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ays 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.[16] 

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. [17][18][19] Sandler told Conan O'Brien on The

Tonight Show  that NBC fired him and Farley from the show in 1995.[20] 

Film career [edit] 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.[21][22] 

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.[23] 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.[24]  After his death on December 18, 1997, his final completed films, Almost

Heroes and Dirty Work , were released posthumously. 

Unfinished projects[edit] Farley was originally cast as the voice of  the title character  in the movie Shrek , recording

about 80 –90% of the character's dialogue, but died just before recording was finished. A

story reel featuring a sample of Farley's recorded dialogue was made public in August

2015.[25] In August 1998, he was replaced by one of his SNL colleagues, Mike Myers.[12] 

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Farley was slated for another voice role in Dinosaur  as a young male brachiosaurus named

Sorbus who, despite his gigantic nature, was frightened of heights. After his death, the

character was rewritten as Baylene, an elderly female Brachiosaurus played by stage

actress Joan Plowright.[26]  At the time of his death, Farley had also been in talks to co star

with Vince Vaughn in the film The Gelfin, and a biographical film aboutRoscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.[27][28] Jim Carrey's role in the 1996 film The Cable Guy  was originally intended for

Farley, but scheduling conflicts forced him to decline.[29] 

Farley was slated to appear in a third Ghostbusters film, which was at the time intended to

be about a new trio of Ghostbusters taking on overpopulation in Hell.[29][30] Dav Pilkey, author

of the children's book seriesCaptain Underpants, had wanted Farley to play the title role in a

potential television series based on the books, but discarded the idea after Farley's death.[31] 

Farley had also been in talks for the lead in an adaptation of the novel  A Confederacy of

Dunces.[32] Farley even expressed interest in portraying  Atuk in an adaptation of the

novel The Incomparable Atuk .[33] Both of these shelved projects, along with the Arbuckle

biopic, have been alleged to be cursed as Farley, John Belushi, and John Candy were each

attached to all three roles, and all three died before any of the films entered production.[29][34] 

Death and funeral[edit] 

Farley's grave in 2010

Following his final guest appearance on SNL on October 25, 1997 there was a visible decline

in Farley's health. Farley's hoarse voice and flushed skin were the subject of public

scrutiny.[35] In the final years of his life, Farley had sought treatment for obesity and drug

abuse on 17 occasions.[36] On December 18, 1997, he was found dead by his younger

brother, John, in his apartment in the John Hancock Center  in Chicago.[37] 

 An autopsy later revealed that Farley had died of a cocaine and morphine overdose early

that morning.[38]  Advanced atherosclerosis was cited as a "significant contributing

factor."[24] Farley's death is often compared to that of his SNL idol John Belushi, who also

died at age 33 of an accidental drug overdose consisting of cocaine and heroin.[14] 

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Farley's private funeral was held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in his

hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Over 500 people attended his funeral, including many

comedians who had worked with him on Saturday Night Live and on film.[39]  Absent was

Farley's former SNL castmate and close friend David Spade, who was later quoted as saying

that he declined to attend Farley's funeral because he "could not be in a room where Chriswas in a box."[16] Farley's remains were entombed at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery. 

Legacy [edit] 

On August 26, 2005, Farley was posthumously awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood

Walk of Fame, which is located in front of  iO West.[40] In his memoir  Gasping for Airtime, Jay

Mohr  recalled a moment involving Farley and his SNL idol Phil Hartman.[30] 

In the show's cast's goodbye song-and-dance performance to Hartman, the final scene

featured Farley and Hartman embracing each other as the latter sang "Goodbye" to the

camera.[41] The authorized biography of Farley, The Chris Farley Show , was written by his

brother Tom, Jr. and Tanner Colby. The song "Purple Stain" from the Red Hot Chili Peppers

1999 album, Californication, contains the lyric "Farley is an angel and I can prove this" as a

tribute to Farley.

In 2013, the official Chris Farley Facebook page announced that a documentary on the life of

Farley was in production by Network Entertainment and Hodgee Films, called I Am Chris

Farley . The film was directed byBrent Hodge, director of   A Brony Tale, What Happens

Next? and Cameron's House Rules and Derik Murray, director of I Am Evel Knievel .[42][43] On

 August 10, 2015 the documentary made its television debut.

Filmography [edit] 

Film

 Year Title Role Notes

1992Wayne's

World  Security Guard

1993 Coneheads  Ronnie the Mechanic

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Film

 Year Title Role Notes

1993Wayne's

World 2  Milton

1994  Airheads  Officer Wilson

1995 Billy Madison Bus Driver  [44]  uncredited

1995 Tommy Boy Thomas "Tommy"

Callahan, III

MTV Movie Awards Best On-Screen

Duo (Shared with David Spade) 

1996 Black Sheep   Mike Donnelly

1997 Beverly HillsNinja 

Haru Nominated—

 MTV Movie Awards BestComedic Performance

1998  Almost Heroes  Bartholomew HuntReleased five months after Farley's

death

1998 Dirty Work   Jimmy No-Nose Uncredited; final film[45]