Chris Farley
"Well la-di-fricken-da!" -Matt Foley
Christopher Crosby "Chris "Farley was born on the 15th of February morning 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, into an Irish Catholic family. He had three brothers, Tom Jr., Kevin and John, and had a sister, Barbra. When he got older, he studied at Marquette University and graduated with a degree in communications and theatre. After his graduation, he went to work with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison, Wisconsin. Even though it looked as though he might be working with oil for the rest of his life, Chris had other ideas. On the side, he started to work at the Ark Improv Center in Madison and slowly worked his way up so that he was working there professionally. He then moved his way to Chicago where he got a bigger job working at Chicago's Second City Theatre where he was part of their Second City's touring group, but eventually made his way on to the main stage where he worked there full time. While doing this, he befriended the most important man involved with Saturday Night Live: Lorne Michaels.
Chris Farley began his Saturday Night Live career in the spring of 1990 along with Chris Rock. Chris Farley was well known for his spunky humor and over the top presentation of different characters. Some of his most famous characters were actually quite opposite. He was known as Matt Foley, the abnoxious motivational speaker that frequently reminded listeners that "I live in a van, down by the river!" He also portrayed himself on a segment of the show called "the Chris Farley Show" where he played a sheepish, simple- minded young man that could sometimes be quite clueless. He also played Todd O'Connor, a member of Bill Swerski's Superfans, who sat in a pub, ate Chicago sausage and talked about "Da Bears!" He also played many other characters such as a typical lunchlady while Adam Sandler sang out lunchlady land. He was also a chippendale in a famous skit where he competed against Patrick Swayze to become a chippendale.
Chris Farley was also involved in several movies, but some of them weren't finished due to his death. He was in Tommy Boy where he acted alongside fellow SNL cast member David Spade in the 1995 film. Shortly after, the dynamic duo came out with another movie called Black Sheep that came out in 1996. Both of the films earned about $32 million and have both been called timless classics by different people. He was in the Red Hot Chili Peppers Soul to Squeeze music video and has had small roles in movies such as Wayne's World, Coneheads, Airheads and Billy Madison. Before his death, he was also set to play Shrek in the movie Shrek, so his fellow SNL member Mike Myers played the part instead.
Chris Farley may not have been the subject of Billy Joel's song "Only the Good Die Young," but it definitely applies to him. Chris Farley was found dead in his Chicago apartment on December 18, 1997. His autopsy should that he died from an overdose of cocaine and morphine. He was buried five days later in the Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin. Over 500 people attended his funeral including some of his fellow cast members such as Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler and many others. But David Spade was not in attendance because he said he could not be in a room where Chris was in a box." Chris Farley will always be remembered as one of the greatest comedians to go through Saturday Night Live.
Here is a list of some of the movies he has been in:
Wayne's World, 1992
Coneheads, 1993
Billy Madison, 1995
Tommy Boy, 1995
Black Sheep, 1996
Beverely Hills Ninja, 1997