Christopher Crosby Farley was born to Mary Anne and Tom Farley in 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin. He grew up in Madison and was part of a very tight knit family that included three brothers and a sister. Comedy was a part of the Farley family and it seemed that everyone had a great sense of humor. In fact many of the “inside jokes” they shared would end up in Chris’ movies. Chris’ brother Tom says, “Chris loved to insert family jokes and phrases into his routines and movies…sometimes, I’d be the only one laughing hysterically in the theater at these hidden one-liners.

Chris was known for having the ability to make people laugh, at an early age. After attending Madison’s Edgewood High School, he graduated with a degree in communications and theater from Marquette University. He described himself as a “teachers nightmare.” Following University, he went to work along side his father at Madison’s Scotch Oil Company. Shortly after he began performing with the Ark Improv Theatre group. He studied under legendary director Del Close who had schooled the likes of John Belushi and John Candy.

It was when Chris was performing at Chicago’s Second City Theater in the late 1980’s that he was discovered by Lorne Michaels, producer of SNL (Saturday Night Live). Chris joined the cast of SNL in the 1990-91 season. Farley’s comedic copiousness and fast movements made him a quick favorite onstage. Some of his most popular roles while on the show include playing a insecure, but lovable caricature of himself as host of “The Chris Farley Show’, the classic over zealous and completely out of shape Chippendales dancer. His hilarious portrayal of thrice-divorced, van dwelling motivational speaker Matt Foley is probably his most notable and beloved character to SNL fans. He always seemed to bring a personal touch to his characters, and his style was both unmistakably original, almost to the point of making people physically uncomfortable by merely watching him twist and throw his body around.

He made his feature film debut with fellow SNL cast members Dana Carvey and Mike Meyers in “Wayne’s World” where he had a small part as a security guard. He left SNL after the 1994-95 season to put all his effort into his movie career. His effort did not go unrewarded. He made several films including “Wayne’s World II,” “Coneheads,” and “Beverly Hills Ninja.” However, it was with “Tommy Boy” and “Black Sheep” that Farley made it big at the box office and was catapulted to super comic status. He also made appearances on TV as a “special correspondent” at Wisconsin’s homecoming football game, on an episode of MTV’s “Road Rules” and on the Nickelodeon kids comedy sketch show “All That.

Unfortunately fame took its toll on Farley. He was known for his alcohol and drug abuse in Hollywood and on December 18th, 1997 he was found dead in his Chicago apartment. At first it appeared he had a heart attack but an autopsy revealed he died from opiate and cocaine intoxication. Chris Farley’s career was cut short at 33 years of age.