What Chris Farley’s Brother Misses Most About the Late Comedian

Published: February 17, 2026

By India McCarty

Chris Farley’s brother Tom shared some of his favorite memories of the late comedian, as well as his wish that the two could have gone through addiction recovery together.

“We would come home to Madison, Wis., or we’d see each other after a while, and he’d just give me a bear hug,” he told PEOPLE. “I can still feel it, you know, and we’d hold it. It was just a brotherly thing. It was wonderful. And I still miss that.”

The SNL star died on December 18, 1997, at age 33, from an apparent drug overdose. He had struggled with substance abuse in the years prior to his death.

“I would have loved to have been in recovery with Chris,” Tom added. “Because when he was in recovery, and he was so successful those last years on SNL, he was working his program. He was amazing and look at what happened — he just exploded. And I started seeing a brother I never got to see.”

Tom now honors his late brother by sharing his own story of addiction and through his work as the community outreach director for Recovery.com, a Madison-based organization that connects people to treatment and recovery resources.

View this post on Instagram

In an interview with Madison’s WSAW-TV, Tom explained that his own recovery journey helped him come to terms with his brother’s death.

“I started to look at what Chris may have been going through and understanding a little bit more,” he said. “I’m able to take the brother with a substance use disorder and separate from the brother that I love. I can put the frustration, anger and regret over here, and all the good and positive things with the brother I love over here.”

In a 2025 interview with PEOPLE, Tom reflected on how his own addiction issues caused him to “push people away.”

“When I started just embracing what I could control and trying to be that authentic person, something amazing happened,” he said. “People started coming back to me, you know, that connection I’ve always wanted showed up.”

Tom wrote about his sobriety journey in a 2025 personal essay for HuffPost, sharing, “Back when my brother Chris and I were both struggling, the conversation was related to behavior, with no real awareness or discussion of mental health. Now the environment has shifted for the better, with heightened awareness, greater resources and more open discussions.”

“I have come full circle, having gone from being someone who had no idea where to look for help to becoming the community outreach director for Recovery.com, where I spend my days focused on helping others find the right help for them,” he continued. “This has been a meaningful next step in both my personal journey and the broader mission to make recovery easier to navigate for everyone.”

It’s incredible to see how Tom has used tragedy and his own addiction to help others fighting the same struggle.

Questions or comments? Please write to us here.