Christmas was always Chris Farley’s favorite time of year, a time he made certain to be home in Madison, surrounded by family and childhood friends. But on December 22, 1997, he had come home to stay. Following the funeral service at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Chris was laid to rest in a mausoleum at Resurrection Cemetery, just down the road.
Although the last days of Chris’s life in Chicago had been toxic and frenzied, at some point along the way he had arrested his downward spiral and paused to do his holiday shopping, picking out special presents for his parents and his siblings, handwriting personal notes to accompany each specially wrapped box. And so on Christmas Eve, only two days after burying their son, with the winter chill blowing in from the frozen lake outside, the Farley family sat around the tree in their living room and opened their final presents from Chris. He’d bought his mother two small ceramic clowns.
On January 2, 1998, the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner issued an autopsy report in the case of Chris’s death. It stated that he had died of opiate and cocaine intoxication, with coronary atherosclerosis as a significant contributing condition. Chris’s body tested positive for cocaine and morphine (metabolized heroin) as well as traces of marijuana and the prescription antidepressant Prozac. No alcohol was found in his system at the time, but his liver showed signs of significant damage from years of drinking. Blockages of fifty to ninety percent were found in his major coronary arteries from years of unhealthy eating. The report ruled his death an accident.
On May 29, 1998, Edwards & Hunt was released under the newly test-marketed name Almost Heroes. Chris’s passing cast a shadow over the film, and costar Matthew Perry’s own public struggle with addiction at the time didn’t help much, either. The film’s offbeat sense of humor failed to translate onscreen, and scenes of Chris’s character acting drunk and out of control were particularly difficult to watch. Critics panned the film, lamenting the tragedy of its being the final installment of Chris’s brief career. It earned a little over $6 million at the box office and quickly passed into history.
That summer, Chris was treated to one last curtain call. Norm Mac-Donald’s Dirty Work, which featured Chris in a small cameo, was released on June 12. In it Chris played an ornery bar patron whose nose had been bitten off by a Saigon whore, providing some of the film’s best laughs.
During the year after Chris’s funeral, the health of his father, Tom Farley, Sr., deteriorated rapidly. Chris’s death had forced him to stop drinking, but the damage had largely been done. Morbid obesity and liver failure left him severely debilitated, and soon his condition was exacerbated by a bad fall. In March 1999, he checked in to a hospital. After several days of constant vigil, Tom asked his family to go home and rest while he did the same. He died three hours later. He was sixty-three years old.
In the months immediately following Chris’s death, several of his friends had made charitable donations to the family in Chris’s name. Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live, meanwhile, issued a Best of Chris Farley home video, pledging a portion of the proceeds once again to the family. With this capital, Tom Farley, Sr., started the Chris Farley Foundation (www.thinklaughlive.com), a nonprofit organization to promote awareness and prevention of substance abuse problems. In its earliest incarnation, the foundation produced anti-drug public service announcements with past and current stars of Saturday Night Live.
From 1999 to 2003, the foundation hosted Comics Come Home in partnership with Comedy Central. An annual comedy event held in Madison, it featured the talents of David Spade, Dave Chappelle, Tom Arnold, Norm MacDonald, Bob Saget, and others. With the funds raised at Comics Come Home and other events, the Chris Farley Foundation works with high schools and colleges across the Midwest to develop programs and seminars aimed at educating kids on the dangers of drugs, primarily through the use of humor and strong communication skills. Today, Tom Farley, Jr., serves as the foundation president.
In late 2003, ImprovOlympic founder Charna Halpern petitioned the Hollywood Walk of Fame committee to give Chris Farley a star on Hollywood Boulevard. The organization hands out very few posthumous honors and almost none to those who pass away in less than rosy circumstances, as Chris had. But in April 2004, John Belushi was at long last honored by the organization, and Halpern seized on the precedent to lobby even more strongly on Chris’s behalf. Michael Ewing, one of the producers of Tommy Boy, approached Paramount Studios to sponsor Chris’s application. With the tenth anniversary DVD release of Tommy Boy just on the horizon, the right moment presented itself. Paramount helped push the nomination through and pegged the DVD’s launch to the upcoming event.
On Friday, August 26, 2005, the Farley family joined several luminaries from Chris’s life—Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock, Tom Arnold, Sarah Silverman, Peter Segal, Bernie Brillstein, and more—as they unveiled Chris’s star, the 2,289th, on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The tone was far more festive than somber. Mary Anne Farley accepted the award on Chris’s behalf. Chris Rock declared that “every fat comedian working today owes Chris eighty bucks,” and David Spade wistfully observed that if Chris were alive today, “he’d be working for Sandler, too.” Chris’s star is located at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cosmo Street, directly in front of the theater for ImprovOlympic West.
In 2007, St. Malachy’s Church in New York celebrated the second annual Father George Moore Awards. Moore was a pastor at St. Malachy’s in the 1970s and 1980s and was a driving force in the efforts to save Times Square from the drugs and crime that had overtaken it. The George Moore Awards honor individuals who embody the clerygyman’s commitment to community service and who have elevated mankind’s spirit through their work in theater, television, film, music, or art. Chris, both as a famous movie star and as a humble parishioner, surely fit that description, and, on the tenth anniversary of his passing, St. Malachy’s chose him to receive it.
On October 1, the Farleys joined Lorne Michaels, Alec Baldwin, Dan Aykroyd, and the entire current cast of Saturday Night Live for a special mass said in Chris’s honor—with a sermon delivered by Father Matt Foley—followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at the landmark Broadway restaurant Sardi’s. At the dinner, SNL’s Amy Poehler served as emcee, presenting a number of smaller awards to other members of the St. Malachy’s community and introducing the evening’s enertainment: a sketch from the SNL players, and young Broadway star Matthew Gumley performing “The Rose,” a song Chris had often sung for the seniors he entertained at St. Malachy’s social events.
In the midst of the proceedings, just before Mary Anne Farley accepted Chris’s award from Lorne Michaels, SNL veteran Dan Aykroyd rose to say a few words. He did not go up to use the microphone and podium on the dais, but instead walked the aisles among the dinner guests, speaking off the cuff about his memories. He did a few spot-on impressions of Chris. He spoke of time spent together on the set of Tommy Boy, how the young star would come to his trailer and sit at his knee to hear stories about the old days. He spoke of Chris’s faith, of his belief in using laughter to bring joy to those less fortunate. He spoke of Chris taking his God-given talent and turning it back out into the world to try and make it a better place. Concluding the speech, Aykroyd singled out all the actors, comedians, and other artists in attendance, and he challenged them to do the same.