Chris Farley

Early life[edit]

Farley was born on February 15, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin. His father, Thomas John Farley, Sr.
(19361999), owned an oil company, and his mother, Mary Anne (ne Crosby), was a housewife. [2][4]
[5]
He had four siblings: Tom Jr., Kevin, John, and Barbara. His cousin, Jim, is the CEO and Chairman
at Ford Motor Company Europe.[6][7]

Farley's family is Roman Catholic and of Irish and Scottish descent, and Farley attended numerous
Catholic schools in his hometown, including Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart. According
to Joel Murray, a fellow Second City cast member, Farley would "always make it to Mass." [8] Many of
his summers were spent as a camper and counselor at Red Arrow Camp, near Minocqua,
Wisconsin. He graduated from Marquette University in 1986, with a concentration
in communications and theater.[9] At Marquette, he played rugby and discovered a love for comedy.
[10]
After college, he worked with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison. [11] He 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.[citation needed]

Career[edit]

Saturday Night Live[edit]

Along with Chris Rock, Farley was one of two new Saturday Night Live cast members announced in
the spring of 1990.[2][3] On SNL, Farley frequently collaborated with his fellow cast members Adam
Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, among others. This group came to be
known as the "Bad Boys of SNL."[12]

Popular characters performed by Farley included Matt Foley, an over-the-top motivational

speaker who constantly reminded other characters that he "lived in a van, down by the river". The
name of the character was drawn from a real life friend of Farley's named Matt Foley, who, during a
troubled period, lived in a van near a river. He later became a Catholic priest and appeared in the
2015 documentary "I am Chris Farley". In early renditions of the character, Farley used other names,
depending on whom he knew in the audience, until the real life Foley went to the show and had his
name used, at which point Farley felt the name best suited the character and refused to change it.
Some of the mannerisms of the character were a combination of the positions Farley noticed his
Rugby teammates take (at the pitch), coupled with the angry, high pitched yet low volume/muffled
voice his father used when he was angry;[13] Todd O'Connor of Bill Swerski's Superfans, a group of
stereotypical Chicagoans who constantly shouted "da Bears!";[14] a Chippendale's dancer, in a
famous sketch that paired him with guest host Patrick Swayze;[15] 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;[16] Bennett Brauer, a Weekend Update commentator who often divulged his personal
and hygienic problems via air quotes; and himself on The Chris Farley Show, a talk show in which
Farley quite often "interviewed" the guest, regularly getting very nervous.
 Chris Farley

Some of these characters were brought to SNL from his days at Second City. Farley also performed
impersonations of Tom Arnold, who gave Farley's eulogy at his private funeral; Andrew
Giuliani, Jerry Garcia, Meat Loaf, Norman Schwarzkopf, Dom DeLuise, Roger Ebert, Carnie
Wilson, Newt Gingrich, Mindy Cohn, Mama Cass, Hank Williams, Jr., and Rush Limbaugh.[17]

Off-screen, Farley was well known for his pranks in the offices of Saturday Night Live. This would
refer to Sandler and Farley making late-night prank phone calls from the SNL offices in Rockefeller
Center, with Sandler speaking in an old woman's voice and Farley farting into the phone
and mooning cars from a limousine. He was also known to frequently get naked and do various
stunts for laughs. Chris Rock once claimed that he probably saw Farley's private parts more than
Farley's girlfriend did.[18][19][20] Sandler told Conan O'Brien on Late Night that NBC fired him and Farley
from the show in 1995.[21]

Film career[edit]
During his time on SNL, Farley appeared in the comedy films Wayne's World,[22] Coneheads,
[23]
Airheads,[24] and uncredited in Billy Madison.[25] He also appeared in the Red Hot Chili
Peppers music video for "Soul to Squeeze", which was a song featured on
the Coneheads soundtrack.[26]

After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday
Night Live following the 19941995 season, Farley began focusing on his film career. His first two
major films co-starred his fellow SNL colleague and close friend David Spade. Together, the duo
made the films Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. These were a success at the domestic box office,
earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video.[27][28]

The two films established Farley as a relatively bankable star and he was given the title role
of Beverly Hills Ninja, which finished in first place at the box office on its opening weekend. [29]

