Chevy Chase was the first "Saturday Night Live" alumnus to crossover from the show's edgy comedy-skit format to mainstream success. After a year and a half as a writer and actor on SNL (1975-6), Chase left for Hollywood, where he created memorably offbeat characters in Foul Play (1978) and Caddy Shack (1980). Chase's comedic trademarks -- the ice-cold deadpan delivery and smart-alecky wit -- would make his hit movies mandatory viewing for both fans of comedy and aspiring comics.

Before signing on to "SNL," Chase changed his first name to "Chevy", which had been a childhood nickname given him by his grandmother. As host of the "SNL" Weekend Update news show, Chase became famous for his tagline: "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not."

In 1983, National Lampoon's Vacation introduced the world to the road-tripping Griswold family and its bumbling patriarch, Clark W., which would become one of Chase's trademark roles. And then in 1985, Chase starred in Fletch, about the adventures of wise-cracking, fast-talking and impossibly nervy investigative reporter Irwin M. Fletcher. The script was perfectly suited to Chase's delivery and naturally confident, smarter-than-thou persona. Vacation would spawn numerous sequels and Fletch one. Around this period, Chase also co-starred in Spies Like Us (1985) with Dan Akroyd, Three Amigos (1986) with Steve Martin and Martin Short, and the fish-out-of-water comedy Funny Farm (1988).

1992's Memoirs of an Invisible Man saw Chase venture outside of comedy for a turn at this supernatural drama helmed by John Carpenter. For the rest of the 1990s, Chase worked mostly in family-oriented films, famously turning down the lead role in American Beauty (1999). He appeared in the kid-friendly Cops and Robbersons (1994) and Man of the House (1995). He also had supporting roles in Snow Day (2000) and Orange County (2002).