Some quotes from the book "The Chris Farley Show. A Biography in Three Acts" by Chris’ older brother Tom Farley, Jr. and Tanner Colby:
"Toward the end of Chris’ Saturday Night Live run, my son was born, and he had to stay in intensive care for a week. One day I asked Chris to watch the two older girls while my wife and I went to the hospital. We went down to his apartment, and we were ringing the buzzer, waiting for someone to let us in. There was no answer. I was starting to wonder where the new, reliable Chris was. Then, around the corner here he comes with these huge bags of Cheetos and ice cream and these enormous Barney dolls, walking down the street. It was just a great sight. Chris was so happy that we’d ask him to look after the girls, that we trusted him with that responsibility. He was so proud that he could be a better part of their lives." _ Chris’ brother Tom Farley
__
"One time we were in the studio, and Chevy Chase came by. Chris was practicing one of his pratfalls. He showed it to Chevy, and Chevy said, ’What are you breaking your fall on?’ Chevy always had something to break his fall; you plan these things out. But Chris had watched Chevy and bought the illusion of it. How do you fall? You just fall on the ground and you don’t mind the pain, because that’s the price of doing it. So there was an honesty and a straightforwardness in him that people responded to." _ SNL creator Lorne Michaels
__
"In rehearsal, he’d done the thing with his glasses where he’s like, `Is that Bill Shakespeare? I can’t see too good.’ But he’d never done the twisting his belt and hitching up his pants thing. He saved that for the live performance, and so none of us had ever seen it. He knew that would break me. He started hitching up his pants, and I couldn’t take it. And whenever the camera was behind him focusing on me, he’d cross his eyes. I was losing it. Once we started laughing, Chris just turned it on more. And we’re not supposed to do that. Lorne doesn’t like it at all, but Chris loved to bust us up. Sometimes after the show he’d say, ’All I’m trying to do is make you laugh. I don’t care about anything else.’" _ Actor David Spade
__
"There are people who are smart in a way that has no applicability to performance, but Chris’s brains and his quickness inside of a performance were amazing. He knew exactly how to scan a line, exactly what inflection to have, how to time it, what expression to make. A great performer is someone who puts together a half a dozen things in an instant, and Chris was one of the most skilled performers I’ve ever seen in that respect. And he knew that his opportunity would come. He wasn’t sitting there, calculating how he was going to trump you or dominate the scene. He just patiently waited for his moment and then arrived fully in that moment. _ Actor Alec Baldwin
__
"The cast was on a retreat, sitting around a campfire, and Chris sidled up to Jim Downey (SNL writer). I overheard him say in this little-boy voice, ’Hey, Jim? Do you think it would help the show if I got even fatter?’ Jim said, in his parental voice, ’No, Chris. I think you’re fine.’ Chris said, ’Are you sure? ’Cause I will. For the show.’ Chris was (expletive) around for sure, and seeing the back-and-forth of the conversation was hilarious, but there was an element of true in it: He would do anything to be funny." _ Sarah Silverman, cast member
Print Story
Email to a Friend
