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Thirty-six years ago, Clark Griswold announced that he was determined to create the perfect “fun old-fashioned family Christmas” – no matter what.
Decades later the Griswold family’s wild and wacky celebration is still entertaining viewers. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a bona fide holiday classic.
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Chevy Chase, who plays Clark, has said he feels fortunate to be part of so many people’s Christmas memories.
“It makes me feel like Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life,” Chase told the Los Angeles Daily News in 2019. “I love it and it’s one of the unusual ones, to say the least. But I think the movie is terrific and the movie is about a family at Christmas time and it’s quite realistic. From the second you hear ‘The little lights are not twinkling’ you know it’s starting to go wrong … you just know all things are going to go awry.”
So, where are Chase and the rest of the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation cast now? While one of the film’s stars died earlier this year, others are still around – several even gathered for an reunion at a fan convention in Chicago in August.
Diane Ladd as Nora Griswold
Oscar-winner Diane Ladd played Clark’s mom Nora Griswold in Christmas Vacation. Her friend Shelley Winters had to convince Ladd – who’d stepped away from acting – to try out for the part.
“I said, I’m only about six years older than Chevy,” Ladd recalled in 2019 (via YouTube). The Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore actor donned an old dress and a pair of glasses from the Salvation Army for her audition. She got the part.
Ladd died on November 3 at her home in Ojai, California. She was 89.
Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
Christmas Vacation is just one entry on Chase’s long resume, which also includes SNL, Community, and Fletch. But the movie is special to the 81-year-old comedian. This year, he’s traveling around the U.S. for screenings of the 1989 movie. You can get more information and buy tickets here.
On January 1, a new documentary about Chase’s life and career, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, premieres on CNN.
Beverly D’Angelo as Ellen Griswold
Beverly D’Angelo, 74, plays Clark’s unflappable wife Ellen Griswold in all of the National Lampoon Family Vacation films. At the time, she never imagined that her fictional family would still be entertaining people decades later.
“Honestly, I never imagined it, and I don’t care what anybody says, nobody imagined that 40 years down the line or however long it’s been, that the Griswolds would be part of our culture,” she recently told People.
D’Angelo is still acting. In recent years she’s appeared on shows like Law & Order: SVU and True Lies and movies such as Violent Night and The Trainer.
Juliette Lewis as Audrey Griswold
Juliette Lewis stepped in as Clark and Ellen’s teenage daughter Audrey in Christmas Vacation. She’s had a vibrant career in the decades since in movies like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? and Cape Fear. More recently, the 52-year-old starred in Showtime’s Yellowjackets and Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales. She’ll play a woman who trades places with a chair in the unusual body swap movie By Design, due out next year.
Johnny Galecki as Rusty Griswold
Johnny Galecki plays Clark and Ellen’s son Rusty in Christmas Vacation. That early role led to a successful acting career, including parts on Roseanne and The Big Bang Theory. Since TBBT ended in 2019, he’s mostly stepped away from acting. He moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and is focused on raising his two kids. He has a son with his ex Alaina Meyer and a daughter with wife Morgan Galecki. In October, he and his family took an “unforgettable” trip to Disney World, he shared on Instagram.
Randy Quaid as Eddie Johnson
Randy Quaid played off-kilter Griswold relative Eddie Johnson, who unexpectedly shows up for Christmas in a broken-down RV with his whole family in tow. Since Christmas Vacation premiered, Quaid has appeared in movies like Kingpin and Independence Day. He’s also made headlines for various legal problems, including his and his wife Evi’s 2010 burglary charge. The couple later tried to claim asylum in Canada. He’s had few acting roles in recent years, though he did reunite with Chase in 2024’s The Christmas Letter.
Miriam Flynn as Catherine Johnson
Miriam Flynn played Ellen’s cousin and Eddie’s wife Catherine in Christmas Vacation. Recently, she’s appeared in episodes on 9-1-1, Shrinking, and The Lincoln Lawyer.
John Randolph as Clark Griswold Sr.
John Randolph played Clark’s dad Clark Senior in Christmas Vacation. His long Hollywood career began with small TV roles in the 1940s. After Christmas Vacation, he appeared in movies like You’ve Got Mail and A Price Above Rubies. He died in 2004 at age 88.
E.G. Marshall as Art Smith
12 Angry Men actor E.G. Marshall played Ellen’s father Art Smith. Post-Christmas Vacation he appeared in movies such as Nixon and Consenting Adults. He died in 1998 at age 84.
Doris Roberts as Frances Smith
Doris Roberts plays Ellen’s mother Frances. After Christmas Vacation, she won four Emmys for playing Ray Romano’s mother on Everybody Loves Raymond. Roberts died in 2016 at age 90.
Where are other ‘Christmas Vacation’ cast members?
What happened to the rest of the Christmas Vacation cast?
Ellen Latzen played Catherine and Eddie’s daughter Ruby. While her last onscreen role was in the mid-1990s, she recently shared on Instagram that she’s hoping to get back into acting. She also welcomed a child in 2023.
Cody Burger played Ruby’s brother Rocky. His last role was in 1995’s Heavyweights, according to IMDb.
William Hickey, who played the cigar-smoking Uncle Lewis, died in 1997 at age 69.
Mae Questal – who provided the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop in the classic cartoons – made a rare appearance before the camera in Christmas Vacation as Aunt Bethany. She died in 1998 at age 89.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the Griswolds’ yuppie neighbor Margo Chester. In addition to Seinfeld, she’s also starred in The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep. Earlier this year, she appeared in Marvel’s Thunderbolts.
Nicholas Guest played Margo’s husband Todd. You’ll hear his voice in the new Ken Burns documentary The American Revolution.
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