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.
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