'Adam Richard Sandler' (born
September 9,
1966) is an
American comedian,
actor,
musician,
screenwriter, and
film producer. After becoming a popular ''
Saturday Night Live'' cast member, he went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 Million at the box office.
[2] Though he is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films ''
Billy Madison'' (1995), ''
Happy Gilmore'' (1996), and ''
Big Daddy'' (1999), he has also had success in romantic and dramatic roles, such as in the films ''
Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002), ''
Spanglish'' (2004), and ''
Reign Over Me'' (2007).
Biography
Early life
Sandler was born in
Brooklyn, New York to Judy, a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.
[3] He had a
Jewish upbringing.
[4] His family moved to
Manchester, NH when he was five.There, he attended
Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at
New York University by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991.
Later in his career, he would often draw on his earliest memories in his comedy and movies. The song "Lunchlady Land" is dedicated to the lunchlady at Central High School. In the movie
Click, Sandler goes to
Lake Winnipesaukee, a lake in
New Hampshire where he went to summer camp.
Acting career
In the mid to late 1980s, Sandler played Theo Huxtable's friend Smitty on ''
The Cosby Show'' (1987–1988). He was a performer for the
MTV game show ''
Remote Control'', on which he made appearances as the characters "Trivia Delinquent" or "Stud Boy". Sandler started performing in comedy clubs early on, taking the stage at his brother's urging when he was only 17. He was then discovered by comedian
Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles. Miller immediately recommended him to ''
Saturday Night Live'' producer
Lorne Michaels. Sandler was hired as a writer for SNL in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, quickly making a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including "
The Chanukah Song".
[5] He left the show in 1995 to focus on his acting career.
Sandler's first successful starring role was in 1989 when he starred in the movie ''
Going Overboard''. In 1995 he starred in ''
Billy Madison'', in which he plays a grown man repeating grades 1–12 to earn his father's respect back, along with the right to inherit his father's multi-million-dollar hotel empire. He followed this movie up with other financially successful comedies such as ''
Happy Gilmore'' (1996) and ''
The Wedding Singer'' (1998). He was initially cast in the bachelor-party-themed comedy/thriller ''
Very Bad Things'' (1998), but had to back out due to his involvement in ''
The Waterboy'' (1998),
[6] one of his first hits.
Although most of his earlier films were almost universally despised by movie critics, many of his recent films starting with ''
Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002) have received almost uniformly positive reviews, leading many movie critics to believe that Sandler possesses considerable acting ability that they believed had been previously wasted on poorly written scripts and characters with no development.
[7] Audiences have remained faithful to Sandler's slapstick humor to the tune of $100-million-plus grossing movies. Sandler has moved outside the genre of goofball humor to take on more serious parts such as the aforementioned ''Punch-Drunk Love'' (for which he was nominated for a
Golden Globe), and ''
Spanglish'' (2004). He also plays a loving father figure in ''
Big Daddy'' (1999). Ironically, during filming, he met
Jacqueline Samantha Titone -- his future wife and mother of his daughter. Jackie was cast as the charming waitress from The Blarney Stone Bar.
At one point, Sandler was considered for the part that went to Jamie Foxx in ''
Collateral'' (2004).
[8] He also was one of the finalists along with
Jim Carrey and
Johnny Depp for the role of Willy Wonka in
Tim Burton's ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), but Depp in the end got the role.
[9] He returned to more dramatic fare with
Mike Binder's ''
Reign Over Me'' (2007), a drama about a man who lost his entire family in
9/11 and rekindles a friendship with his old college roommate (played by
Don Cheadle). Most recently, he starred in the movie ''
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' (2007), where he stars along side
Kevin James as a New York City fireman pretending to be gay keep up an insurance scam, so his best friends children can have benefits. His next comedy will be ''
You Don't Mess with the Zohan'' (2008) a film written by Sandler, ''
The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' writer-director
Judd Apatow (who was an old roommate of Sandler's when both were starting out), and ''
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog'' creator
Robert Smigel and being directed by ''Happy Gilmore'' director
Dennis Dugan about a
Mossad agent who fakes his own death and moves to the United States to become a hair stylist,
[10]. He will also be working on ''
Bedtime Stories'' (2008), a fantasy film being directed by ''
Bringing Down the House'' director
Adam Shankman about a stressed real estate developer whose bedtime stories he reads to his niece and nephew begin to come true, which will mark Sandler's first family film and first film under the
Walt Disney banner.
