How Harold Ramis Helped Chevy Chase Find Clark Griswold For National Lampoon's Vacation Series

The National Lampoon-backed "Vacation" movies sit comfortably in the pop culture hive.

As it was in future filmmaker John Hughes' original National Lampoon essay "Vacation '58," the lifeblood of the hilarious, raunchy, and relatable family misadventures found in the movies comes from its fallible but undefeated patriarch. In fact, name a "Vacation" title — be it the beloved Hughes-penned '80s trilogy "Vacation," "European Vacation," and "Christmas Vacation" or one of its Lampoon label-free continuations — and the quotes that are zealously regurgitated back to you likely come from Clark W. Griswold, head of the nuclear Griswold family.

The role would be filled by Chevy Chase, a full-blown star by the time the first "Vacation" project came his way. Using a mixture of the physical comedy that made him famous on "Saturday Night Live" and a more chill iteration of the gruff father of Hughes' essay, Chase's Clark was so aggressively good-spirited that when the inevitable straw broke the camel's back for him, his meltdown became a hysterical payoff. Hallelujah, holy s***.

In a 2015 interview with Entertainment Focus, Chase expounded on the "Vacation" movies and his journey, in tandem with director and "Animal House" co-writer Harold Ramis, to bring Clark W. Griswold into shape. "I had a sense of him," Chase said. "John gave us the script and Harold and I worked for some time on it, so I had a sense of where we were going but I wasn't quite there at the beginning. I wasn't sure what my vision of Clark was because I'm not your normal actor. [Laughs] I mean, I could have gone less, I could have gone too far."

Chase is quick to give Ramis his flowers, both as a "very, very funny guy" and as an actor in the likes of "Ghostbusters," "Stripes," and nearly 30 episodes of "Second City Television." Ramis never shared stage time with Chase on "SNL," in a pivotal judgment call that saw the Chicago-born multi-hyphenate leaving the 1973 stage show "National Lampoon's Lemmings," which he co-wrote (the show that led to Lorne Michaels hiring Gilda Radner and John Belushi for his late-night sketch series) and opting for the "SCTV" crowd instead as both performer and head writer. 

His lengthy resume and comedy experience came into play when Chase approached him for some direction. In the interview with Entertainment Focus, Chase continued, saying:

"He was one of the most creative guys I've ever known, and also one of the nicest and best. So when we first started shooting, I said to Harold — and I remember this very well — 'Well, how do you think I should do it?' And he just did it. He did one or two lines and gave me this guy in a couple of moments. It immediately resonated with me and I knew just what he meant: 'Go over the top — be Clark Griswold.' And it was wonderful. It felt right and I knew it, and for the next five 'Vacation' movies, I had it. I'm sure this kind of thing happens all the time between friends or people who are good comedians, but with Harold it was very special.

The guidance, and the tortoise-shell-wearing character that emerged from it, contributed to the financial success of "National Lampoon's Vacation," pulling just over $8 million on its opening weekend and grossing over $60 million. It was a new peak of profit and prosperity for Chase, who would soon finesse his leading man status and land his next iconic comedy within two years