King Lorne.
Susan Morrison, author of the biography “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” recently appeared on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast and explained how Lorne Michaels handled Chris Farley’s struggles with drugs and alcohol on the “SNL” set.
Morrison recalled that Michaels, 80, went into overdrive to help Farley after original cast member John Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982.
“When Belushi died, it really hit him hard,” Morrison shared. “And I think he felt like this whole approach of just letting people do their own thing on their own time, this was the wrong approach. We’re a tribe, we’re a group, and we have to look out for each other.”
“By the time Chris Farley comes along, ten years later or whatever, from the beginning he clearly had addiction issues,” Morrison continued. “Lorne would call him into his office and give him these talks about the drinking or the drugs.”
Morrison recalled that Bob Odenkirk, who was a writer on the sketch comedy series at the time, once told her that Farley “would often be excited” about his meetings in Michaels’ office.
“It was like the kind of thrill of being in the principal’s office, but at the same time, you’re getting in trouble,” the author said. “He couldn’t metabolize it, but Lorne had really changed his approach. He would ban Farley from the show for weeks at a time if he was too f—ed up. And he sent him to a series of really tough love rehab places.”
“And obviously,” Morrison added, “it didn’t do it for him.”
Farley starred on “SNL” from 1990 to 1995. He died of a drug overdose (cocaine and morphine) in 1997, just like Belushi.
In her book that came out in Feb., Morrison claimed that Farley was once “suspended” from “SNL” because of his addiction.
“After getting clean once and relapsing, he’d been suspended by Michaels, who sent him to a tough-love rehab facility in Alabama,” Morrison wrote. “Michaels knew that the show was what Farley liked best, so taking it away from him, he hoped, would make an impression.”
Morrison also recalled when Farley returned to the NBC show in October 1997, just two months before his death.
“Farley’s manager, Marc Gurvitz, had asked for the hosting gig as a favor: he thought that, for Farley, being back at 8H might have a stabilizing effect,” Morrison said in her book. “Michaels agreed. The discipline and rigor of ‘SNL,’ he always believed, helped keep people straight.”
On “Armchair Expert,” Morrison said that Michaels has become “pretty hands-on” in helping former cast members Pete Davidson and John Mulaney who have both struggled with addiction.
“They all talk about how Lorne is a really helpful person to talk to about it,” she explained. “So I think that he definitely realized, ‘Okay, I can play a role here.’”
