It’s Chris Farley‘s birthday! To mark the occasion, here are five performances from the acclaimed comedic actor. Check some of these out!
Tommy Boy (1995)
After attending collage for seven years, Tommy Callahan (Chris Farley) returns home. His father, “Big Tom” Callahan (Brian Dennehy) gets him a job as an executive at the family’s auto parts plant, Callahan Auto. Big Tom is set to get remarried but at the wedding, Big Tom suffers a heart attack and dies. Doubting the future of the company without Big Tom, the banks backpedal on a promised loan and demand that their debts get repaid. Tommy offers them a deal: he will let the banks have some inherited shares if they give him enough time to sell enough brake pads to ensure that the company is still in good hands. Tommy and his father’s assistant, Richard Hayden (David Spade) set out on a cross-country sales trip.
Black Sheep (1996)
It’s election time! Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson) is running for governor of Washington. However, his dimwitted younger brother Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley) is just that — a dimwit. Mike has a good heart and only wants to help but fearing that he will ruin his campaign, Al assigns Steve Dodds (David Spade) to keep Mike distracted. After a series of out-of-context incidents that lead to Mike getting bad press in the newspaper, Steve is forced to take him to a cabin way outside of town to lay low and to keep Mike out of the public eye until everything eventually blows over.
Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
In Japan, a clan of ninjas train Haru (Chris Farley) for years to become a ninja. An art that does not come naturally to him. One evening, a woman named Sally Jones (Nicollette Sheridan) comes to the temple and hires him to do a job which becomes a setup. After learning that she gave him a fake name, he leaves for America to track her down. Ending up in the middle of, and shutting down, a counterfeit scheme.
Almost Heroes (1998)
Set in 1804. While trying to compete with Lewis and Clark, Leslie Edwards (Matthew Perry) and Bartholomew Hunt (Chris Farley) gather a crew of frontiersmen and embark across the great northwest toward the Pacific Ocean.
Saturday Night Live (1990-1995)
Okay, so this is more of an “honorable mention” considering SNL is a sketch show on late night TV rather than a movie but it definitely deserves to be on this list. Chris Farley was on SNL for six years before leaving to start a film career. One of his most memorable sketches on SNL was a with a character named Matt Foley, a not-so motivational speaker who “lives in a vaaaannn down by the riveeeerrrrrr”. Had Farley not passed away so soon, there is no doubt in my mind that his next movie would’ve had something to do with Matt Foley in some way.
Special Mention: I Am Chris Farley (2015) is a documentary about Chris Farley. It features interviews with various SNL cast members as well as other friends and family members all sharing memories about the late comedian. It’s worth the watch so check it out!
What are some of your favorite films to feature birthday boy Chris Farley?