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Chris Farley

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This article is about the comedian. For the journalist and author, see Christopher John Farley.
Chris Farley
A close-up of Farley smiling at the camera
Farley in 1993
Born
Christopher Crosby Farley

(1964-02-15)February 15, 1964
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedDecember 18, 1997(1997-12-18) (aged 33)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting placeResurrection Cemetery, Madison, Wisconsin
Alma materMarquette University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1986–1997
RelativesJohn Farley (brother)
Kevin Farley (brother)
Jim Farley (cousin)

Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre[1] and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for five seasons from 1990 to 1995.[2][3] He later went on to pursue a film career, appearing in films such as Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes.

From his early acting days and through the height of his fame, Farley struggled with obesity and substance abuse. He died of a drug overdose at the age of 33.

Early life

Chris Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, and grew up in Maple Bluff.[4] His father, Thomas John Farley Sr. (1936–99), owned an oil company, and his mother, Mary Anne (née Crosby), was a homemaker.[2] He had four siblings: Tom Jr., Kevin, John, and Barbara. His cousin, Jim, is chief executive officer at Ford Motor Company.[5][6]

The Farleys are Irish Catholics. Chris attended parochial schools in Madison, including Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart. According to Joel Murray, a fellow Second City cast member, Chris would "always make it to Mass."[7]

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 double major in communications and theater.[8] At Marquette, he played rugby union and discovered a love of comedy.[9]

After college, he worked with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison.[10] He first learned the art of improvisational comedy at the Ark Improv Theatre in Madison.

Farley made his way to Chicago, performing first at Improv Olympic. He then attended Chicago's Second City Theatre, starting the same day as Stephen Colbert,[11] initially as part of Second City's touring group. He was eventually promoted to their main stage in 1989, and was a cast member of three revues, The Gods Must Be Lazy, It Was Thirty Years Ago Today, and Flag Smoking Permitted in Lobby Only or Censorama.[12]

Career

Throughout Farley's career, despite his size, he was frequently known for his physical performance/comedy and athleticism (similar to Curly Howard and Roscoe Arbuckle).[13] This began and was used to great effect during his time on Saturday Night Live, and continued through many of his films.

Saturday Night Live

Along with Chris Rock, Farley was one of the new Saturday Night Live cast members announced in early 1990.[2][3] On SNL, Farley frequently collaborated with fellow cast members Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Rob Schneider and David Spade, among others. This group came to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL."[14][15]

Popular characters performed by Farley included Matt Foley, an over-the-top motivational speaker who frequently reminded other characters that he was "living in a van down by the river!" The character was created by Bob Odenkirk when he and Farley were performers at Second City. The character's name came from a longtime friend of Farley's who became a Catholic priest and currently serves as head pastor at St. James Catholic Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois.[16] 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 took on the pitch coupled with his high school football coach's habit of squatting down when giving pep talks and the voice his father used when he was angry.[17]

Other famous Farley characters included Todd O'Connor of Bill Swerski's Superfans, a group of stereotypical Chicagoans who repeatedly shouted "da Bears!";[18] a would-be Chippendales dancer, in a famous sketch that paired him with guest host Patrick Swayze;[19][20] one of the "Gap Girls", who worked together at a local mall; a stereotypical lunch lady, to the theme of "Lunchlady Land"' performed by Adam Sandler;[21] 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 "interviewed" the guest with poorly conceived questions or trailed off about subjects not germane to the guest.

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.[22]

Off-screen, Farley was well known for his pranks in the offices of Saturday Night Live. Sandler and Farley would make 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, and even once defecating out a 17th floor window. He was also known to frequently get naked and do various stunts for laughs, including imitating Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb from the then-current film The Silence of the Lambs. Rock once claimed that he probably saw Farley's genitals more than Farley's girlfriend did.[23][24] Sandler told Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show that NBC fired him and Farley from the show in 1995.[25]

Film career

During his time on SNL, Farley appeared in the comedy films Wayne's World,[26] Coneheads,[27] Airheads,[28] and had an uncredited role in Billy Madison.[29] He also appeared in the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers single "Soul to Squeeze", which was featured on the soundtrack to Coneheads.[30]

