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Late comedian and SNL alum Chris Farley’s brother, Tom Farley, has written a book chronicling the star’s last days before his death by drug overdose. The book, with the imaginative title “The Last Days of Chris Farley,” will be hitting bookstores in May, but you can get an early peek in this week’s Playboy magazine, which printed some excerpts from it. Mostly, the book captures the desperation of Chris’ friends, co-stars and family as they tried to stop the actor from killing himself with drugs, alcohol and overeating.
CHRIS Farley’s pals shoved extra helpings of tough love down his throat but still couldn’t save the comic actor from himself, according to “The Last Days of Chris Farley.” The book by Farley’s brother Tom Farley and Tanner Colby quoted several of the actor’s friends, who saw the tragedy coming a mile down the line. Excerpts from “Last Days” will run in May’s Playboy, which hits newsstands Friday. Former “Saturday Night Live” star Chevy Chase recalled how he dressed down Farley while preparing for a reunion show: “Look, you’re not John Belushi. And when you overdose or kill yourself, you will not have the same acclaim that John did . . . You’ll be a blip in the New York Times obituaries page, and that’ll be it. Is that what you want?”
Farley’s sidekick David Spade said he’s still taking heat for failing to save Tommy Boy: “I got a lot of s – - – at the end about ‘Why weren’t you there for him?’ But being that close, I dealt with it all the time. And in that situation, before the guy’s dead, he’s just kind of an a – -hole. Truth is, you get a junkie who’s wasted all the time and moody and angry and trying to knock you around, you say, ‘OK, you go do that, and I’ll be over here.’ ” Farley overdosed in Chicago on Dec. 18, 1997. He was 33.
I disagree with Chevy- I think Chris Farley was every bit as talented as John Belushi, and his death was a lot more meaningful than a blip on the obituary page. He was one of those actors who would do absolutely anything for a laugh and didn’t care how foolish he looked. Some of my favorite SNL moments are courtesy of Chris, especially his infamous Chippendale dancer audition skit with Patrick Swayze. And who could forget Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who lived- say it with me- in a “van down by the river”! I know I’m not the only one who still misses Chris and wishes he could have straightened himself out. Well, at least I own “Tommy Boy” in DVD.
Written by MSat
Posted in Addictions, Alcohol, Books, Chris Farley, Photos
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29 Responses to “Chris Farley’s brother wrote a tell-all about his last days”
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“I disagree with Chevy- I think Chris Farley was every bit as talented as John Belushi, and his death was a lot more meaningful than a blip on the obituary page” I think Chevy Chase was just trying to smarten him up. Make sure he wasn’t romanticising his immortality.
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I disagree with Chevy too. As a matter of fact — rumor has it CHEVY is the a-hole.
I have often wondered why David Spade never really came out in the media and said anything about Chris Farley’s death. They did some great movies together and seemed to be best friends. This gives great insight as to why.
Addiction DOES steal the person you love. I have a brother who is an addict. Sober he’s awesome – but when he’s using NOBODY wants to be near him. Sad that is what Chris became as well.
I have Chris’ “best of SNL” on DVD — he was one of teh best. When he got his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame — Adam Sandler and Chris Rock were there (why wasn’t Spade?) and Adam Sandler cried — saying “He was the funniest one out of all of us”.
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I hear Chevy is a jerk…
But I think you misunderstood what he was doing here. I don’t think he actually meant that stuff, he was showing Farley some “tough love” and trying to get him to change his ways by saying harsh stuff.
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Elisha – I think you’re right. I think he was trying to save him from himself.
(But I’ve also heard he’s a pompous jerk!)
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Chris’s CHipndale stripper skit with Patrick Swayze is a classic.
So sad the way he died and there are pictures of it too.
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I still miss Chris Farley
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I found this when I did a search for his death. Warning — it contains VERY graphic photos of his dead body in his apt. The hooker he was with took them. Supposedly she said the thought he was “passed out” when she took them. Riiiiiiiiiight. Can you believe a human being would leave someone like this just laying there??? And, then sell the photos??? There is a special place in hell for her.
Here is the link….
http://www.findadeath.com/
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Evidently you have to do a “search” on the website for Chris Farley — then it directs you to his last day. Soooooooo very sad. Drug addiction is NOT glamorous. They should show these photos to Lindsay Lohan…
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Our think it´s respectful to post a link where you can see him dead? i find it disgusting. not dead bodies, but people who whore them out, or link.
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you. not our.
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What should David Spade say? I think Farley’s death said it all. Fame doesn’t ease the pain of whatever it is he was trying to cover when he turned to drugs and talent won’t keep you from dying like an addict if that’s what you become. Plus I doubt Spade wants to be defined by a friend’s death. It’s a fine line between talking about it and exploiting it.
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Chris Farley is missed!! Jessica likey, Jessica love Tommy Boy!!
