50 Fun Facts About Chris Farley

Which animated film's title role had Chris Farley almost finished recording before his death forced a recasting?

Shrek already had most of his lines recorded in Farley's voice; Mike Myers took over the ogre and insisted on a complete script rewrite.

In which Adam Sandler comedy did Chris Farley make an uncredited appearance as an overworked school bus driver?

Billy Madison lists no credit for Farley, who reportedly drank six shots of espresso before filming his scene as the frazzled driver.

Which car part must Tommy Callahan sell half a million of to save his late father's company in Tommy Boy?

Brake pads are the new product line the bank will back only if it sells, so Tommy stakes his inherited shares and his house on a cross-country sales trip.

Which guest host danced beside a shirtless Chris Farley in Saturday Night Live's 1990 Chippendales audition sketch?

Patrick Swayze was the reason the sketch existed: writer Jim Downey built it around the host's physique and dancing, and it made Farley a standout in only his fourth episode.

Chris Farley's cousin Jim Farley rose to become chief executive of which American car maker in 2020?

Ford gave its top job to Jim Farley in October 2020; he had joined from Toyota's Lexus division in 2007, and his grandfather worked at Henry Ford's River Rouge plant.

For which hit Christmas comedy did Chris Farley audition, without success, to play a Santa Claus?

Home Alone director Chris Columbus decided Farley wasn't what he was looking for; the film came out in 1990, the same year Farley joined Saturday Night Live.

Which children's book hero did the books' author hope Chris Farley would play in a live-action television series?

Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey wanted Farley for the title role, one of several parts, including a third Ghostbusters film, that the comedian never got to play.

Which Batman actor has named Chris Farley's Beverly Hills Ninja as one of his all-time favourite films?

Christian Bale has cited the ninja comedy as a favourite even though critics panned it, leaving it with a 16% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Which real pair of explorers is Chris Farley's bumbling expedition trying to beat in the comedy Almost Heroes?

Lewis and Clark lose the race in the film: Farley's Bartholomew Hunt and his party reach the Pacific coast minutes ahead of the famous expedition.

Which NFL team did Chris Farley's Todd O'Connor and the other Superfans toast in thick accents on Saturday Night Live?

Bears wins were all the Superfans could imagine: Todd once predicted a 79–0 playoff victory over the Giants, hours before the real team lost 31–3.

What is the job of Matt Foley, the Chris Farley character who breaks furniture while lecturing teenagers?

Motivational speaker is the joke: Foley is abrasive, clumsy and down on his luck, and his talks work only because his audience will do anything to avoid seeing him again.

Which writer created Matt Foley for Chris Farley while both were performing on stage in Chicago?

Bob Odenkirk conceived the character at a Chicago theatre years before he starred in Better Call Saul, and Farley carried it with him to Saturday Night Live.

What did the real Matt Foley, the college friend whose name Chris Farley gave a character, go on to become?

Catholic priest Matt Foley, once Farley's rugby teammate, came to see the sketch on stage; Farley used his name that night and refused to change it afterwards.

Which coach did Chris Farley's Todd O'Connor and the Saturday Night Live Superfans idolise and dress to resemble?

Mike Ditka was so revered that the Superfans once debated whether he could beat a hurricane, and the real coach later appeared in the sketches as himself.

Which school worker did Chris Farley dress up as and dance while Adam Sandler sang her praises on Saturday Night Live?

Lunch lady Farley danced across the stage as Sandler sang Lunchlady Land; in 2018 Sandler honoured his late friend with a tribute song in a Netflix stand-up special.

Which clothing chain employed the mall workers Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and David Spade played in drag on television?

The Gap staff chatted in valley girl slang and shrugged off their jobs; Farley's sudden deep-voiced outburst over a plate of fries left his co-stars fighting not to laugh.

Which music legend did a starstruck Chris Farley quiz about his old band in a 1993 Saturday Night Live talk show sketch?

