- Born
- DiedDecember 18, 1997 · Chicago, Illinois, USA (accidental opiate/cocaine intoxication and coronary atherosclerosis)
- Birth nameChristopher Crosby Farley
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Christopher Crosby Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Mary Anne (Crosby) and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil company. Among his siblings are actors Kevin P. Farley and John Farley. He was of Irish heritage. Farley studied theatre and communications on Marquette University. After finishing university he was in the cast of the Second City Theatre, where he was discovered by the producer of the great comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975), Lorne Michaels. Farley worked on Saturday Night Live (1975) for five years during which he appeared in movies like Wayne's World (1992), Coneheads (1993), Billy Madison (1995) and finally Tommy Boy (1995), with his comic partner and SNL cast member David Spade. The duo later made one more movie called Black Sheep (1996). From that time on, Farley was one of the big comedy stars, and his fame was growing and growing.
After some more time, he made another "lone" movie, Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), which featured former SNL member Chris Rock. Farley was made even more famous, but with his growing fame, his problems grew bigger as well; he didn't want to be the "fat guy who falls down" any longer. Farley had several other problems, too, with alcohol and drug dependency. On December 18th, 1997, he died from a heroin (opiate) and cocaine overdose in his apartment in Chicago, where his body was found by his brother John the next day. Farley's weight of 296 pounds was a contributing factor in his death, but according to his autopsy the alcohol, marijuana and Prozac that was also found in his body, were not. Less than two months prior to his death, he had appeared alongside Chevy Chase on what would be Farley's only SNL show as host. Not unlike his idol John Belushi, he was credited for one more appearance after having left SNL and died at age 33. His death cause was also the same. In the year after Farley's departing, the movie Almost Heroes (1998), where he plays the leading role alongside Matthew Perry was released. He also makes cameo appearances in Dirty Work (1998)- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jan Wilm (jancowilm@aol.com)
- ParentsThomas John FarleyMary Anne Farley
- RelativesJohn Farley(Sibling)Kevin P. Farley(Sibling)Tom Farley Jr.(Sibling)
- Incredible physicality despite his girth
- Innovator of "anti-slapstick" comedy style; ie. man walks into doorframe, curses and screams in pain for long period of time.
- Manic energy
- Screaming many lines at the top of his lungs
- Characters on SNL: Matt Foley, Todd O'Connor and Bennett Brauer
- He was said to have idolized John Belushi. His life story bears a striking similarity to that of Belushi: both Farley and Belushi were regulars at The Second City in Chicago, both then went on to become cast members on Saturday Night Live (1975) and then later do feature films, both had obesity problems, both had a reputation for having an out-of-control lifestyle, and both died from drug overdoses at the age of thirty-three.
- Was originally cast as the title role in Shrek (2001) and even recorded the dialogue. However, after his untimely death, the role was given to fellow Saturday Night Live (1975) performer, Mike Myers.
- David Spade once told an anecdote about how the cast of SNL would hit the bars post-rehearsal and Farley would often approach a woman claiming that he was an aerobics instructor. When the woman would inevitably scoff at his claim, Chris would do a standing back flip, stick the landing, and continue the conversation.
- He was originally meant to play Kevin James' role in Grown Ups (2010), as the script was originally written in the early 1990s.
- Adam Sandler revealed in 2010 during an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993) that Farley and he were fired from Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1995.
- Basically, I only play one character; I just play him at different volumes.
- Everyone is treating it like a Hollywood story. In Madison, it's a neighborhood story.
- People... need a time to laugh. It's up to us to bonk ourselves on the head and slip on a banana peel so the average guy can say, "I may be bad, honey, but I'm not as much of an idiot as that guy on the screen.".
- Once I thought that if I just had enough in the bank, if I had enough fame, that it would be all right. But I'm a human being like everyone else. I'm not exempt.
- In the land of the skunks, he who has half a nose is king.
- Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) - $6,000,000
- Black Sheep (1996) - $6,000,000
- Tommy Boy (1995) - $2,000,000
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