After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live following the 1994–95 season, Farley began focusing on his film career. In his first two major films, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, he starred with SNL colleague and close friend David Spade. These were a success at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video.[31][32]

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.[33]

Farley was particularly dissatisfied with Black Sheep, an attempt by the studio to recapture the chemistry in Tommy Boy, and which was only 60 pages into the script when the project was green-lit. As a result, he relapsed on the night of the premiere, which required further rehab before he could begin work on Beverly Hills Ninja.[34] After his death on December 18, 1997, his final completed films, Almost Heroes and Dirty Work, were released in May and June 1998, respectively.

Unfinished projects

Farley was originally cast as the voice of the title character in the film Shrek, recording 85% (or 95%, according to some sources) of the character's dialogue, but died just before recording was finished.[35][36] The filmmakers felt continuing the film with Farley's voice would be in bad taste, so Shrek's dialogue was re-recorded by former SNL castmate Mike Myers. A story reel featuring a sample of Farley as Shrek was released in 2015.[37] The original version of Shrek was more like Farley himself, according to his brother.[38]

Farley was slated for another voice role in Dinosaur as a young male Brachiosaurus named Sorbus who, despite his gigantic stature, was frightened of heights. After his death, the character was rewritten as Baylene, an elderly female Brachiosaurus played by British actress Joan Plowright.[39]

At the time of his death, Farley had been in talks to costar with Vince Vaughn in The Gelfin, and to star in a biographical film about comedian Fatty Arbuckle to be written by David Mamet.[40][41] Jim Carrey's role in the 1996 film The Cable Guy was originally intended for Farley, but scheduling conflicts forced him to decline.[42] Farley was also offered the role of Ishmael (eventually played by Randy Quaid) in Kingpin, though he was forced by Paramount to turn it down to honor his commitment to star in Black Sheep.

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.[42][43] 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.[44]

Farley had been in talks for the lead in an adaptation of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces.[45] Farley even expressed interest in portraying Atuk in an adaptation of the novel The Incomparable Atuk.[46] 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 both roles, and all three died before any of the films entered production.[42][47]

Addiction

For much of his adult life, Farley battled alcohol and illicit drug abuse. These addictions resulted in his repeated suspension from the cast of Saturday Night Live.[48] Bernie Brillstein, whose firm of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment managed Farley, had repeatedly sent the actor to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.[49]

In 1997, there was a visible decline in Farley's health. He made a guest appearance on Nickelodeon's children's sketch comedy show All That, doing a sketch alongside future SNL cast member Kenan Thompson. The appearance proceeded without incident, but the stunt comedy Farley was famous for was minimal, arguably because it was noticeable Farley was wheezing heavily and straining himself to perform.

On October 25, 1997, Farley made his final appearance on Saturday Night Live as a first-time host. The cold open featured Lorne Michaels contemplating Farley's ability to host, with Tim Meadows advocating that "he will be calm, he will be focused, and he will be good ... His party days are over." Chevy Chase was Farley's "sponsor" in the sketch.[50] Farley's hoarse voice and flushed skin were the subject of public scrutiny. He had strained his vocal cords during performance and his exhaustion was so noticeable the producers nearly recommended cancelling his appearance. Farley's hosting had been considered so troubling to the cast and crew that it was decided to be pulled from general circulation and syndication as well as the SNL seasonal streaming, a decision only shared with Steven Seagal's 1991 hosting stint.[51] In the final years of his life, Farley had sought treatment for weight problems and drug abuse on 17 occasions.[52]

Death

On December 18, 1997, Farley was found dead by his younger brother John in his apartment in the John Hancock Center in Chicago. He was 33 years old.[53] An autopsy revealed that Farley had died of an overdose of a combination of cocaine and morphine,[54] commonly known as a "speedball". Advanced atherosclerosis was cited as a "significant contributing factor."[34][54]

Funeral

Farley's grave in 2010 with his inscription at the top

A private funeral was held for Farley on December 23, 1997, 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 worked with him on Saturday Night Live and on film, such as Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Lorne Michaels, Al Franken, John Goodman, George Wendt and Phil Hartman.[55][56] Notably absent was Farley's best friend David Spade. Spade's non-appearance fueled speculation that there was some falling out with Farley prior to his death. However, years later Spade denied any ill will between him and his comedic partner, admitting that his absence from the funeral was because he would have found it too emotionally difficult.[57] Farley's remains were interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Madison.

