing a significant acting career for Chevy Chase’s first wife. Acting credits belonging to another person named Suzanne Chase should not automatically be attributed to Susan Hewitt.
How old is Suzanne Chase?
Her exact birth date and current age have not been reliably confirmed.
What is Suzanne Chase’s net worth?
Her personal net worth is not publicly verified.
Did Suzanne Chase remarry?
No later marriage has been reliably established in major public sources.
Where is Suzanne Chase now in 2026?
Her current location, occupation and personal circumstances are not reliably documented. She has remained extremely private.
Is Suzanne Chase in the Chevy Chase documentary?
Yes, IMDb credits Susan Hewitt as “Self – First Wife” through archive footage in I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.
Is Suzanne Chase Chevy Chase’s current wife?
No. Chevy’s current wife is Jayni Chase, whom he married in 1982.
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