Ford CEO Jim Farley Saw Seminal Chris Farley SNL Performance Live

As many are already well aware, Ford CEO Jim Farley has more than one famous relative – Tripp Tracy, who played hockey at Harvard University before being drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers, as well as late actor and comedian Chris Farley, who rapidly rose to fame as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Farley went on to star in a host of movies, including Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, and Beverly Hills Ninja, to name a few, too. However, what many may not be aware of is the fact that Jim Farley was in attendance at SNL when his cousin put on one of his most memorable performances.

In a recent interview with The Detroit News, Jim Farley opened up about his relationship with Chris Farley, noting that the entire family knew he was a funny, special talent from a young age. However, it still came as a shock to learn he had made it to the proverbial television big leagues years ago. “We were all like, ‘WHAT?’ Chris is going to ‘Saturday Night Live?'” Jim said. “In our family, it was like, of course, he’s funny. But other people think he’s funny, too? We didn’t know. We had no idea. We knew he was our funny cousin, but we didn’t know he was going to be a world-class comedian.”

Jim Farley wound up attending multiple tapings of SNL after Chris landed on the show, and was even there when he performed as “Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker” for the very first time. That particular performance immediately went down as one of Farley’s finest, with him playing such a convincing character that one of his co-stars – David Spade – lost his composure and laughed mid-sketch, as we can see in the clip.

Sadly, Farley’s quick rise to fame and the immense pressure he was under to live up to everyone’s expectations ultimately got the better of him, leading to drug and alcohol abuse. Regardless, his memory clearly lives on today. “It turned out that was his gift,” Jim said. “Everyone could relate to Chris, and everyone was astonished in the lack of limits in his physical comedy. That’s why other people were laughing during his skits. ‘What are you doing, Farley?’ We all kind of fell in love with the guy because that’s not how life is for most of us.”