Legacy

Farley's career, private life, and early death have often been compared to that of his comedy idol John Belushi, who died at the same age and from a similar drug overdose.[20][54]

On August 26, 2005, Farley was posthumously awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located in front of iO West.[58] 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.[59]

A television documentary on Farley's life, I Am Chris Farley, was shown on August 10, 2015.[60][61] Farley was also the subject of the TV program, Autopsy: The Last Hours of Chris Farley, which premiered on November 19, 2016, on the Reelz channel.[62]

In 2018, Adam Sandler wrote and performed an emotional tribute song dedicated to Farley in his Netflix stand-up special Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh. Netflix released the performance on YouTube later that year to commemorate the 21st anniversary of Farley's death.[63] Sandler later played the song live on an episode of Saturday Night Live that he hosted on May 4, 2019.[64]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Wayne's World Security Guard Film debut
1993 Coneheads Ronnie Bradford
Wayne's World 2 Milton
1994 Airheads Officer Wilson
1995 Billy Madison Bus Driver[65] Uncredited
Tommy Boy Thomas "Tommy" Callahan III MTV Movie Awards Best On-Screen Duo (Shared with David Spade)
1996 Black Sheep Michael "Mike" Donnelly
1997 Beverly Hills Ninja Haru Nominated — MTV Movie Awards Best Comedic Performance[66]
1998 Almost Heroes Bartholomew Hunt Posthumous release
Dirty Work Jimmy No-Nose Uncredited; posthumous release[67] (final film role)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1990–1995 Saturday Night Live Various characters 100 episodes
1992 The Jackie Thomas Show Chris Thomas 1 episode
1993 The Larry Sanders Show Himself
Roseanne Man in Clothing Store
1994 Tom Chris
1997 All That Chef Farley
Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Chris Farley/The Mighty Mighty Bosstones"