Paul McCartney, that night's musical guest, gave one-word answers as an awestruck Farley asked whether he remembered being in The Beatles.

Which gesture did Bennett Brauer, Chris Farley's bitter Weekend Update commentator, use to stress every point?

Air quotes framed Brauer's rants about his own poor hygiene and lack of social grace, and about viewers who preferred more photogenic commentators.

Which comedian plays the hotel bellboy who wants to become a ninja in the 1997 comedy Beverly Hills Ninja?

Chris Rock joined Saturday Night Live in the same 1990 intake as Farley, and was reportedly on standby to take over when an unwell Farley hosted the show in October 1997.

Which actress revived Chris Farley's Matt Foley character for Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special in 2015?

Melissa McCarthy took on a role Farley had played in eight sketches; plans for a Matt Foley film with David Spade were shelved after his death.

In which 1992 comedy did Chris Farley make his film debut as a well-informed security guard at an Alice Cooper concert?

Wayne's World was the first of several Saturday Night Live spin-off films to find room for Farley, who came back in the sequel as a different character, Milton.

Which 1993 Saturday Night Live spin-off film cast Chris Farley as Ronnie, a mechanic dating the family's daughter?

Coneheads has Farley's Ronnie fall for Connie, the alien family's teenager, and he helps stall immigration agents while her parents wait for a rescue ship.

In which 1994 comedy about a struggling band that hijacks a radio station did Chris Farley play Officer Wilson?

Airheads put Farley on the police side of the siege while Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler played the musicians demanding airtime for their demo.

Which college, Chris Farley's own alma mater, does Tommy Callahan take seven years to graduate from in Tommy Boy?

Marquette University is where Farley himself earned a 1986 degree in communications and theatre, played rugby and discovered a love of comedy.

In which Ohio town is Callahan Auto, the family parts plant that Tommy must save in the film Tommy Boy?

Sandusky faces ruin if rival Ray Zalinsky buys the Callahan name and shuts the plant, though the film itself was shot mainly in Toronto and Los Angeles.

What is the name of David Spade's sardonic character, who joins the cross-country sales trip in Tommy Boy?

Richard Hayden resents Tommy for being handed a senior job that Richard had to earn, a grudge that erupts into a fistfight on the road.

Which actor plays Paul, the con artist posing as Tommy Callahan's new stepbrother, in Tommy Boy?

Rob Lowe's Paul is secretly the husband of Tommy's new stepmother, which makes her marriage to Big Tom bigamous and hands the company back to Tommy.

Which actress earned a Razzie nomination for playing Tommy's scheming stepmother Beverly in Tommy Boy?

Bo Derek's Beverly met Big Tom at a fat farm and inherits control of his company when he dies at their wedding reception.

Which comedy veteran plays Ray Zalinsky, the rival auto parts mogul trying to buy Callahan Auto, in Tommy Boy?

Dan Aykroyd later said the film showed Farley's quality and range as an actor, a tribute he paid in the documentary I Am Chris Farley.

Which MTV Movie Award did Chris Farley and David Spade win in 1996 for their road-trip comedy Tommy Boy?

Best On-Screen Duo went to the pair over nominees including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen for Toy Story and Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman for Seven.

Which food does Tommy Callahan talk a reluctant waitress into serving, revealing his gift for selling, in Tommy Boy?

Chicken wings turn the trip around: after watching Tommy win over the waitress, his travelling partner tells him to read customers the same way, and the orders start coming.

What do Tommy Callahan and his sales partner pose as to get aboard a plane to Chicago in Tommy Boy?

Flight attendants is the disguise that gets them to Ray Zalinsky's headquarters, where Tommy later straps on road flares to bluff his way into the board room.

Mike Donnelly's brother Al is running for governor of which state in the Chris Farley comedy Black Sheep?

Washington's incumbent in the film, Governor Evelyn Tracy, wins by fraud until Mike spots more votes than registered voters in one rural county.

Which actor plays Drake Sabitch, the crazed Vietnam veteran who lives in an old school bus, in Black Sheep?

