Who is Adam Richard Sandler

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966, he is 42. Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Judy, a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[3] Sandler was raised Jewish.[4] When he was five, his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he attended Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic, and nurtured his talent while at New York University by performing regularly in clubs and on campuses. Sandler did not excel as a student. His interests lay elsewhere. He loved wrestling, and basketball - he played on Manchester Central High School's junior varsity team. Even now he keeps a hoop nearby whenever he's on-set. And there was music. At age 11, he got up to sing at Elizabeth's wedding, performing Ringo Starr's You're Sixteen to huge applause. Overly enthused, he then broke into Yesterday, and was roundly booed for trying to be the centre of attention. This was always the way with Sandler. You love him or you hate him. Or you love him, THEN you hate him. Then you love him again. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991. On June 22, 2003, Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone, and they are the parents of two daughters, Sadie Madison Sandler, born May 6, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, [15] and Sunny Madeline Sandler, born November 2, 2008.[16] Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, though he also has a home in New York.
In 2007, Sandler made a million-dollar donation to the Boys and Girls Club in his hometown, Manchester, NH.[17] He also donated $2100 to the primary campaign of Rudy Giuliani the same year.[18]


Later in his career, he would often draw on his earliest memories for material for his comedy and movies. The song "Lunchlady Land" is dedicated to Emalee, the lunchlady at Hayden Dining Hall at New York University. In the movie Click, Sandler goes to Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in New Hampshire, where he went to summer camp.

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". Early in his career, Sandler performed in comedy clubs, taking the stage at his brother's urging when he was only 17. He was discovered by comedian Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles. Miller 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, 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 film career.


Sandler reads 'An Ode to Bob' during a Price is Right appearance
Sandler's first starring role was in 1989, in the film Going Overboard. In 1995, he starred in Billy Madison, in which he plays a grown, though uneducated, man repeating grades 1–12 to earn back his father's respect, along with the right to inherit his father's multi-million-dollar hotel empire. He followed this film with other financially successful comedies such as Bulletproof (1996), 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 his earlier films did not receive critical praise, his more recent films, beginning with Punch-Drunk Love (2002), have received almost uniformly positive reviews. Some critics concluded that Sandler possessed considerably more 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 US$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), Spanglish (2004) and Reign Over Me (2007). He played a loving father figure in Big Daddy (1999). During filming, he met Jacqueline Samantha Titone — his future wife and mother of his daughter — who was cast as the waitress from The Blarney Stone Bar.

The handprints of Adam Sandler in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
At one point, Sandler was considered for the part that went to Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004).[6] 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).[6] He returned to more dramatic fare with Mike Binder's Reign Over Me (2007), a drama about a man who loses his entire family in 9/11 and rekindles a friendship with his old college roommate (played by Don Cheadle). He starred in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) alongside Kevin James, as a New York City fireman pretending to be gay keep up an insurance scam so that his best friend's children can have benefits. Sandler's most recent film is You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), a comedy about a Mossad agent who fakes his own death and moves to the United States to become a hair stylist. The film was 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 was directed by Happy Gilmore director Dennis Dugan.
"Like Will Ferrell, Sandler has layers of tenderness under layers of irony under layers of tenderness — plus a floating anger like Jupiter’s great red spot," wrote David Edelstein of New York magazine in a review of You Don't Mess with the Zohan. "Some performers become stars because we can read them instantly, others — like Sandler — because we never tire of trying to get a fix on them."[8]
He recently finished production on Bedtime Stories (2008), a fantasy film 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. This will mark Sandler's first family film and first film under the Walt Disney banner.[9] Keri Russell and English comedian Russell Brand co-star and the film is set to be released on Christmas of 2008.
His next film will be Judd Apatow's third directorial feature Funny People. Sandler stars as a very successful stand up comedian who finds out he has a terminal illness and he takes a young inexperienced comic, played by Seth Rogen, under his wing. Other co-stars include Eric Bana and Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann. The film will contain more dramatic elements than Apatow's previous efforts.[10] Filming began in October of 2008 with a tentative release date of July 31, 2009.[11]
At one point, Sandler was in talks to star in Quentin Tarantino's World War II film Inglourious Basterds, which he confirmed, but he said he will not be in it due to a scheduling conflict with Funny People.[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]

Sandler formed his film production company, Happy Madison Productions,[14] in 1999, first producing fellow SNL alumi Rob Schneider's film, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Happy Madison has produced all of Sandler's subsequent films to date with the exceptions Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish and Reign Over Me.

