Benjamin Janssen's Reviews > The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts

** spoiler alert ** It was shocking to learn all the details of how extreme his addiction behavior was. It ties in with Irish Catholic family dynamics. Some interviewed in the book point to his religion as playing a large role in his addiction because he had superstitious level Catholicism fear of the devil that may have adversely affected his childhood development. It was said he was afraid of the dark into adulthood. But it also seems the case that our civilization reliably produces anxious people regardless of religious belief. Finding a belief that validates that anxiety may well be the chicken’s egg... or egg’s chicken?

It’s also notable how much the culture of Hollywood and the drive for profit exacerbated Chris’s prime insecurity, that of being the fat clown who falls down for a laugh. He was easily cast in roles that played on this persona. He knew that this is what people wanted and loved him for so it was difficult for his small but promising prospects for playing more serious roles to take hold among the cultural and Hollywood institutional dynamics. The serious role that he was most excited to play was Rosco Arbuckle (Fatty Arbuckle). He was a silent film star who suffered from the same “fatty falls down” persona that haunted Chris. Arbuckle was accused of sexually assaulting and permanently injuring a woman but was not convicted because there was no evidence. Chris had one sexual harassment incident but it was due to his humor and not physical aggression toward women. That this so closely resembled his life, the clown no one takes seriously, would have been a great role for him. Multiple times in the book people say that his best roles are when he is not acting at all but actually playing himself. People who knew him personally said that Saturday Night Live’s “Chris Farley Show”, where he nervously interviews celebrities, is the best example of who he actually was.

The movie “Tommy Boy”, became one of the all time bests because it is said that it has a universal relatability in that it is about living in a great paternalistic shadow where we are always trying to please our fathers. Chris’s acting and sense of humor was greatly motivated by trying to please his dad growing up. This allowed him to get away with more than his siblings. This continued throughout his school life and led right into exercising his celebrity privilege for special treatment. One rehab specialist veteran of many decades said he had never seen as severe addictive personality as his. On top of that, since he was recognized everywhere, people would just buy him drinks and provide easier access to drugs and alcohol than others would have. He developed a vice of partying for days on end with people he had just met. He was even able to get cocaine when he was staying in a psych ward.

Chris ultimately listened to his Dad over the professional advice he received from his agents. Everything after Tommy Boy, (Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes) did not do as well and really ate at his confidence even though it wasn’t always his fault. The script of Beverly Hills Ninja had been passed around for years but Chris took the role because he was offered 6 million dollars for the role, which was 3 times the usual rate, and his father said “you just don’t turn down that kind of money”. His agents told him something else would come along and to prioritize his integrity and dignity as an actor. The Fatty Arbuckle movie was slow to develop and Chris was eventually given an ultimatum. Chris was told that he would not be insured as an actor until he could go two years sober. They wouldn’t do the movie unless he was insured. Toward the end it became increasingly obvious to the public that he had an addiction problem.

He was a connoisseur of rehab facilities and became skilled at taking advantage of their amenities. At one time he would plan to stay in rehabs depending on their location or what was around them. The most effective rehab facility he went to was a more punitive one in Alabama where most of the staff was black and it was comparable to prison. Chris’s manipulative victimhood strategies did not work at all in this setting.

He idolized John Belushi. His life goal was to get on SNL and when he left he struggled maintain consistent work and purpose. His health and performance slowly declined after Tommy Boy, which was the peak of his career. After that he began to slowly relapse more regularly. He would even plan to relapse hard to get the most out of it. The worst performance he gave was as a guest host on SNL. He was drunk and high throughout it. The initial cold opening to that show was cut from the record because it played on his drunkenness and seemed all too real. One actress was scared for her safety when they had to do a dance scene together.

Toward the end he began to avoid those who would disapprove of his addiction behavior so he even pushed away his loved ones. He had planned to finish 1997 enjoying alcohol and drugs and start the 1998 year sober as he was scheduled to film “The Gelfin” with Vince Vaughn. “The Gelfin is a mythological comedy about a genie who can bring either good luck or bad luck. Farley plays the role of the genie.” https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Ch...

He had been out in December with a good lady friend who also had been an alcoholic but had been sober the entire time she knew Chris. At this party he started drinking and when they were about to leave he said he didn’t want to go home. He stayed with the people he had just met at the party and died 4 days later just before Christmas in 1997. He was awake for 4 strait days drinking and doing heroin and cocaine with these mere strangers. He died at the same age as John Belushi at 33.

I listened to this book and there were a few instances where I just laughed out loud. Highly recommended it.