Chris+Farley+21+G6

=Chris Farley=

Overview[[image:http://www.tyedart.com/images/Chris_Farley.jpg width="150" height="173" align="right" caption="Chris Farley" link="http://www.tyedart.com/images/Chris_Farley.jpg"]]
Christopher Farley was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 15th, 1964, to Mary Anne, a homemaker, and Thomas Farley, Sr., who owned a paving company. He had three brothers, Tom Farley, Jr., actors Kevin and John, and a sister, Barbara. The future funnyman grew up in an environment of textbook suburban normalcy. His family was very traditional Irish Catholics, and he attended Catholic school during middle school. In school, Farley’s antics often got him into trouble, but as a summer camp counselor, his childlike exuberance made him extremely popular. Farley graduated from Marquette Universityin 1986, with a concentration in communications and theater. After college, he worked with his father at the Scotch Oil Company in Madison.

Central Issue
Realizing early on that the daily 9-to-5 grind was not for him, Farley began performing stand-up at the Ark Improv Theatre in Madison on weekends, and later, at Chicago’s Improv Olympic Theater. It was in that club that Farley met legendary comedy director, Del Close, who became the first of many mentors to him. Farley went on to refine his act at Chicago's Second City Theatre through the late 1980's, where his fearless physicality generated major buzz. Eventually word of this outrageous character, Farley something or other, made its way to New York City and up the floors of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, to the desk of “S.N.L.”. Farley hit the ground running at “S.N.L.,” creating his own personal stockpile of characters. Among his most memorable were the overzealous motivational speaker, Matt Foley; Todd O'Connor, one of Swerski's Chicago Superfans. Due to rising salaries and other peripheral ==== costs, Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts with the sketch show following the 1994-95 season to make room for younger, newer, and, no doubt, cheaper, talent. (Below is a clip from one of his most famous SNL acts, please excuse the 30 second intro advertisement....the 21st century is full of them...) After Farley and most of his fellow cast members were released from their contracts at Saturday Night Live following the 1994-1995 season, Farley focused on his film career. His first two major films co-starred fellow //SNL// cast member and close friend David Spade. Together, the duo made the films //Tommy Boy// and //Black Sheep// in 1995 and 1996, respectively. These were a success at the domestic box office, earning around $32 million each and gaining a large following. They established Farley as a relatively reliable star and he was given the sole leading role in 1997's //Beverly Hills Ninja// which finished in first place at the box office on its opening weekend. However, drug and alcohol problems began interfering with his work. On August 26, 2005, Farley was awarded the 2,289th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located in front of Improv Olympic West.

Conclusion
In early 1997, a decline in Farley's health was frequently noted in the press. These warnings were unheeded however and following his guest appearance on //SNL// for the last time on October 25, 1997, his hoarse voice, continual perspiration and flushed skin were the subject of public scrutiny. In the years before his death, Farley had sought treatment for obesity and drug abuse on seventeen separate occasions. On December 18, 1997, Farley was found dead by his younger brother John in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. An autopsy later revealed that Farley had died of a heart attack and had also overdosed on a combination of cocaine and morphine, with advanced atherosclerosis cited as a "significant contributing factor" in his death.