Who Is Chevy Chase's Wife? All About Jayni Chase

Chevy and Jayni Chase have been married since 1982

For Chevy Chase, third time was the charm when he wed Jayni Chase (née Luke).

Previously married to Suzanne Chase (aka Susan Hewitt) and Jacqueline Carline, Chevy — whose real name is Cornelius Crane Chase — met his third wife while working on the 1981 film Under the Rainbow. He starred in the comedy alongside the late Carrie Fisher, and Jayni worked as a production coordinator.

"He flirted with me and pursued me, but I didn't take it seriously," Jayni said during a 1990 interview for The Barbara Walters Special. "Then, one day, I made a rather-flip remark to him, and I looked and saw that he was hurt by it. And I looked in those brown eyes, and I said, 'Oh, I think there's a nice guy there.' And there is."

After dating for nearly two years, Chevy and Jayni tied the knot in June 1982 in Los Angeles. In the decades since their nuptials, the couple have welcomed three daughters together — Cydney, Caley and Emily — and Jayni became stepmom to Chase's son, Bryan Perkins, from a previous relationship.

Known for making audiences laugh over the years, the Saturday Night Live alum and his wife share a sense of humor about their relationship and early years of dating. In 2020, Chevy even showcased his comedic talents when celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary.

"Neither of us knew at that special time that Jayni thought my name was Brenda," he jokingly captioned a photo of the two from their wedding on Instagram.

So, who is Chevy Chase's wife? Here's everything to know about Jayni Chase and her relationship with the Emmy-winning comedian.

She's from California

Growing up in North Hollywood, California, Jayni had two sporting brothers, which inspired her to become a pentathlete, according to a September 1983 issue of PEOPLE.

She gave up on her sports career to study communications at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which later helped her secure jobs at NBC and on the set of Under the Rainbow (where she met Chevy).

She initially rejected Chevy

Although Chevy expressed interest in Jayni while working on Under the Rainbow, he said in a 2009 interview for PBS' This Emotional Life that Jayni "couldn't care less" about him (as reported by Rare). 

Jayni added, "He did have to pursue me because I really wasn't wanting to be in a relationship."

"There was some big guy coming into the production office flirting with me," Jayni told PEOPLE in 1983.

She and Chevy have three children together

Jayni and Chevy welcomed three daughters over the course of their marriage: Cydney in 1983, Caley in 1985 and Emily in 1988. 

According to PEOPLE, the pair were initially "terrified" before having their first daughter, and they read a myriad of childcare books and took Lamaze childbirth lessons from Dustin Hoffman and his wife Lisa's teacher "out of total fear."

"But when Cyd came out, and I saw it was a girl," Chevy told PEOPLE, "I was in love immediately. I cut the umbilical cord, and I held her for the first hour. She seemed to know my voice because, of course, I had been singing and talking to her through the belly for nine months."

As adults, the daughters regularly share their appreciation for their parents and siblings on Instagram. In April 2021, Emily posted a photo with her sisters and Jayni commemorating Earth Day and describing their family dynamic.

She captioned the pic: "We're basically the boyband of nature. Mom is the frontman, Cyd is the friendly heartthrob, Caley is the pro dancer with the weirdest costume, and I'm the mysterious and brooding one with the amazing abs."

The National Lampoon's Vacation star also has a son, Perkins, from a previous relationship. 

"Once I got married and had kids, I moved away from romantic roles because it seemed wrong to have my three-year-old wondering why Daddy was kissing someone else," Chevy once told a reporter, per Yahoo! Entertainment.

She and Chevy are going to be grandparents

In March 2024, Chevy announced that his youngest daughter, Emily, is currently expecting a baby with her partner, Alex Baglieri.

"I can't wait to be a Grandad!” the actor captioned a photo on Instagram of him and Alex touching Emily's baby bump.

She has rheumatoid arthritis

In 2019, Jayni told Natural Awakenings that she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in May 2015.

"My blood doesn't have certain antibodies that can serve as helpful markers for seropositive RA patients," she said. "Normally, doctors can use blood tests to detect the patient's RA levels and determine whether certain drugs are lowering the antibodies. But because I have seronegative RA, the only way to judge where I am is through my symptoms — and I can tell you, this makes an already complicated disease even more complicated."

The activist also told the magazine that she had surgery on both hands two years prior, as they had "essentially frozen stiff, making daily activities like brushing her teeth, dressing and cooking extremely difficult."

In February 2020, Jayni shared that she was undergoing another surgery on her finger due to her rheumatoid arthritis.

"Getting my left index finger joint [replaced] today! I've been working hard to keep my rheumatoid arthritis from progressing without taking the medications," she captioned a selfie on Instagram. "Taking herbs, seeing functional doctors, exercising ... motion is lotion! And surgery ... I'm excited to get this finger back!"

She and Chevy have four dogs

The Chase family have kept busy with their four dogs: two West Highland Terriers and two Goldendoodles. Jayni shared a photo of the pup posse headed to the beach in August 2019. 