[11] Sandler has also been long-rumored to costar with
Michael Madsen in
Quentin Tarantino's upcoming
World War II saga ''
Inglorious Bastards''.
[12]
In June, 2007, it was announced that his production company,
Happy Madison, had made a preemptive acquisition for
Mitch Albom's screenwriting debut.
[13]
Themes in Sandler's films
★ 'Cheering at the end' - His films sometimes end with a scene in which his character is being cheered on by a large audience for one reason or another which is occasionally followed up with a judge going the opposite direction of the crowd sentiment and ruining the moment (the ''Billy Madison'' contest and the trials in ''Big Daddy'' and ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' being several examples).
★ 'Diminutive first names' - Sandler's character names in many of his films end with a "y" or an "ie" sound. Examples include his characters in
Going Overboard (Schecky),
Billy Madison (Billy),
Happy Gilmore (Happy),
Bulletproof (Archie),
The Wedding Singer (Robbie),
Waterboy (Bobby),
Big Daddy (Sonny),
Little Nicky (Nicky),
Punch-Drunk Love (Barry),
50 First Dates (Henry),
8 Crazy Nights (Davey and Whitey),
Reign Over Me (Charlie).
★ 'V-girls' - In many of his movies, the lead female character's name starts with a V (i.e., Veronica Vaughn, Virginia Venit, Valerie Veran, Vicki Vallencourt, Vanessa).
★ '
Styx' - will often feature their music in his movies.
★ 'Repeating players' - Sandler often casts
Allen Covert,
Blake Clark,
Steve Buscemi,
Kevin Nealon,
Peter Dante,
Jonathan Loughran,
Rob Schneider, and former ''
SNL'' players in his films.
★ '
New York Jets' -
Click, when he is a young boy wearing a Jets jersey;
Mr. Deeds, when the helicopter pilot informs him that he now owns the Jets;
Big Daddy, when Sonny and Julian go to a sports bar and the waitress asks Julian which football team he wanted to win and he replies by saying "the goddamn Jets";
Little Nicky, When
Dan Marino tries to sell his soul to win the Super Bowl. The Devil refuses, Dan leaves, and the Devil informs Nicky that he's a Jets fan.
★ '
Pittsburgh Steelers' - former Steeler coach
Bill Cowher and former Steelers WR
Lynn Swann making cameo appearances in
The Waterboy. Sandler's character in
The Longest Yard was a quarterback for the Steelers.
★ '"You can do it!' - usually said by
Rob Schneider, often in a foreign-sounding quasi-
Cajunvoice, with the exception of
Anger Management where former
New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the line.
★ 'Elderly Irony' - Sandler's movies often include
elderly people behaving ironically uncouth ("If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis" from
Billy Madison, "Now you've had enough... bitch"
Bob Barker in
Happy Gilmore, "Fuck yeah" Old Japanese guy in
Click, "Only you and my grandfather pee every 30 seconds" from
Big Daddy), "Look at those two Shitheads" Old Hawaiian man from
50 First Dates.
Cameos & other work
Sandler made a
cameo appearance on an episode of ''
The Price Is Right'' during the "Happy Gilmore Showcase." Host
Bob Barker appeared in the movie ''Happy Gilmore'' which featured a famous fight scene with Sandler's character (where Barker wins). He also appeared on Bob Barker's tribute show on May 17, 2007, in which he read a poem to Bob and congratulated him on his retirement from ''TPIR''.
Sandler cameoed as a special audience member in an episode of ''
The Showbiz Show with David Spade'' and as the feature guest on the final episode of
John McEnroe's eponymous
CNBC talk show, airing in late 2004. McEnroe had appeared in two of Sandler's movies, both times as himself (
Mr. Deeds and
Anger Management). In
The Animal, starring
Rob Schneider, Sandler appears briefly as Schneider's "'You can do it' Guy" from
The Waterboy.
On
March 20,
2007 Sandler was scheduled to be a guest on
The Late Show with David Letterman. However, due to a minor illness, Letterman could not host the show and Sandler filled in as host.
On June 13, 2007, Sandler appeared and won the "Man's Man Award" on the
Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards
He appeared on Australian TV show "Rove Live" when it toured America in July 2007. He was on the July 22nd show in New York.
