The Truth About Chris Farley

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“How are you? Pretty good, Conor, you’re doing great. Oh, I don’t know why.” Chris Farley was clean in December 1997, but he fell off the wagon hard. Suddenly, he was passed out in his apartment with a woman. He never woke up, but people don’t realize what that woman did to him in his final moments.

It was easy for comedic actor Chris Farley to plan out his career very early in his life. He decided who his role model was. The problem was that the celebrity he chose was a fellow comedian whose disastrous life choices had led to a tragic and early demise. Sadly, Farley seemed destined to repeat every mistake his idol made.

He was born on February 15th, 1964, and grew up in the village of Maple Bluff, Wisconsin. Because he was overweight while growing up, the other children at school mercilessly teased him. Farley would use humor as a way to defuse the name-calling. While studying at Marquette University, he discovered a love of sport. Here he played rugby, where his large size was an asset.

He eventually graduated with majors in both communications and theater. Later, he dove into improvisational comedy at the Ark Improv Theatre in Madison. The obvious place for Farley to go was Chicago, the mecca of comedy performance. He started there at Improv Olympic and then moved on to The Second City. Like many improvisers appearing on The Second City stage, Farley was waiting for a certain someone to notice him. Lorne Michaels is the creator and producer of Saturday Night Live, and a tap on the shoulder from him had the ability to turn a nobody into the biggest comedy star in the world. In 1990, Michaels did notice Farley, and he was soon making the trip to New York City.

One of Farley’s most popular characters on SNL was Matt Foley, a hyperactive motivational speaker who was always extremely caffeinated. In the inaugural sketch, David Spade and Christina Applegate were on live TV facing an animated and sweaty Farley when he did something that really surprised them. He dove through the air onto the coffee table in front of them. Their reactions are authentic because they had no idea what Farley was going to do, and the audience went wild. Matt Foley was out of the box, and Chris Farley was ready for the spotlight.

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In 1995, he received an offer to appear in a film with his friend David Spade. It was a hectic schedule, as both Farley and Spade had to rehearse and perform Saturday Night Live each week and at the same time commute to Toronto to make Tommy Boy. Eventually, the stress made Farley act out in a surprising way. One night in Toronto, Spade went out with actor Rob Lowe without Farley because he said he was sick. When Farley found out, he had an over-the-top reaction. The next day on set, he walked angrily over to Spade, who was sitting on the ground eating a sandwich, and stomped directly on his hand. What followed was an all-out brawl, and Spade ended up at the bottom of some stairs. The two eventually stormed off to their trailers. This wasn’t the only spat between Farley and Spade, but all of them ended in the same way: in a peaceful reconciliation.

There was a good reason why Farley was on edge. One of the things that may have made him a little emotional was that he was abstaining from any substance use while filming Tommy Boy. Well, not all substances. Like his character Matt Foley, Farley was drinking copious amounts of coffee. Some say he drank up to 27 cappuccinos a day. Even though Farley had a crazy schedule while filming Tommy Boy, he refused to let a professional stuntman do his stunts. So yes, that really was him who face-planted at the fraternity party. And ever surprisingly spry for his size, he apparently got up right after with no injuries.

Tommy Boy ended up being a huge and unexpected hit. Farley now had his pick of scripts for his next film. While working on SNL, Farley had found some like-minded people. People like Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, and Tim Meadows—the so-called bad boys of SNL. As it turned out, this name came from some crazy behind-the-scenes antics, from prank calls in the middle of the night to exposing their bare bums at every opportunity. Those scamps! One time, Farley was partying with a female friend in a 15th-floor hotel room. Being extremely drunk and typically rambunctious, he ended up almost falling through a window. Instead, he found himself in the ER with a gash from his wrist to his elbow. This incident started a struggle with painkillers that would continue for the rest of his life.

In 1995, despite their fame, the brass at NBC had had enough of both Farley and Adam Sandler. Their hijinks off the set gave the studio no choice but to lay both of them off. Thanks to Tommy Boy, Farley was still in demand for movies. In fact, Paramount already had him locked into making Black Sheep with David Spade. But Farley wasn’t going to make things easy for them. He had his sights set on another script he wanted to do. It was with rival Columbia Pictures, and it was called The Cable Guy.