References

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  2. ^ a b c "Chris Farley Biography — Yahoo! Movies". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Wisconsin Historical Society". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  4. ^ The Chris Farley Tour of Madison, Wisconsin | The Bozho Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  5. ^ Gardner, Greg (July 18, 2009). "Rising star assigned new duties at Ford". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. Retrieved September 4, 2011. (registration required)
  6. ^ Vlasic, Bill (April 20, 2008). "A Star at Toyota, a Believer at Ford". The New York Times. p. 4. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
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  8. ^ "Marquette University — Famous Faces". Marquette.edu. February 12, 2003. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  9. ^ Engel, Tom (March 17, 2009). "Tom Farley addresses brother's addictions". Marquette Tribune. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. ^ "Chris Farley Biography". The Biography Channel. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  11. ^ Colbert, Stephen [@stephenathome] (December 18, 2018). "Chris Farley and I started at Second City on the same day. You knew the minute you saw him on stage he was great. He was sweet and smart and funny. When I heard he had died, 21 years ago today, I fell to the ground. Rest In Peace" (Tweet). Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via Twitter.
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  27. ^ Howe, Desson (July 23, 1993). "Coneheads". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
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  30. ^ Spanos, Brittany (June 22, 2016). "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Music Videos". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
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  34. ^ a b Tucker, Reed (December 16, 2007). "That Was Awesome!". New York Post. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  35. ^ Berkowitz, Joe (August 6, 2015). "Chris Farley Was Originally The Voice of Shrek–And Footage Has Finally Surfaced". Fast Company. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  36. ^ "Hear What a Chris Farley Shrek Would Have Sounded Like in 1997". /Film. August 7, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  37. ^ Griggs, Brandon. "Hear Chris Farley's Shrek in newly unearthed clip". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  38. ^ Polowy, Kevin (July 30, 2015). "Chris Farley's Original 'Shrek' Was 'Humble, Bumbling, Innocent', According to Brother". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  39. ^ Parks, Zack (September 28, 2012). "Top 10 Actors Who Almost Voiced Disney Animated Characters". Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  40. ^ Redding, Jordan (November 30, 2014). "The Life of Chris Farley Gone But Not Forgotten". Moviepilot. Retrieved July 31, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  41. ^ Rabin, Nathan (June 9, 2009). "Fatty fall down, make tragedy: The Chris Farley Show". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
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  43. ^ Ditzian, Eric (March 27, 2009). "Original 'Ghostbusters' Cast Onboard For Reboot, Harold Ramis Says". MTV News. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  44. ^ Heller, Karen (April 26, 2000). "His Books Let Him Stay Class Clown, Even At 34". Philly.com. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  45. ^ Hyman, Peter (December 14, 2006). "A Conspiracy of Dunces: Will John Kennedy Toole's comic masterpiece ever reach the big screen?". Slate. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  46. ^ Raouf, Neda (February 21, 1999). "The 'Atuk' Curse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  47. ^ Evans, Bradford (March 3, 2011). "The Lost Roles of John Belushi". Splitsider. Archived from the original on August 28, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  48. ^ Mills, Steve (January 3, 1998). "Drug overdose killed comedian Farley". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  49. ^ Bernie Brillstein, Where Did I Go Right? You're No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead (1999, Little, Brown and Company)
  50. ^ Hedegaard, Erik (February 5, 1998). "Chris Farley: The Wild Ride and Sad End". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  51. ^ Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. New York City: Back Bay. pp. 492–93. ISBN 0-316-73565-5.
  52. ^ Nashawaty, Chris (January 9, 1998). "The Last Temptation of Chris". Entertainment Weekly. New York City. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  53. ^ Sutton, Larry; Domiguez, Robert; Hervieux, Linda; Sweeney, Michael (December 16, 2015). "Chris Farley, actor and comedian, dies at 33 in 1997". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  54. ^ a b c "Chris Farley's Death Laid to Drug Overdose". The New York Times. January 3, 1998. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  55. ^ Thelmer, Sharon (December 18, 1997). "Fellow comedians weep for Chris Farley". Athens Daily News. Athens, Georgia. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  56. ^ Ryan, Joal (December 23, 1997). "Farley funeral: The Day the Clowns Cried". eonline.com. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  57. ^ Grow, Kory (April 30, 2014). "David Spade Explains Why He Didn't Attend Chris Farley's Funeral". Rolling Stone. New York City. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  58. ^ "Chris Farley Gets Posthumous Star". USA Today. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  59. ^ "Chris Farley". IMDb. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  60. ^ "Chris Farley". 4-traders.com. Retrieved June 28, 2016. an agreement with the Estate of Chris Farley under which Network (Entertainment) will develop and produce a feature documentary on the life and legacy of legendary funny man Chris Farley. We very much look forward to working with Kevin and the rest of the Farley family to recount Chris' life and work, and the impact he had on all those around him, in an authentic, moving, and of course very funny, way.
  61. ^ Chestang, Raphael (July 10, 2015). "Chris Farley Documentary Unveils the Late Comedian's Complex Struggles". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  62. ^ "Autopsy". Reelz.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  63. ^ "Adam Sandler's Netflix stand-up special '100% Fresh' is his best work in years". USA Today. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  64. ^ Romero, Dennis (May 5, 2019). "Adam Sandler returns to 'SNL' after 24 years with Opera Man and ode to Chris Farley". NBC News. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  65. ^ Farley, Tom; Colby, Tanner (2006). The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts. Viking Adult. p. 337. ISBN 1-616-80458-0.
  66. ^ "MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance - Study in China 2023 - Wiki English". www.duhoctrungquoc.vn. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  67. ^ Kronke, David (June 15, 1998). "Macdonald's 'Dirty Work' Needs a Laugh Transplant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
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