What Do You Know About Chris Farley?

he was probably one of the funniest comedians of our time who met his untimely death as the result of a drug overdose i believe

Hilarious, fat, liked his cocaine a little too much.

He was an extremely funny guy from SNL who eventually became a movie actor (often acting with David Spade). He died at a very young age.

He was a member at Chicago’s Second City Theatre[1] and later went on to join the cast of the American 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.

Farley was born in Madison, Wisconsin. His family consists of three brothers (Tom Farley, Jr., and actors Kevin and John), his sister, Barbara, and his parents, Mary Anne and Tom, Sr. Chris graduated from Edgewood High School (Wisconsin). He also attended La Lumiere School in Indiana for one semester in his junior year, after a brief suspension for misbehavior.[citation needed] He then went on to graduate from Marquette University in 1986 with a degree in communications and theatre. After graduating, 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 the Improv Olympic theater in Chicago. He then went on to perform at Chicago’s Second City Theatre. He was initially part of Second City’s touring group, but was eventually promoted to their main stage.While working at Second City, he was discovered by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.

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), one of the “Gap Girls” (who hung out together 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.

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.

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.

On December 18, 1997, his younger brother John found Farley dead in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. He was 33 years old, coincidentally the same age Farley’s idol John Belushi was when he died. His death had been attributed to obesity, alcohol, and drug addiction. An autopsy revealed that Farley had overdosed while taking a “speedball”, a dangerous combination of cocaine and heroin, with coronary atherosclerosis as a contributing factor.

He was a talented man who had addiction and health problems which resulted in his untimely death.

I once sat at a table next to him at 5757, the restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC. Even though the dining room was quite cool, he was sweating profusely, was agitated, unrealistically impatient with the waiter and drawing quite a bit of attention to himself, and not in a pleasant way. It wasn’t long after that when I read about his passing away.

I regret that such a talented man allowed his personal demons control his life to the point of death.