Chris Farley was a brilliant comedian and a Saturday Night Live fan favorite. He was a passionate performer who is still being quoted to this day by SNL fans with hilarious lines like, “You’re gonna live in a van down by the river!”
Farley’s professional achievements include entertaining audiences as a part of Chicago’s famed Second City Theatre, and he also played eccentric and bombastic weirdos for five seasons on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Those are huge achievements for any comedian, but Farley was an unstoppable force. After his theatre and TV career, he succeeded as a massively popular comedic film star, acting in many films, including Wayne’s World, Tommy Boy, Airheads, Beverly Hills Ninja, Black Sheep, and Almost Heroes.
Farley starred in his first two major movies alongside his close friend and comedic colleague, David Spade. Tommy Boy and Black Sheep were such major box office hits that they brought in roughly $32 million each and made Farley a major Hollywood player.
He was even due to be the voice of Shrek before he passed away, which surely would have added to his Hollywood success. Captain Underpants writer Dav Pilkey wanted Farley to star in a TV series based on his comics, and Farley was also in talks to work on a Ghostbuster movie before his death. So, what happened to the famous funnyman?
How old was Chris Farley when he died?
Chris Farley suffered from alcohol and drug addiction for most of his adult life, causing him to be repeatedly suspended from Saturday Night Live. His management company sent Farley to drug and alcohol rehab multiple times, and in 1997, fans began to notice that he looked sickly and could not perform the physical gags he was known for.
On Dec. 18, 1997, Chris Farley was found dead by his younger brother John in his Chicago apartment. He was just 33 years old when he passed away.
Grieving fans wanted to know his cause of death, and an autopsy revealed that Farley died of an overdose on a “speedball,” which is a dangerous combination of morphine and cocaine.
Chris Farley remains a popular comedian and actor who succumbed to his addiction far too soon for his friends, family, and legions of fans.