Gary Busey's Sabitch starts out stealing a rental car and ends as an ally, holding back a crowd with a rocket launcher while Mike exposes the rigged election.

Which film critic said the Chris Farley comedy Black Sheep was one of only three films he ever walked out on?

Gene Siskel insisted Farley was not good with any script, even after his partner Roger Ebert defended the comedian on their television show a week later.

What lasting harm did David Spade say filming the Chris Farley comedy Black Sheep did to his health?

Light-sensitive eyes were the price of bright set lights on top of sunlight; Spade said he wears a hat even indoors and that camera flashes unsettle him.

What is the name of Chris Farley's clumsy hero, raised from infancy by a ninja clan, in Beverly Hills Ninja?

Haru arrives as a baby in a chest washed ashore in Japan, and the clan hopes he is the Great White Ninja of their legend until he fails to graduate.

Which crime is Martin Tanley running with the Yakuza when Chris Farley's ninja tracks him in Beverly Hills Ninja?

Counterfeiting needs two halves of a set of printing plates in the film, and the hero poses as an ink specialist to get inside Tanley's warehouse.

Which Saturday Night Live star was attached to the lead in Beverly Hills Ninja years before Chris Farley took the part?

Dana Carvey was linked to the role back in 1990; by the time the film opened at number one in January 1997, Farley had become a bankable lead.

Which sitcom star played the foppish aristocrat Leslie Edwards opposite Chris Farley in Almost Heroes?

Matthew Perry accepted the part only after Hugh Grant and Bill Murray turned it down; the writers had first wanted Hugh Laurie.

Which comedian directed Dirty Work, the 1998 Norm Macdonald comedy that holds Chris Farley's final film appearance?

Bob Saget gave Farley an uncredited role as Jimmy, a drinking buddy of the two heroes, in a film that reached cinemas about six months after the actor died.

Which Jim Carrey comedy was first sold with Chris Farley attached to star, before scheduling problems forced him out?

The Cable Guy came with a $3 million offer for Farley, but Paramount held him to another buddy comedy with David Spade instead.

Which kind of dinosaur, written as being afraid of heights, was Chris Farley due to voice in Disney's film Dinosaur?

Brachiosaurus Sorbus was to be a towering young male scared of heights; after Farley died, the part was rewritten as Baylene, an elderly female voiced by Joan Plowright.

Which silent film comedian was Chris Farley in talks to portray in a biopic to be written by David Mamet?

Fatty Arbuckle's biopic has been called cursed, because two earlier comedians attached to the part also died before any film was made.

Which rock band gave Chris Farley a cameo in a 1993 music video and later named him in a tribute lyric?

Red Hot Chili Peppers gave Farley a cameo in the circus-set, black-and-white video for Soul to Squeeze, and their 1999 song Purple Stain named him in a tribute lyric.

In which Midwestern state was Chris Farley born, raised in the village of Maple Bluff and laid to rest?

Wisconsin stayed home: Farley spent summers as a camper and counsellor at Red Arrow Camp near Minocqua, and more than 500 mourners came to his funeral in his hometown.

Which improv theatre did Chris Farley join on the very same day as future late-night host Stephen Colbert?

The Second City started Farley in its touring company and promoted him to the main stage in 1989, where he appeared in three revues before television called.

Which earlier Saturday Night Live star, Chris Farley's comedy idol, also died at the age of 33?

John Belushi also died of a drug overdose at 33; his addiction had already tested producer Lorne Michaels, who threatened to dismiss Farley for good unless he got help.

Which actor played Eric Lamonsoff in Grown Ups, a part first conceived with Chris Farley in mind?

Kevin James joined Adam Sandler, David Spade and Rob Schneider in the 2010 comedy, whose development had been put on hold when Farley died.

On which Nickelodeon sketch show did Chris Farley guest in 1997 beside future Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson?

All That cast him as a chef in a cooking sketch, where he was visibly out of breath and did little of the physical comedy he was famous for.