Sandler and
Rob Schneider make frequent cameos in each other's movies:
★
The Hot Chick, where Schneider stars, Sandler plays the spacey drummer
★
The Animal, where Schneider stars, Sandler played the townie
★ , where Schneider stars, Sandler plays one of the deceased gigolos
★
The Longest Yard, where Sandler stars, Schneider suggests to the prisoners around him that they hug in the showers. Even though he says similar lines as the Townie, he is credited as 'Punky' in this movie.
★
Little Nicky, where Sandler stars, Schneider is an angry man (Townie) in riot
★
Big Daddy, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays a delivery man named Nazo.
★
Mr. Deeds, where Sandler stars, Schneider makes two short appearances as Nazo; Schneider's character in Sandler's movie,
Big Daddy.
★
50 First Dates, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays a Hawaiian friend of Adam's character with one eye and is the presiding minister at his wedding.
★
The Waterboy, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays the same angry man or Townie from Little Nicky
★
Eight Crazy Nights, where Sandler stars, Schneider voices a Asian waiter who doesn't like Sandler's character, and also provides the narration
★
Click, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays Prince Habeeboo, a potential foreign customer for Sandler's architect firm.
★
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where Sandler stars, Schneider plays the rabbi who marries Sandler and James's characters.
Personal life
On
June 22,
2003, Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone (now
Jackie Sandler), and they are the parents of Sadie Madison Sandler, born
May 6,
2006 at
Cedars-Sinai in
Los Angeles.
[14] Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, though he also has a place in New York.
Sandler is good friends with comedian
Norm MacDonald. Sandler subsequently made a cameo appearance in MacDonald's movie ''
Dirty Work''. He is a fan of
professional wrestling, and most of his self-written films have references to professional wrestling in them. Five professional wrestlers had a role in ''
The Longest Yard'' due to Sandler's insistence. He was also seen at
WWE WrestleMania 21.
Kevin Nash and
Paul Wight additionally made appearances in ''
Grandma's Boy'' and ''
The Waterboy'' respectively. Adam is also good friends with
Kevin James,
Allen Covert,
Blake Clark,
Steve Buscemi,
Kevin Nealon,
Peter Dante,
Jonathan Loughran,
Rob Schneider, and former SNL players. Adam is a fan of the New York Yankees and shows his loyalty to the Yankees by filming some scenes of his movie Anger Management in Yankee Stadium. Actor
Thomas Wilson of ''
Back to the Future'' fame has stated that Sandler is the "nicest famous guy he knows".
[15]
Sandler has contributed money to
Rudy Giuliani's 2008 Presidential campaign.
[16]
Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live
★ Angelo from "Good Morning,
Brooklyn"
★ Audience McGee, a random audience member who interrupts SNL sketches
★ Cajun Man, a
Weekend Update commentator from
Louisiana
★ Fabio, one of the La Cantore waiters who hits on Mrs. Kirkpatrick (played by two-time host
Kirstie Alley)
★
Canteen Boy, an adult scouting enthusiast who is frequently mocked by adults and was once molested by his scoutmaster (
Alec Baldwin).
★ Gil Graham, a geek who tours with bands
★ Helios, from Hub's
Gyros
★ Opera Man,
Weekend Update commentator from Italy, who would sing the stories in
opera form
Filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Titles
! Year
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1. ''
Going Overboard''
|
1989
| Schecky Moskowitz
| first film role
|-
|2. ''
Shakes the Clown''
|
1992
| Dink the Clown
|
|-
|3. ''
Coneheads''
|
1993
| Carmine
|
|-
|4. ''
Airheads''
|
1994
| Pip
|
|-
|5. ''
Mixed Nuts''
|
1994
| Louie
|
|-
|6. ''
Billy Madison''
|
1995
| Billy Madison
| Also writer
|-
|7. ''
Happy Gilmore''
|
1996
| Happy Gilmore
| Also writer
|-
|8. ''
Bulletproof''
|
1996
| Archie Moses
|
|-
|9. ''
The Wedding Singer''
|
1998
| Robbie Hart
|
|-
|10. ''
Dirty Work''
|
1998
| Satan
|
Cameo (''uncredited'')
|-
|11. ''
The Waterboy''
|
1998
| Robert "Bobby" Boucher Jr.
