It’s no laughing matter for comedian Chevy Chase. His rep has told CNN that he has checked into rehab in Minnesota for alcohol issues, calling his treatment a “tune up.”
TMZ broke the news that Chase checked into Minnesota’s Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center. He had previously sought help at the Betty Ford rehab center in 1986 to treat an addiction to painkillers. At the time, he had said that he developed a problem after taking pills to help with the back problems he developed doing stunts as a comedy performer.
Chase, 72, starred in “Saturday Night Live,” the National Lampoon Vacation films and NBC’s quirky comedy “Community.” He can be seen in the upcoming movies “The Christmas Apprentice” and “Dog Years.”
According to People, Chase has mostly remained private about his personal struggles, but in 2007, he wrote an open letter to Betty Ford, thanking her for her bravery in admitting that she was an alcoholic.
“If it hadn’t been for the courage of Mr. Ford’s wife, Betty, for admitting to an alcohol problem, I would never have received the help I needed in the early 1980s at the Betty Ford clinic, located not far from the Ford residence near Palm Springs,” Ford wrote in 2007.
Chase’s representative Heidi Schaeffer said that he wanted “to be the best that he can be.”
TMZ reported that late comedian Robin Williams had also sought addiction treatment at Hazelden.
Photo courtesy of USA Today