Drug and alcohol abuse-related problems interfered with Farley's film work at this time. Production of
his final film, Almost Heroes, was held up several times so Farley could enter rehab. He was known
among comedic contemporaries and friends to be sensitive about how his comedy was perceived
("fatty-fall-down"), and was particularly hurt by harsh critical reactions to Tommy Boy, a film he
enjoyed making. He was particularly dissatisfied with Black Sheep, an attempt by the studio to
recapture the chemistry on Tommy Boy and was only 60 pages into the script when the project was
green-lit. As a result, he relapsed again the night of the premier, which required further rehab before
he would begin to work on Beverly Hills Ninja.[30] After his death on December 18, 1997, his final
completed films, Almost Heroes and Dirty Work, were released posthumously.

Unfinished projects[edit]
Farley was originally cast as the voice of the title character in the movie Shrek, recording about 80
90% of the character's dialogue, but died just before recording was finished. A story reel featuring a
sample of Farley's recorded dialogue was released officially in 2015.[31] The original version of Shrek
was more like Farley himself, according to his brother.[32]
 Chris Farley

Farley was slated for another voice role in Dinosaur as a young male brachiosaurus named Sorbus
who, despite his gigantic nature, was frightened of heights. After his death, the character was
rewritten as Baylene, an elderly female Brachiosaurus played by British actress Joan Plowright.[33]

At the time of his death, Farley had been in talks to costar with Vince Vaughn in The Gelfin, and also
to star in a biographical film about comedian Fatty Arbuckle.[34][35] Jim Carrey's role in the 1996
film The Cable Guy was originally intended for Farley, but scheduling conflicts forced him to decline.
[36]

Farley was slated to appear in a third Ghostbusters film, which was at the time intended to be about
a new trio of Ghostbusters taking on overpopulation in Hell.[36][37] Dav Pilkey, author of the children's
book series Captain Underpants, had wanted Farley to play the title role in a potential television
series based on the books, but discarded the idea after Farley's death. [38]

Farley had been in talks for the lead in an adaptation of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces.[39] Farley
even expressed interest in portraying Atuk in an adaptation of the novel The Incomparable Atuk.
[40]
Both of these shelved projects, along with the Arbuckle biopic, have been alleged to be cursed as
Farley, John Belushi, and John Candy were each attached to all three roles, and all three died
before any of the films entered production.[36][41]

Death and funeral[edit]

Farley's grave in 2010

Following his final guest appearance on SNL on October 25, 1997 there was a visible decline in
Farley's health. Farley's hoarse voice and flushed skin were the subject of public scrutiny.[42] In the
final years of his life, Farley had sought treatment for obesity and drug abuse on 17 occasions. [43]

On December 18, 1997, he was found dead by his younger brother, John, in his apartment in
the John Hancock Center in Chicago.[44] An autopsy later revealed that Farley had died of an
overdose of cocaine and morphine.[45]Advanced atherosclerosis was cited as a "significant
contributing factor."[30] Farley's death is often compared to that of his SNL idol John Belushi, who also
died at age 33 of an accidental drug overdose consisting of cocaine and heroin. [15]

Farley's private funeral was held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in his hometown of
Madison, Wisconsin. Over 500 people attended his funeral, including many comedians who had
 Chris Farley

worked with him on Saturday Night Live and on film such as Dan Aykroyd and Adam Sandler.
[46]
Farley's remains were entombed at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery.

Legacy[edit]

On August 26, 2005, Farley was posthumously awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame, which is located in front of iO West.[47]

An authorized biography of Farley, The Chris Farley Show, was written by his brother Tom, Jr. and
Tanner Colby. The song "Purple Stain" from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1999 album, Californication,
contains the lyric "Farley is an angel and I can prove this" as a tribute to Farley.[citation needed]

In 2013, Farley's official Facebook page announced that a documentary on Farley's life was in
production by Network Entertainment and Hodgee Films, called I Am Chris Farley. The film was
directed by Brent Hodge, director of A Brony Tale, What Happens Next? and Cameron's House
Rules and Derik Murray, director of I Am Evel Knievel.[48][49] On August 10, 2015, the documentary
made its television debut.