"Here's the crew, or maybe rather, our pack! Just got in the car, ready to go walk/run on the beach! FUN!" she captioned the photo.

The couple also have two cats. For National Puppy Day, Chevy jokingly captioned a 2019 post dedicated to their pets: "Today we celebrate our dogs by losing Walley [Goldendoodle] in the woods and cooking and eating one of the Westies. We also have two lovely cats. We will feed them the remaining Westy."

Jayni shared a video of her daughter Cydney with some of the dogs in the living room in January 2020. 

"The dogs rule our days here at the Chase House. 🤦‍♀️🙄🤷‍♀️," she wrote.

She's an activist

One of Jayni's passions is advocating for the environment and spreading the word about green issues.

"The first step to solving any problems, from small to big and daunting, is awareness," she told Westchester Magazine in June 2010.

Jayni continued, "Living 'green' is just how I have chosen to live my life, putting into action what I believe in. It's not hard to be environmentally friendly. Once you understand that everything is connected, that each of our actions has consequences, and begin to view your everyday life in this way, the logic will emerge. If we can each do our part, making changes in our lives to lower our carbon footprint, we will make everyone's lives better."

Chevy has stood by Jayni's side in her advocacy. In May 2019, the comedian shared a video of his and his wife's speech on Instagram when they were honored by Bedford 2030, a local environmental group devoted to tackling climate change.

"All of you in this room are here because you must care," said Jayni, who is an advisory board member of Bedford 2030. "We need to keep that up ... we need to support one another. The work is not done — it's far from done. And what we accomplished here at Bedford, we need to now spread."

She co-founded a CBD company

Jayni revealed that one way she manages her rheumatoid arthritis is with CBD — a cannabidiol that does not cause a high — to which she was introduced by her daughter Emily after her surgery in 2017.

"Emily ordered CBD capsules for me, and I was actually shocked by how much they helped me," Jayni told Natural Awakenings. "I did some research and discovered that I could take more, and the more I took, the more manageable my symptoms were."

Jayni has also shown her passion for CBD on Instagram — she even co-founded a CBD boutique in 2019 called The Pharm Stand. Shortly after opening the wellness center (which has since relocated to Florida) in New York, Jayni shared a photo of herself with her business partners — Debbie Doniger and Jason Provost — and Martha Stewart.

"Martha Stewart loved our CBD shop, The Pharm Stand in Armonk NY! And we love Martha! 😄," she wrote.

She helped Chevy get sober

After Chevy's second marriage to actress Carlin failed, the Three Amigos! actor said he became "self-destructive" and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with the divorce. 

"A separation is so painful," Chevy told PEOPLE in 1983. "I really didn’t have a carefree bachelor life. Mostly, I moped."

He continued, "Sure, I've done drugs. I was growing up in the '60s, and you could hardly avoid them. There really wasn't any experimentation with drugs that I hadn't tried. But I was never an over-the-line guy."

"When I met Jayni, what was I, a Bowery bum?" Chevy added. "She got me right out of the doldrums I'd been in for three years ... there is no smoking of pot, no drugs, no drinking. It's a very clean life."

She loves the outdoors

Jayni has also shared her love of Mother Nature on Instagram. 

In April 2020, the activist shared a video walking with daughter Emily and the family's dogs at a nature reserve in New York.

"The 'Peepers' at the Ward Pound Reservation [were] happily singing tonight so loudly, it was deafening! Getting out in nature is keeping me OK. I feel very grateful to have this fabulous resource right here. 🙏🏼❤️🤸‍♂️," she wrote.

Jayni and Chevy have passed down their love of the outdoors to their children, as all three daughters post pictures of the natural world on their respective Instagrams.

"It's so important for children to have the same connection that I did as a child with the big outdoors and being in nature, seeing the beauty of it all," Chevy told Green Chimneys in May 2017.

She's a beekeeper

Jayni has also connected to nature by making honey. In June 2020, Chevy posted a photo with his daughter Cydney and her husband, along with Jayni holding a jar of her Funny Honey.

"When we were expecting our first daughter, @cydneybartell, my wife, @jaynichase, wanted to do the best she could to make our home healthy and safe for all of us. She has never stopped researching and learning about healthy foods and safe products," he wrote.

He continued, "When we moved to New York in 1995, she began an organic vegetable garden. About 10 years later, she announced that she was going to hire someone to help her set up and manage 3 beehives. Everyone that has tasted our Funny Honey has told us that it's the best honey they've ever had."

She and Chevy love the beach

In August 2019, Jayni shared a snap of the two enjoying a day on the beach, with Jayni sitting on Chevy's lap.

"A Beautiful day at the beach! Chevy got a haircut and the breeze was messing it up (it's always sticking out in different directions) but I smoothed it down and, viola! My Very Handsome hubby! ❤️😉🥰," she captioned the picture.

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