Farley was born on
February 15,
1964, in
Madison, Wisconsin. His father,
Thomas John "
Tom" Farley, Sr. (1936–
1999), owned an oil company, and his mother was
Mary Anne (née
Crosby), a housewife. He had four siblings: Tom Jr.,
Kevin,
John, and
Barbara. His cousin, Jim, is the
CEO and Chairman at
Ford Motor Company Europe.
Farley's family is
Roman Catholic and of
Irish and
Scottish descent, and Farley attended numerous
Catholic schools in his hometown, including
Edgewood High School of the
Sacred Heart. According to
Joel Murray, a fellow
Second City cast member, Farley would "always make it to
Mass." Many of his summers were spent as a camper and counselor at
Red Arrow Camp, near
Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Farley graduated from
Marquette University in
1986, with a concentration in communications and theater. After college, he worked with his father at the
Scotch Oil
Company in
Madison.] He got his start in professional comedy at the Ark
Improv Theatre in Madison, and at the
Improv Olympic theater in
Chicago. He then performed at Chicago's
Second City Theatre, initially as part of Second City's touring group. He was eventually promoted to their main stage.
Along with
Chris Rock, Farley was one of two new
Saturday Night Live cast members announced in the spring of
1990. On
SNL, Farley frequently collaborated with his fellow cast members
Adam Sandler, Chris Rock,
Rob Schneider, and
David Spade, among others. This group came to be known as the "
Bad Boys of SNL."
Popular characters performed by Farley included
Matt Foley, an over-the-top motivational speaker who constantly reminded other 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 shouted "da
Bears!"; a Chippendale's dancer, in a famous sketch 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
Lunchlady Land performed by Adam Sandler;
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 quite often "interviewed" the guest, regularly getting very nervous.
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 were among the celebrities and real-life figures he portrayed.
Off-screen, Farley was well known for his pranks in the offices of
Saturday Night Live. This would refer to Sandler and Farley making 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. He was also known to frequently get naked and do various stunts for laughs. Chris Rock once claimed that he probably saw Farley's private parts more than Farley's girlfriend did. Sandler told
Conan O'Brien on
The Tonight Show that
NBC fired him and
Farley from the show in
1995.
Film career
During his time on SNL, Farley appeared in the comedy films
Wayne's World,
Coneheads,
Airheads, and uncredited in
Billy Madison. He also appeared in the
Red Hot Chili Peppers music video for "
Soul to Squeeze" which was a song featured on the Coneheads soundtrack.
After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live following the
1994–1995 season, Farley began focusing on his film career. His first two major films co-starred his fellow SNL colleague and close friend David Spade.
Together, the duo made the films
Tommy Boy and
Black Sheep. These were a success at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video.
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. However, drug and alcohol problems interfered with Farley's film work, and production of his final film,
Almost Heroes, was held up several times so Farley could enter rehab. After his death on
December 18,
1997, his final completed films, Almost Heroes and
Dirty Work, were released posthumously.
- published: 19 Jun 2016
- views: 1929