Chevy Chase Inspired by Betty Ford to Seek Addiction
Help
In a week of remembrances about the life of Gerald Ford, Chevy
Chase wrote an essay in the New York Times about how Betty
Ford inspired him to seek help in the 1980's for his addiction to
painkillers.
| Ironically, Chase impersonated
a stumblebum President Ford on Saturday Night Live complete
with trips, stumbles and pratfalls. It was due to some of the
pratfalls on Saturday Night Live that injured Chase's
back and led him into an addiction to painkillers.
In October 1986, Chevy Chase would check into the Betty Ford
clinic near Palm Springs, California to seek treatment for
his addiction. It was at this point that Chevy Chase and Gerald
and Betty Ford would become friends.
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The Betty Ford Center was founded in 1982 and many famous
celebrity addicts besides Chase have availed themselves of the
services of this drug and alcohol rehab center ever since. Betty
Ford completed her own rehab for substance abuse at the U.S. Naval
Hospital in Long Beach, California, then went on to co-found her
center in Rancho Mirage.
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