Chris Farley

In 2018, Adam Sandler wrote and performed an emotional tribute song dedicated to Farley in his Netflix stand-up special Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh. Netflix released the performance on YouTube later that year to commemorate the 21st anniversary of Farley's death. Sandler later played the song live on an episode of Saturday Night Live that he hosted on May 4, 2019.

Farley was originally cast as the voice of the title character in the film Shrek, recording 85% (or 95%, according to some sources) of the character's dialogue, but died just before recording was finished. The filmmakers felt continuing the film with Farley would be in bad taste, so Shrek's dialogue was re-recorded by former SNL castmate Mike Myers. A story reel featuring a sample of Farley as Shrek was released in 2015. The original version of Shrek was more like Farley himself, according to his brother.

A television documentary on Farley's life, I Am Chris Farley, was shown on August 10, 2015. Farley was also the subject of the TV program, Autopsy: The Last Hours of Chris Farley, which premiered on November 19, 2016, on the Reelz channel.

On August 26, 2005, Farley was posthumously awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located in front of iO West. An 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.

Farley was particularly dissatisfied with Black Sheep, an attempt by the studio to recapture the chemistry in Tommy Boy, and which was only 60 pages into the script when the project was green-lit. As a result, he relapsed on the night of the premiere, which required further rehab before he could begin work on Beverly Hills Ninja. After his death on December 18, 1997, his final completed films, Almost Heroes and Dirty Work, were released in May and June, 1998, respectively.

In 1997, there was a visible decline in Farley's health. He made a guest appearance on Nickelodeon's children's sketch comedy show All That, doing a sketch alongside future SNL cast member Kenan Thompson. The appearance proceeded without incident, but the stunt comedy Farley was famous for was minimal, arguably because it was noticeable Farley was wheezing heavily and straining himself to perform. On October 25, 1997, Farley made his final appearance on Saturday Night Live, the only time he hosted the show. Farley's hoarse voice and flushed skin were the subject of public scrutiny. He spoofed his style comedy in the opener by convincing Lorne Michaels he was fit for performance by divebombing Michaels' desk. In actuality, Farley had strained his vocal cords during performance and his exhaustion was so noticeable the producers nearly recommended cancelling his appearance. Farley's hosting had been considered so troublesome to the cast and crew that it was decided to be pulled from general circulation and from general syndication as well as the SNL seasonal streaming, a decision only shared with Steven Seagal's hosting. In the final years of his life, Farley had sought treatment for obesity and drug abuse on 17 occasions.

On December 18, 1997, Farley was found dead by his younger brother, John, in his apartment in the John Hancock Center in Chicago. He was 33 years old. An autopsy revealed that Farley had died of an overdose of cocaine and morphine, a combination called a speedball. Advanced atherosclerosis was cited as a "significant contributing factor." Farley's death has been compared to that of his SNL idol John Belushi, who died at the same age of a similar combination of drugs.

A private funeral was held for Farley on December 23, 1997, at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Over 500 people attended this funeral, including many comedians who had worked with him on Saturday Night Live and on film, such as Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Lorne Michaels, John Goodman, George Wendt and Phil Hartman. Notably absent was Farley's best friend David Spade. Spade's nonappearance fueled speculation that there was some falling out with Farley prior to his death. However, years later Spade denied any ill will between him and his comedic partner, admitting that his absence from the funeral was because he would have found it too emotionally difficult to see the corpse of his longtime friend. Farley's remains were interred at Resurrection Cemetery.

At the time of his death, Farley had been in talks to costar with Vince Vaughn in The Gelfin, and to star in a biographical film about comedian Fatty Arbuckle to be written by David Mamet. Jim Carrey's role in the 1996 film The Cable Guy was originally intended for Farley, but scheduling conflicts forced him to decline. Farley was also offered the role of Ishmael (eventually played by Randy Quaid) in Kingpin, though he was forced by Paramount to turn it down to honor his commitment to star in Black Sheep.

Off-screen, Farley was well known for his pranks in the offices of Saturday Night Live. Sandler and Farley would make 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, and even once defecating out a window. He was also known to frequently get naked and do various stunts for laughs, including imitating Jame Gumb from the then-current film The Silence of the Lambs. 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.

After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live following the 1994–95 season, Farley began focusing on his film career. In his first two major films, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, he starred with SNL colleague and close friend David Spade. These were a success at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large cult following on home video.

Along with Chris Rock, Farley was one of the new Saturday Night Live cast members announced in early 1990. On SNL, Farley frequently collaborated with fellow cast members Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, among others. This group came to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL."

Farley ventured his way to Chicago, performing first at Improv Olympic. He then attended Chicago's Second City Theatre, starting the same day as Stephen Colbert, initially as part of Second City's touring group. He was eventually promoted to their Mainstage in 1989, and was a cast member of three revues: The Gods Must Be Lazy, It Was Thirty Years Ago Today, and Flag Smoking Permitted in Lobby Only or Censorama.

Many of his summers were spent as a camper and counselor at Red Arrow Camp, near Minocqua, Wisconsin. He graduated from Marquette University in 1986, with a double major in communications and theater. At Marquette, he played rugby and discovered a love of comedy.

Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live between 1990 and 1995. He then went on to pursue a film career, starring in films such as Coneheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Beverly Hills Ninja. He died of a drug overdose at the age of 33.

Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin and grew up in Maple Bluff. His father, Thomas John Farley, Sr. (1936–1999), owned an oil company, and his mother, Mary Anne (née Crosby), was a homemaker. He had four siblings: Tom Jr., Kevin, John, and Barbara. His cousin, Jim, is Executive Vice President and President, Global Markets at Ford Motor Company.