Farley had a good reason to want to bail on Paramount. Even though the studio was insisting that he appear in Black Sheep, the truth was that they didn’t even have a script. They were desperately trying to get it written before Farley could legally get out of his contract. That’s when someone came out of left field to throw a wrench into Farley’s plan. Jim Carrey heard about the script for The Cable Guy and expressed interest. Chris Farley was a big deal, but Jim Carrey was Jim Carrey. Farley didn’t stand a chance. And as salt in the wound, Carrey got himself a $20 million paycheck while Farley was stuck with Spade, Paramount, and less than a million dollars.

Another issue for Farley and Black Sheep was the director. He wanted Tommy Boy director Peter Segal, but he turned it down. Instead, Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris took over, but tempers flared immediately. Spade quickly complained that Farley was getting more time on screen than he was. It was true, and the reason was simple: Spheeris thought that Farley was much funnier than Spade.

Farley had also suddenly come to a realization, and it wasn’t going to make Spade feel any better. Right in the middle of filming Black Sheep, Farley decided he wanted to show off his dramatic flair. He was actually hoping for even fewer scenes with Spade and more serious scenes with Tim Matheson. That’s when Farley made a friendship-ending offer: he wanted to pay Spade not to be in the movie. But that wasn’t the only thing coming between Farley and Spade.

Back when they were filming Tommy Boy, Spade had started a friendship with Lorri Bagley, who had appeared as a skinny dipper in the film. Spade had a thing for her and then made the mistake of introducing her to Farley. Farley and Bagley hit it off and started a relationship. The thing was, Farley didn’t want Spade to know, so the two kept their relationship a secret. Spade eventually found out the truth, and it hurt. But he wasn’t the only one who got hurt on that film. Even though Farley didn’t really want to be in Black Sheep, he gave it everything he had. This meant, once again, no stunt double. So yes, that means it really was him rolling down that hill.

Black Sheep certainly wasn’t the hit that Tommy Boy was, and Farley took it badly. After the preview screening of the film, he did something he hadn’t done in six months: he had a drink. One drink led to another, and soon he was back in rehab.

Next up was Beverly Hills Ninja. This time around, Farley was hesitant to sign on, so he had one rather large demand: he wanted his SNL buddy Chris Rock to appear in the film. Farley and Rock went way back and had actually started on SNL on the same day. Just like after Black Sheep, Farley relapsed into drug use after finishing Beverly Hills Ninja. When he came back to do reshoots for the film, he looked horrible. The crew had a hard time making this Farley look like the same one they’d filmed just a few months before.

When SNL alumni Norm Macdonald wrote his feature film Dirty Work, he had his cast even before he wrote the characters. He knew that Farley would appear in his movie. Sadly, he had no idea this cameo role would be Farley’s last.

Around that time, Farley was also getting ready to play one of the biggest movie characters of the 21st century: Shrek. During the making of the film, the producers were so worried about Farley’s addiction issues that they had someone follow him to make sure he didn’t fall off the wagon. Sadly, Farley didn’t live to finish recording his dialogue for Shrek.

In October 1997, Farley made what should have been a triumphant return to SNL, this time to host. The cold open saw Tim Meadows and Lorne Michaels talk about how Farley’s partying days were over. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true—at least not for much longer.

On the 14th of December, after a period of being clean, Farley started partying. He ended up in his apartment with a woman whose company he’d paid for. She stole his watch, heartlessly took pictures of the very inebriated Farley, and ignored the last three words he said to her: “Don’t leave me.” She did leave, and she was the last one to see him alive.

Just two months after his appearance on SNL, Farley’s brother found him dead, having overdosed. His fans and the comedy community were shocked. Many alumni of SNL came to the funeral, but there was one glaring omission. Many big names in comedy attended, including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and Phil Hartman. Conspicuous by his absence was his best friend, David Spade. Some speculated this was due to a falling out, but Spade later said that it would have been too hard to attend.

Many people have noticed a similarity between the lives of Farley and John Belushi. Belushi was also an SNL bad boy, also had an early demise at the same age as Farley, and also with a woman present. The similarity between the two was so acute that Belushi’s friend Bill Murray hated it. He said the resemblance was too much. There was something dark about Farley’s connection to Belushi. Farley knew that Belushi had a drug issue and that he was a user because he thought it made him funnier. Farley said that it was for this reason that he got into drug use. He was just following his idol.

He had tried many times to deal with the many addictions in his life. In his final two years, he tried 17 various treatments, but none of them took. These treatments included rehab for drug issues, weight loss centers, and AA meetings. Farley had a deep-seated belief that he had to be overweight and manic to be funny. For these reasons, his efforts to improve his life always failed. At the base of it all was his fear that people wouldn’t find him funny.

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