Chevy Chase Survives 2021 Heart Failure in Documentary

Comedian Chevy Chase narrowly survived a life-threatening heart failure episode in 2021, when his condition deteriorated to the point that doctors induced a coma and warned his family to prepare for the worst, according to accounts from his loved ones in a new documentary.

The 82-year-old actor, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and films like National Lampoon's Vacation, spent five weeks hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. His wife, Jayni Chase, described rushing him to the emergency room after he struggled to explain his symptoms. "Something was wrong, and he couldn't explain to me what was wrong. So, we go to the ER. His heart stops," she said in the documentary "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not," set to premiere on CNN on January 1.

Medical experts attributed the heart failure to cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle that impairs blood pumping. Jayni Chase linked the condition to her husband's past struggles with alcohol abuse, including rehab stints in the 1980s for prescription pills and in 2016 for alcohol. The disease can lead to chronic issues and severe complications like heart failure.

To stabilize him, doctors placed Chase in a medically...