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that picture of Chris dead from an OD and Rivers Phoenix’s coffin photo should be shown . You take drugs that is what happens.
I consider Rivers photo more sad than anything. All that youth and promise wasted.
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I should not have looked at Chris’ dead photo. I feel like I need to scrub my brain and get that scene out of my head. Wow! He had a rosary in his hand…
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I still, to this very day, get tears in my eyes whenever I read something about Chris Farley. He was one of my all time favorites.
I’ve spent alot of time at findadeath.com…it’s a fantastic site. There is alot of interesting reading there as well as pictures, not just death photos either.
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CHEVY WAS RIGHT, HE TRIED TO WARN HIM. HE DIED AS HE LIVED HIS LIFE. HE WENT OUT IN A DRUGGED OUT STATE SPENDING HIS LAST MOMENTS WITH SOME HOOKER HE HAD TO PAY TO BE WITH HIM.
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Geez – I wasn’t whoring anything out. I was VERY interested in reading/seeing his final day on this earth. Because I’m interested in HIM – because I really, really liked his comedy.
It is a very interesting site. Not just about death photos — it gives alot of information surrounding celeb’s deaths.
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I rarely thought Chris Farley was funny, but it was sad that he died. Especially, since he obviously touched and entertained so many people – as evidenced by your posts.
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In defense of Chevy, if he did say that, I don’t believe he was saying it to be hurtful or mean. I believe Farley was trying to “act” like Belushi and Chevy was only saying that to get Farley to change his behavior in order to help him.
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I believe that he was a great man and all he was trying to do is get rid of all his demonds. I loved all of Chirs Farley’s work. He was Very talanted!!
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John Belushi did more on SNL and in movies than play the fat clumsy guy who falls down a lot. I defy anyone to tell me there’s a difference between his movies ‘Tommy Boy’ and ‘Black Sheep’. They are the same damn movie !!
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You missed the point entirely. Chase was saying that because he really believed it; He said it because he was trying to pull his head out of his ass. The book is really good. It paints a sympathetic but honest picture of Farley without being exploitive. And its really funny reading the stories about him.
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rip chris farley
you were an idol, and still to this day.
makes sad to think your gone.
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I still miss Chris Farley. He will always be my favorite. It’s deffinitely a shame that he died at such a young age.
I think Chevy is a major tool bag. That’s really messed up that you could be so cruel. But I guess when you’re dealing with an addict, that’s how you have to be.
I loved everything he did on SNL.
He surely will be missed for years to come.
Now I’m gonna go sleep “in a van down by the river!”
R.I.P Chris<3
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Vdantev, you couldn’t BE more wrong. Chris Farley was a thousand times funnier than Belushi. Falling down is funny!!!! And about his death photos, DO NOT see them, it’s a sad, gruesome image that will be burned into my brain forever, & I think his family should have sued that hooker for neglect & exploitation (although at the end of the day, it WAS his choice to do drugs). Remember him at his best.
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i believe Chevy was just trying to show Chris some tough love so that he wouldn’t go out the same way as John i believe he saw the true genius behind Chris and didn’t want him to waste it. He has alway said the most nice things about him R.I.P Chris you will always be remembered
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Read the damn book and make decisions for yourself….it is a very well written book, and I agree with most….on a simple comment…Chevy was trying to help…and most likely of anyone, tried to know what to say to prevent such bad things happening from his prior experience with Belushi.
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Unless I’m confusing two books here, the Farley & Colby book came out as, “The Chris Farley Show,” and was more an anecdotal biography than anything else—not a simple focus on his last days. Tom himself (nor the Farley family) didn’t necessarily agree with every account/opinion in the book, and it doesn’t come across as exploitative in the least.
To provide some context, Chevy Chase confronted Chris Farley at an SNL reunion in Aspen, shortly after CF had relapsed after three years of sobriety. His state of mind during that reunion was particularly bad. And Chase’s comments really dealt with accomplishment, not talent—some among SNL believed CF had romanticized John Belushi to a ridiculous extent (although some of his Wisconsin comrades disagree), and it was intended as a wake-up call. It was a point at which people were willing to try ANYTHING.
Question about the death photographs: if CF’s personal assistant’s account is accurate, the death photos were either fakes or NOT taken by the prostitute. Ted Dondanville (the PA) stated quite clearly in the book that HE had put the rosary beads in CF’s hand after he and John Farley found the body. And why would he lie about that, of all things? Also, it’s hard to believe (but not impossible) CF had a rosary in his hand while he was following Heidi out the door, asking her not to leave. One person—claiming to be a forensic expert—also commented on snopes.com that the coloration of the person in the photo(s) was consistent with someone who’d been dead 48 hours, although CF had talked to friends the previous night. I realize none of these claims can be substantiated, but it’s worth at least noting and considering.
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