BIOGRAPHY

Early days Christopher Crosby Farley was born to Tom and Mary Anne Farley in Madison, Wisconsin on February 15, 1964. He grew up in Madison, part of a close-knit family including three brothers, Kevin, John, and Tom, and one sister, Barbara. Comedy was all in the family for the Farleys, and many of the "inside" jokes they shared would go on to end up in Chris' movies. "Chris loved to insert family jokes and phrases into his routines and movies" says brother Tom, "sometimes, I'd be the only one laughing hysterically in the theater at these hidden one-liners." Besides honing his early comedy skills at home, Chris was also making others laugh at an early age in grade school and summer camp (he was a popular counselor). After attending Madison's Edgewood High School, Chris graduated with a degree in communications and theatre from Marquette University, where he described himself as a "teacher's nightmare." After Marquette, Chris went to work at Madison's Scotch Oil Company alongside his dad, before he began performing with the Ark Improv Theatre group, studying under legendary director Del Close (John Belushi and John Candy both worked under Close as well) at the Improv Olympic Theatre. Chris was performing at Chicago's Second City Theatre in the late eighties when he was discovered by SNL producer Lorne Michaels. Lorne brought him to the cast of Saturday Night Live in the 1990-91 season.

SNL While at SNL, Farley's comedic exuberance onstage quickly made him a favorite. Some of his most popular roles while on SNL included playing a lovable, insecure caricature of himself as host of "The Chris Farley Show", the classic over-zealous auditioning Chippendales dancer and probably his most popular character: thrice-divorced, van-dwelling motivational speaker Matt Foley. Chris always brought a personal touch to his characters, and his style was both unmistakably original and side-splittingly hilarious.

Movies Chris made his feature film debut in the hit movie "Wayne's World", appearing briefly as a security guard. After other small roles in the films "Coneheads", "Airheads", "Billy Madison" and "Wayne's World 2" Chris left SNL along with other after the 1994-95 season along with other long-time favorites Adam Sandler, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman to focus on his movie career. His first starring role came alongside SNL companion David Spade in 1995's "Tommy Boy". "Tommy Boy" quickly became a cult classic among fans, breaking box-office expectations, and causing many observers to call the duo a modern-day Laurel and Hardy combo. Chris teamed up with Spade again in "Black Sheep" which also achieved box-office success, and was a fan-favorite although lacking the overall popularity of Tommy Boy. Chris went solo in his next movie, "Beverly Hills Ninja" an over-the-top farce that provided ample opportunities for Farley's physical humor, but lacked the script to take full advantage of Farley's comedic talents. Farley's dedicated fan base continued to support his movies and "Ninja" was another box-office success, debuting #1 and even out-grossing established star Eddie Murphy's latest movie released the same week.

TV Besides SNL, Farley made several TV appearances. Farley would be seen everywhere from HBO's Larry Sanders show and Dennis Miller Live, to MTV's Road Rules. He often made appearances at football games supporting the Bears, Packers, and once appeared as a "special correspondent" at Wisconsin's homecoming football game vs. Northwestern. Chris also was known to join fellow comedian brothers Kevin and John in skits, among them Nickelodeon's "Ketchup Chef", and in an appearance as staunch Packer supporter "Mayor Cheddar McFarley" on the Tonight Show. Chris made many classic appearances on Letterman's Late Show, the Tonight Show, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien promoting his movies, rooting on the Packers, and generally just being funny. Chris was a special talk-show guest, one of the few celebrities who would always guarantee the hosts a hilarious interview and some crowd-pleasing spontaneous antics.
Chris finished filming "Almost Heroes", a.k.a. "Edwards and Hunt" with "Friends" star Matthew Perry (Chandler) in 1997. "Heroes" was continously delayed by the studio (for close to a year), but was finally released to theaters in late May 1998. It is expected to be available for video rental late 1998. Chris' final project was doing voice-over work for Dreamworks Studios' major animated feature "Shrek". However, work was still in progress, and will remain unused as Farley's voice role has been taken over by Eddie Murphy. That makes Chris' starring role in "Heroes", and his hilarious cameo appearance in Norm MacDonald's "Dirty Work" the last chances for Farley's thousands of loyal fans to see him star on the big screen, due to his untimely death on December 18, 1997 at the age of 33.
Chris Farley loved his family, his fans, and his friends dearly and it always showed in his work. He will be sorely missed and his laughter and gentle spirit will be remembered forever.