Christopher Crosby Farley was born to Tom and Mary Anne Farley in Madison, Wisconsin on February 15, 1964. He grew up in Madison, part of a close-knit family including three brothers, Kevin, John, and Tom, and one sister, Barbara. Comedy was all in the family for the Farleys, and many of the "inside" jokes they shared would go on to end up in Chris' movies. "Chris loved to insert family jokes and phrases into his routines and movies" says brother Tom, "sometimes, I'd be the only one laughing hysterically in the theater at these hidden one-liners."

Chris was performing at Chicago's Second City Theatre in the late eighties when he was discovered by SNL producer Lorne Michaels. Lorne brought him to the cast of Saturday Night Live in the 1990-91 season. While at SNL, Farley's comedic exuberance onstage quickly made him a favorite. Some of his most popular roles while on SNL included playing a lovable, insecure caricature of himself as host of "The Chris Farley Show", the classic over-zealous auditioning Chippendales dancer and probably his most popular character: thrice-divorced, van-dwelling motivational speaker Matt Foley. Chris always brought a personal touch to his characters, and his style was both unmistakably original and side-splittingly hilarious.

Chris made his feature film debut in the hit movie "Wayne's World", and after other small roles in the films "Coneheads", "Airheads", "Billy Madison" and "Wayne's World 2" Chris left SNL after the 1994-95 season to focus on his movie career. His first starring role came alongside SNL companion David Spade in 1995's "Tommy Boy". "Tommy Boy" quickly became a cult classic among fans, breaking box-office expectations, and causing many observers to call the duo a modern-day Laurel and Hardy combo. Chris teamed up with Spade again in "Black Sheep" which also achieved box-office success, and was a fan-favorite although lacking the overall popularity of Tommy Boy. Chris went solo in his next movie, "Beverly Hills Ninja" an over-the-top farce that provided ample opportunities for Farley's physical humor, but lacked the script to take full advantage of Farley's comedic talents. Farley's dedicated fan base continued to support his movies and "Ninja" was another box-office success, debuting #1 and even out-grossing established star Eddie Murphy's latest movie released the same week.