Catch up With the ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ Cast Today: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo and More

Every holiday season, the classic Christmas films come back around and make for an entertaining watch, no matter how many times you’ve seen them. Since the 1940s, your favorite holiday classics have been warming hearts and inciting laughter, depending on which you prefer to keep rewatching. 

When National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation arrived in 1989, it quickly cemented itself as a modern holiday classic. Much of the film’s appeal comes from Chevy Chase as a dad determined to deliver the “perfect” Christmas — no matter how chaotic things get — and Beverly D’Angelo as the endlessly patient wife and mom trying to hold the household together amid the madness.

Catch up with the cast of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and find out what the stars have been up to since the film first premiered.

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold

Born: October 8, 1943, New York City

Personal life: Previously married to Suzanne Chase (1973-1976) and Jacqueline Carlin (1976–1980); currently married to Jayni Chase from 1982; father of Caley, Cydney and Emily

Best known for: Caddyshack (1980), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Nothing But Trouble (1991) and Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

Thoughts on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: “I think it’s holding up well,” Chase said of the film. “For a lot of people, that’s the way Christmas goes—so it’s fun.”

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Beverly D’Angelo as Ellen Griswold

Born: November 15, 1951, Columbus, Ohio

Personal life: Previously married to Don Lorenzo Salviati (1981-1995); mother of Olivia and Anton

Best known for: Hair (1979), National Lampoon’s Vacation Film Series (1983-2015), Insatiable (2018-2019), Violent Night (2022)

Thoughts on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: “The way I found Ellen was by looking at my mother,” D’Angelo explained. “That was very much my mother. [Her] motto was, ‘It doesn’t matter how much you give as long as it adds up to 100,’ so I had in my mind Ellen’s never going to leave him [Chevy Chase’s Clark]. Make it all work. And it kind of evolved into something that I think people identify with.”

Juliette Lewis as Audrey Griswold

Born: June 21, 1973, Los Angeles, California

Personal life: Previously married to Steve Berra (1999–2003)

Best known for: Cape Fear (1991), Natural Born Killers (1994), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and August: Osage County (2013), and Yellowjackets (2021-2023)

Thoughts on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: “I was very young,” Lewis said. “But I see all these people, these kids and families, and it’s so touching because you can’t predict that. I didn’t know that’s a movie that’s going to play every year. It’s very special.”

Johnny Galecki as Rusty Griswold

Born: April 30, 1975, Bree, Flanders, Belgium

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Personal life: Married to Morgan Galecki since 2024

Best known for: Roseanne (1992-2018) I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019)

Thoughts on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: “This was such a seminal part of my career, and understanding of comedy and life in general,” Galecki said. “I remember practically every day.”