| Also executive producer and writer
|-
|12. ''
Big Daddy''
|
1999
| Sonny Koufax
| Also executive producer and writer
|-
|13. ''
|
1999
|
| Cameo (voice only)
|-
|14. ''
Little Nicky''
|
2000
| Nicky
| Also executive producer and writer
|-
|15. ''
The Animal''
|
2001
| Townie
| Cameo and executive producer
|-
|16. ''
Mr. Deeds''
|
2002
| Longfellow Deeds
| Also executive producer
|-
|17. ''
Punch-Drunk Love''
|
2002
| Barry Egan
|
Golden Globe nomination
|-
|18. ''
Eight Crazy Nights''
|
2002
| Davey Stone
| Animated, also Producer and Writer
|-
|19. ''
A Day with the Meatball''
|
2002
| Himself
| Short Subject
|-
|20. ''
The Hot Chick''
|
2002
| Mambuza Bongo Guy (''uncredited'')
| Cameo, also executive producer
|-
|21. ''
Anger Management''
|
2003
| Dave Buznik
| Also Executive producer
|-
|22. ''
Pauly Shore Is Dead''
|
2003
|
| Documentary
|-
|23. ''Stupidity''
|
2003
|
| Documentary
|-
|24. ''The Couch''
|
2003
| Couch Testing Guy
| Short Film
|-
|25. ''
50 First Dates''
|
2004
| Henry Roth
| Also Executive Producer
|-
|26. ''
Spanglish''
|
2004
| John Clasky
|
|-
|27. ''
The Longest Yard''
|
2005
| Paul Crewe
| Also Executive producer
|-
|28. ''
|
2005
| Javier Sandooski {''uncredited'')
| Cameo image and producer
|-
|29. ''
Click''
|
2006
| Michael Newman
| Also producer
|-
|30. ''
Reign Over Me''
|
2007
| Charlie Fineman
|
|-
|31. ''
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry''
|
2007
| Chuck Levine
| Also Executive producer
|-
|32. ''
Stu the BSB''
|
2007
|
| Currently in pre-production
|-
|33. ''
Crood Awakening''
|
2008
|
| In production, voice
|-
|34. ''
You Don't Mess with the Zohan''
|
2008
|
| Filming
|-
|35. ''
Bedtime Stories''
|
2008
|
| Currently in pre-production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! TV Show
! Year/s
! Role
! Episodes
|-
|1. ''
Remote Control''
| 1987-1990
|
|
|-
|2. ''
The Cosby Show''
| 1987-1988
| Smitty
| 4 episodes (The Locker Room (
1987), Dance Mania (
1987), The Prom (
1988) and The Visit (
1988)
|-
|3. ''
The Marshall Chronicles''
|
1990
| Usher
| 1 Episode (''Brightman SATyricon'')
|-
|4. ''
ABC Afterschool Specials''
|
1990
| Drug Dealer
| 1 episode (''Testing Dirty'')
|-
|5. ''
Saturday Night Live''
| 1991-1995
| ''Various''
| 44 episodes
|-
|6. ''
Undeclared''
|
2001
| Himself
| 1 episode (''The Assistant'')
|-
|7. ''
Couch''
|
2003
| Couch Testing Guy
| 1 episode
|-
|8. ''"
Getaway"''
|
2005
| Henry Roth
| 1 episode (''"Found"'')
|-
|9. ''
The King of Queens''
|
2007 (
April 23rd)
|
| 1 episode
|}
Discography
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Year
! Notes
|-
|''
They're All Gonna Laugh at You!''
|
1993
| 2x Platinum
|-
|''
What The Hell Happened To Me?''
|
1996
| 2x Platinum
|-
|''
What's Your Name?''
|
1997
| Gold
|-
|''
Stan and Judy's Kid''
|
1999
| Gold
|-
|''
Shhh...Don't Tell''
|
2004
|
|}
References
1. http://www.celebheights.com/s/Adam-Sandler-965.html
2. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=adamsandler.htm
3. http://www.filmreference.com/film/70/Adam-Sandler.html
4. http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=9666
5. http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542505
6. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124198/trivia
7. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021018/REVIEWS/210180308/1023
8. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369339/trivia
9. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367594/trivia
10. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19627
11. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19719
12. http://www.filmfocus.co.uk/newsdetail.asp?NewsID=336
13. Sandler struck by Albom pitch
14. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1191818,00.html
15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y&mode=related&search=.com
16. http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Adam_Sandler.php
External links
★
Official website
★
★
Adam Sandler fanlisting
★
Adam Sandler Quotes
★
Adam Sandler's Charity Work
★
MySpace page
★
Myspace music page
★
Adam Sandler "Serious Actor"
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