Farley Returns in Anti-Drug Ads
Chris Farley's career was cut short 8 1/2 years ago when he died from an accidental overdose of drugs. Now the fleshy funnyman is reappearing in Los Angeles - on billboards that advertise a treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.
The outdoor ads - the first major commercial use of his image approved by his family - feature a photograph of the smiling, famously bloated comic with the slogan, "It wasn't all his fault." The ads tout a new addiction treatment from Hythiam Inc.
The first billboard will appear Monday near the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard, the hotel where Farley's idol, comedian John Belushi, died of a drug overdose in 1982.
"We felt it was an effective way of getting people to focus on our message point, because it's unusual to see a celebrity in this fashion," said Terren S. Peizer, Hythiam's chief executive.
Farley - whose wild antics on "Saturday Night Live" earned him comparisons to Belushi, another veteran of the show - died Dec. 18, 1997, from an accidental overdose of morphine and cocaine. He was 33.
We always seem to lose the best of these people. First John Belushi (OD), next Gilda Radner (Cancer), then Chris, and finally Phil Hartman (Murdered)...I was a big fan of Belushi, and an even bigger fan of Hartman. I didn't truly appreciate Farley until after he was gone.
posted by John Good @ 9:45 PM
4 Comments:
"Okey Dokey, my name, for all of you who don't know me, is Matt Foley and I am a motivational speaker.
Now before we get to the spinning class, let me give you a little bit of a scenario of what my life is all about.
First off, I am 35 years old, I am thrice divorced and I live in a van down by the river!."
LOL! I was actually gonna use that picture, but thought better of it.
How sad to be reminded of Chris's untimely death, and that of others. I sometimes think it is not just the drugs that kill, but the showbiz lifestyle that promotes the drugs that kill. Is it too much stress and pressure being famous? Are you not part of the party scene if you don't do drugs? How many others have to die before the message catches on? Of course, that will never happen to me because it always happens to someone else.
I think alot of the checks and balances that most of us face in our daily lives are missing in the lives of the famous. It's probably much easier to slide down that road when life is easier and restraints are missing.
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