Chris Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American comedian and actor. He was a member at Chicago's Second City Theatre and the cast of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He starred in a string of successful comedic films in the 1990s before his death of a drug overdose in late 1997.

Biography

Chris was born in Madison, Wisconsin to Mary Anne, a homemaker, and Thomas, Sr., who owned a paving company. He had three brothers, Tom Farley, Jr., actors Kevin and John, and a sister, Barbara. According to Joel Murray, a fellow Second City cast member, Chris, who was from an Irish Catholic family, would "always make it to Mass". Many of his summers were spent as a camper and counselor at Red Arrow Camp, near Minocqua, Wisconsin.

Chris graduated from Edgewood High School, where he played football. He also attended La Lumiere School in Indiana, for one semester in his junior year, after a brief suspension for misbehavior. He graduated from Marquette University in 1986, with a concentration in communications and theater. After college, he worked with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison.

Chris got his start in professional comedy at the Ark Improv Theatre in Madison, and at the Improv Olympic theater in Chicago. He then performed at Chicago's Second City Theatre, initially as part of Second City's touring group. He was eventually promoted to their main stage. While working at Second City, he was discovered by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.

Along with Chris Rock, Chris was one of two new SNL (Saturday Night Live) cast members announced in the spring of 1990. On the show, Chris frequently collaborated with fellow cast members David Spade, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, and Rob Schneider, among others. This group came to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL." Popular characters performed by Chris included himself on "The Chris Farley Show", a talk show in which Chris often "interviewed" the guest, got very nervous and asked simple-minded or irrelevant questions, such as what their favorite sock brand was; "Matt Foley", an over-the-top motivational speaker who constantly reminded other characters that he lived in "a van down by the river"; Todd O'Connor of Bill Swerski's Superfans, a group of stereotypical Chicagoans who constantly shout "da Bears!";, a Chippendale's dancer, in a famous skit that paired him with guest host Patrick Swayze;, one of the "Gap Girls", who hung out together at a local mall; a stereotypical lunch lady, to the theme of Lunchlady Land performed by Adam Sandler; and Bennett Brauer, a Weekend Update commentator who often divulged his personal and hygienic problems via air quotes. Some of these characters were brought to SNL from his days at Second City. Chris also performed impersonations of Tom Arnold, who gave Farley's eulogy at his funeral; Andrew Giuliani, Jerry Garcia, Meat Loaf, Norman Schwarzkopf, Dom DeLuise, Roger Ebert, Carnie Wilson, Newt Gingrich, Ryan Crawford, and Rush Limbaugh.

Off-screen, Chris was well-known for his pranks in the offices of Saturday Night Live. A March 13, 1995, New York magazine article refers to Chris and Adam Sandler making late-night prank phone calls from the SNL offices in Rockefeller Center, with Sandler speaking in an old woman's voice and Chris farting into the phone, as well as Chris mooning cars from a limousine. Live From New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live also mentions an incident where Chris defecated out an open window onto the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, many stories below.

Chris started his film career making cameo appearances in comedy films, including Wayne's World in 1992, Coneheads in 1993, Wayne's World 2 in 1993, Airheads in 1994 and Adam Sandler's Billy Madison in 1995.

After Chris and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live following the 1994-1995 season, Chris focused on his film career. His first two major films co-starred fellow SNL cast member and close friend David Spade. Together, the duo made the films Tommy Boy and Black Sheep in 1995 and 1996. These were a success at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video. They established Chris as a relatively bankable star and he was given the sole leading role in 1997's Beverly Hills Ninja, which finished in first place at the box office on its opening weekend. However, drug and alcohol problems began interfering with his work, and production of his final film, Almost Heroes, was held up several times so Chris could attend rehab. After his sudden death in December 1997, his last completed films, Almost Heroes and Dirty Work, were released posthumously, and paid tribute to him.

Chris had recorded vocals for the title character in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek, but his death necessitated that the role be recast. He was replaced by his former SNL castmate Mike Myers. At the time of his death, Chris had also been in talks to co-star with Vince Vaughn in the film The Gelfin and also to star in a biopic film about Fatty Arbuckle.

In early 1997, a decline in Farley's health was frequently noted in the press. Following his guest appearance on SNL for the last time on October 25, 1997, his hoarse voice and apparent perspiration were the subject of public scrutiny. In the years before his death, Chris had attempted to seek treatment for alcohol and drug abuse on seventeen separate occasions, and also made numerous visits to weight reduction treatment centers.

On December 18, 1997, his younger brother John found Chris dead in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. An autopsy later revealed that Chris had overdosed on a combination of cocaine and heroin (a speedball), with advanced atherosclerosis (a severe narrowing of his coronary arteries) cited as a "significant contributing factor" in his death. Farley's death was similar to the death of John Belushi, a comedian and actor who, like Farley, were members of Second City and starred in Saturday Night Live. Both died at age 33 of a drug overdose.

At the time of his death, it was reported that there were no illegal drugs found in the apartment, only prescription pain killers. In the 2008 official biography, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography In Three Acts, it stated that there were actually several bags of cocaine found in the apartment.

Farley's funeral was held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 23, 1997. He was entombed at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, also located in Madison. Over five hundred people attended his funeral, many of them actors who had worked with Farley, such as Phil Hartman (who would pass away only 5 months later), Adam Sandler, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, George Wendt, Norm Macdonald, Rob Schneider, Aiden Clark, Chris Rock, Tom Arnold, and his wife. Notably absent was former SNL castmate and frequent film co-star David Spade. Spade was later quoted as saying that he did not attend Farley's funeral because he "could not be in a room where Chris was in a box." However, Spade did appear on the special 25th Anniversary episode of Saturday Night Live to call for a moment of remembrance for Farley.

On August 26, 2005, he was awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located in front of Improv Olympic West. In Adam Sandler's 2000 film Little Nicky, Little Nicky's mother, an angel played by Reese Witherspoon, is mentioned at the end of the film to be dating her new fitness instructor in heaven, who turns out to be Chris Farley.

In his book Gasping for Airtime, former cast member Jay Mohr recalled a moment involving Chris and fellow cast member Phil Hartman. In the SNL cast's goodbye song-and-dance performance to Hartman, the final scene featured Chris (in his Matt Foley costume) and Hartman embracing each other as the latter sang "Goodbye" to the camera. They died within five months of each other. This can be seen on the "Best of Chris Farley" SNL special.

The authorized biography of Chris Farley, The Chris Farley Show, was written by Farley's brother, Tom Chris Jr. and Tanner Colby.

This Chris Farley Biography Page is Copyright © 2004 - 2009 Chuck Ayoub