The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts

Front Cover
A biography of the Saturday Night Live star as told by his friends and family

No one dominated a stage the way Chris Farley did. For him, comedy was not a routine; it was a way of life. He could not enter a room unnoticed or let a conversation go without making someone laugh. Fans knew Chris as Saturday Night LiveÂ's sweaty, swaggering, motivational speaker; as the irresistible Chippendales stripper; and as Tommy Callahan, the underdog hero of Tommy Boy. His family knew him as sensitive and passionate, deeply religious, and devoted to bringing laughter into othersÂ' lives.

But Chris did not know moderation, either in his boundless generosity toward friends or in the reckless abandon of his drug and alcohol abuse. For ten years, Chris cycled in and out of rehabilitation centers, constantly fighting his insecurities and his fears. Despite three hard-fought years of sobriety, addiction would ultimately take his life at the tragically young age of thirty-three. Fame on SNL and three straight number-one box office hits gave way to a string of embarrassing public appearances, followed by a fatal overdose in December 1997.

Here is Chris Farley as remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues—the true story of a man who lived to make us laugh and died as a result. The Chris Farley Show is an evocative and harrowing portrait of a family trapped by addiction, a father forced to bury a son, and a gifted and kindhearted man ultimately torn apart by the demons inside him.
 

Contents

CHAPTER
11
CHAPTER 3
36
CHAPTER 4
56
CHAPTER 5
73
CHAPTER 6
98
CHAPTER 7
118
CHAPTER 8
145
CHAPTER 9
171
CHAPTER 11
212
CHAPTER 12
239
CHAPTER 13
261
CHAPTER 14
290
CHAPTER 15
311
EPILOGUE
327
INDEX
343
Copyright

CHAPTER 10
191

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About the author (2008)

Tom Farley, Jr.., ChrisÂ's older brother, is president and managing director of The Chris Farley Foundation, which educates young people about substance abuse and addiction. Tanner Colby is former head writer of the National Lampoon Radio Hour and coauthor of Belushi: A Biography.

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