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| Birth Name(s) : Christopher Crosby Farley |
Date of Birth: February 15, 1964 |
| Status:
N/A
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| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Chris Farley Biography
| Chris Farley was discovered by "Saturday Night Live" and took the road many of their comedians have followed since 1975. "Wayne's World" (1992) was his first feature film, and was followed by roles as the "fat guy who falls down" in movies like "Tommy Boy" (1995) and "Black Sheep" (1996). A cocaine overdose took his life on December 17th, 1997 in his apartment in Chicago. |
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Additional Chris Farley Biography
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American comedian and actor.
He was a cast member at Chicago's Second City Theatre and achieved his greatest fame as a cast member on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He starred in a string of moderately successful comedic films such as Tommy Boy before his death in late 1997.
Farley was one of two new SNL (Saturday Night Live) cast members announced in the spring of 1990, the other being Chris Rock. On the show, Farley 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 Farley included an over-the-top motivational speaker named Matt Foley (who constantly reminded 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 yell out "da Bears!"), a Chippendale's dancer (in a famous skit that paired him with guest host Patrick Swayze), a "Gap Girl" (who hung out with friends at a local mall), a stereotypical lunch lady (to the theme of Lunch Lady Land performed by Adam Sandler) and Bennett Brauer (a Weekend Update commentator who would often divulge his personal and hygienic problems via air quotes). Some of these characters were brought to SNL from his days at Second City. Farley also performed impersonations of Tom Arnold, (who gave the eulogy at his funeral), Andrew Giuliani, Jerry Garcia, Meat Loaf, Norman Schwarzkopf, Roger Ebert, Carnie Wilson, and Newt Gingrich who invited Farley down to Washington, D.C. He was best friends with Adam Sandler.
Off-screen, Farley was well-known for his pranks in the offices of Saturday Night Live. A March 13, 1995 New York Magazine article references Farley 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 Farley then farting into the phone, as well as Farley mooning cars from a limousine.
Farley started his film career making cameo appearances in several comedy films, including Wayne's World in 1992, Coneheads in 1993, Wayne's World 2 in 1993 (playing a different character than he did in the first film), Airheads in 1994 and Adam Sandler's Billy Madison in 1995.
After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live after its 1994-1995 season, Farley focused on his film career. His first two major films co-starred his SNL cohort and close friend David Spade. Together, the duo made the films Tommy Boy (which was named after his new born nephew) and Black Sheep in consecutive years 1995 and 1996. These two films were successes at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video. These films established Farley 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 during the filming of his final film, Almost Heroes with Matthew Perry, shooting was stopped several times for Farley's disease treatment and relapses.
Farley was popular with young audiences not only as a physical comedian but also as a comic actor, but few critics warmed to him. Only Tommy Boy was met with any degree of critical acclaim.
He was supposed to be cast in Ghostbusters 3, when the film was in development to have three new Ghostbusters take on an overpopulation in hell. Farley's death extended the film's development hell.
In early 1997, a decline in Chris 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. A tabloid later reported that Farley had been drinking heavily during rehearsal week and utilized an oxygen tank. Other reports claimed that Farley required almost constant care while filming on the set of Almost Heroes. Actor Matthew Perry has since said this is untrue and Farley was sober on set. He went through treatment for alcohol and drug abuse 31 separate times starting in 1993, as well as numerous visits to weight reduction treatment centers.
Chris Farley has been memorialized in many different ways. On August 26, 2005, Farley 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 castmember Jay Mohr recalled a surreal moment involving Farley and fellow castmember Phil Hartman. In the SNL cast's goodbye song-and-dance performance to Hartman, the final scene featured Farley (in his Matt Foley costume) and Hartman embracing each other as the latter sang "Goodbye" to the camera. They died within six months of each other. |
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