Where Is the Cast of Christmas Vacation Now?

There are plenty of consistently quotable comedies out there. Zoolander, The Hangover, Superbad, Old School, Anchorman, Dumb and Dumber…the list could go on; but National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is essentially in a class of its own. And it’s not just because the script is top-notch, a lot of the dialogue’s impact comes from delivery from the equally formidable cast. Speaking of the cast of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, what are they up to these days?

Only two factors kept a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation cast member from consideration: the march of time and a petered-out career. On the former front there’s the majority of the 1989 film’s elderly cast members. This includes John Randolph, who played Clark Griswold’s dad, E.G. Marshall and Doris Roberts (who portrayed Ellen’s parents), Uncle Lewis’ William Hickey, and Great Aunt Bethany’s Mae Questal. As for the latter front, Nicolette Scorsese, who played cashier (and star of Clark’s swimming pool fantasizing) Mary, hasn’t worked since 2000.

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase may be one of Christmas Vacation‘s most successful stars, but his career has had as many ebbs as flows. Chase’s career was at its peak from the late ’70s to the, well, right around the time of Christmas Vacation in the late ’80s. This era included Saturday Night Live (where he butted heads with co-stars such as Bill Murray), the underrated Foul Play, Caddyshack, Vacation, Fletch, Three Amigos!, and Funny Farm. But 1988 had Caddyshack II and 1989 had Fletch Lives, both of which were sequels that failed to live up to their predecessors critically and commercially. The ’90s had little-seen bombs Nothing But Trouble, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Cops & Robbersons while the aughts basically just had Snow Day and Zoom. There was a brief career upturn when he was cast as Pierce Hawthorne on Community, but more clashes with castmates and the show’s creator led to a transition to the direct-to-video market, which is where he looks to remain from here on out.

Beverly D’Angelo

No one was better to bring Clark’s endlessly supportive wife, Ellen, to life than Beverly D’Angelo. After five movies (including the serviceable 2015 reboot), it seems that no matter what he does she’ll just never leave him. D’Angelo has never left the film industry, either.

On the small screen, the 2020s have seen her put in recurring guest appearances on Shooter, Insatiable, True Lies, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. As for 2020s movies, she has had roles in Drugstore June, Summer Camp, and fellow Christmas movie Violent Night. Though, suffice it to say, both that R-rated Christmas film‘s narrative and her performance within it were far different from what was seen in Christmas Vacation. Upcoming for D’Angelo are a few low-budget movies including the Tara Reid-fronted Masha’s Mushroom. She also has the David Mamet-scripted The Prince on her docket, which has Nicolas Cage, J.K. Simmons, and Giancarlo Esposito at the top of the cast list.

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis has been a presence in the entertainment industry for nearly 40 years. And, throughout that time, she’s been in a number of noteworthy projects, often turning in performances that were deemed highlights of those respective projects. Kicking off those noteworthy projects was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which gave her the not-so-small task of picking up the mantle of Audrey Griswold, played by Dana Hill in the first film, Dana Barron in the second, and later on Marisol Nichols and Leslie Mann. The ’90s had a powerhouse performance in Cape Fear (where her work actually managed to rival Robert De Niro’s), Kalifornia, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Natural Born Killers, and From Dusk Till Dawn. The aughts wasn’t quite as strong a decade for her, but the 2010s had August: Osage County and Ma.

In 2021, however, she started what would end up being one of her best roles yet as the adult version of Sophie Thatcher’s Natalie in Yellowjackets, a series which has since become both a fan-favorite and a frequent Emmy nominee. Lewis’ time on that series has come to an end (unless the writers get extra-creative), but her fans can still get excited about DreamQuil, which she stars in alongside Elizabeth Banks and Sofia Boutella as well as Lips Like Sugar, a thriller which pairs her with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s Kathryn Newton. Perhaps the most exciting of her upcoming projects, however, is The Trip. That thriller is directed by comedy vet Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island fame and has Ready or Not and Scream VI‘s Samara Weaving and Justified‘s Timothy Olyphant as her co-stars.

Johnny Galecki

As mentioned, both of Christmas Vacation‘s Griswold kids are doing quite well in the 2020s. As for Johnny Galecki, he had a 12-season mega-hit with The Big Bang Theory. According to his IMDb, he doesn’t have any projects scheduled for the future, but even if he never worked again, he’d be just fine living off of Big Bang residuals.

Not to mention, he also has a handful of Roseanne seasons under his belt. This includes the occasional guest appearance on that show’s reboot and subsequent sequel series (after ABC parted ways with Roseanne Barr) The Conners. He’s also had major parts in a few movies within the past decade, including A Dog’s Journey and Rings.

Randy Quaid

Up until the mid-aughts, Randy Quaid was working steadily. But, after a few run-ins with the law and a temporary move to Canada, it seems the roles have dried up for good. He has a role in 2024’s low-budget comedy The Christmas Letter (which also features Chevy Chase), but before that there was a six-year stretch since he had worked. Prior to that six-year span between gigs, there was a nine-year stretch between gigs. In short, the last time the elder Quaid brother was in the spotlight for his acting, it was in 2005 for The Ice Harvest and Brokeback Mountain.

Quaid currently does not have any projects lined up for the future, but fans can always revisit Kingpin or his four performances as Cousin Eddie, or just stick with the original and Christmas Vacation should they want to spare themselves Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure.

Miriam Flynn

When it comes to movies, Cousin Catherine actress, Miriam Flynn, is primarily known for the four Vacation movies (five, should one count the aforementioned Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure). But she’s worked steadily on the small screen, including as Grandma Longneck in nine The Land Before Time DTV movies. Lately, Flynn has turned in guest appearances on The Lincoln Lawyer, Call Me Kat, Apple TV+’s Shrinking, and The Unicorn. She also had a role in Jake Johnson’s terrific directorial debut, Self Reliance, a Hulu exclusive.

[RELATED: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’s Tale of Holiday Anxiety Remains Timeless]

Diane Ladd

Diane Ladd (mother of Laura Dern) has been a well-respected performer since the ’50s. For the most part, her roles have been in excellent dramatic pieces such as Chinatown, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and Wild at Heart. But as Nora Griswold, Ladd showed that she was more than willing to have a little fun on screen, too.

Things slowed down a bit for Ladd throughout the aughts, but there was still the occasional highlight like Inland Empire. The 2010s, however, had a recurring role on Enlightened (lead by her daughter), Joy, Ray Donovan, and Young Sheldon. She’s still working too, having most recently co-led the well-received indie Isle of Hope.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Considering she was on Seinfeld it’s an odd thing to say, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ career has never been better. As amazing a character as Elaine Benes was, Veep‘s Selina Meyer gave her a serious run for her money. But even though Armando Iannucci’s masterpiece has concluded its seven-season run, Louis-Dreyfus hasn’t slowed down one bit.

For one, she started what looks to be a lengthy run in the MCU as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in 2021 with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She has another performance as that character on the docket for 2025 with Thunderbolts*. Furthermore, when she’s not in big-budget MCU adventures, she’s leading noteworthy indies such as You Hurt My Feelings and Tuesday.

Nicholas Guest

Margo Chester may get the worst of the Griswold patriarch’s nonsense, but her husband, Todd, doesn’t get off scot-free. Todd was played by Nicholas Guest, and he’s worked steadily throughout the years, though not to the extent of Louis-Dreyfus. One might recognize Guest from his appearances on Madam Secretary, Sleepy Hollow, and the aptly named Guest Appearances. He’s also found consistent success as a voice actor, with recent examples being the MacGyver reboot and the 2016 videogame Titanfall 2.