Sandler is known for consistently working with a core group of friends and associates through Happy Madison, frequently casting fellow SNL peformers in various roles in his films. Happy Madison produced David Spade's Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star[14] and Sandler cameoed as a special audience member in an episode of The Showbiz Show with David Spade.

SNL contemporary Kevin Nealon has appeared in nine Happy Madison productions or Sandler films, including Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Little Nicky, Joe Dirt, Eight Crazy Nights, Anger Management, Grandma's Boy, You Don't Mess with the Zohan and the Dana Carvey vehicle, The Master of Disguise.
He appeared as the featured guest on the final episode of John McEnroe's eponymous CNBC talk show, airing in late 2004. McEnroe appeared as himself in three of Sandler's films (Mr. Deeds, Anger Management, and You Don't Mess with the Zohan).
Sandler and Happy Madison produced SNL contemporary Rob Schneider's vehicles Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), The Animal (2001), The Hot Chick (2002), and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), with Sandler making cameo appearances in the latter three. Meanwhile, Schneider has appeared in cameo roles in Sandler films The Waterboy, Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, Click, The Longest Yard and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Schneider had larger roles in Sandler films Big Daddy, 50 First Dates, Eight Crazy Nights, and You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Others who frequently appear in Sandler films include Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Jon Lovitz, Clint Howard, Norm MacDonald, and longtime Sandler pals Allen Covert, Peter Dante, and Jonathan Loughran.

These are the films that Sandler has made since 1989:

Filmography
Film
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1989 Going Overboard
Schecky Moskowitz
first film role
1992 Shakes the Clown
Dink the Clown

1993 Coneheads
Carmine

1994 Airheads
Pip

Mixed Nuts
Louie

1995 Billy Madison
Billy Madison
Also writer
1996 Happy Gilmore
Happy Gilmore
Also writer
Bulletproof
Archie Moses

1998 The Wedding Singer
Robbie Hart

Dirty Work
Satan
Cameo (uncredited)
The Waterboy
Robert "Bobby" Boucher Jr.
Also executive producer and writer
1999 Big Daddy
Sonny Koufax
Also executive producer and writer
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
Robert Justin
Cameo (voice only)
2000 Little Nicky
Nicky
Also executive producer and writer
2001 The Animal
Townie
Cameo and executive producer
2002 Mr. Deeds
Longfellow Deeds
Also executive producer
Punch-Drunk Love
Barry Egan
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Eight Crazy Nights
Davey Stone
Animated, also Producer and Writer
A Day with the Meatball
Himself
Short Subject
The Hot Chick
Mambuza Bongo Guy (uncredited)
Cameo, also executive producer
2003 Anger Management
Dave Buznik
Also Executive producer
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Himself
Documentary
Stupidity
Himself
Documentary
The Couch
Couch Testing Guy
Short Film
2004 50 First Dates
Henry Roth
Also Executive Producer
Spanglish
John Clasky

2005 The Longest Yard
Paul Crewe
Also Executive producer
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Javier Sandooski (uncredited)
Cameo image and producer
2006 Click
Michael Newman
Also producer
2007 Reign Over Me
Charlie Fineman

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Chuck Levine
Also Executive producer
2008 You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Zohan Dvir
Also producer and writer
Bedtime Stories
Skeeter Bronson
post-production
2009 Funny People
George
filming
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1987 – 1990
Remote Control

Television Work
1987 – 1988
The Cosby Show
Smitty
Episodes: "The Locker Room""Dance Mania""The Prom""The Visit"
1990
The Marshall Chronicles
Usher
Episode: "Brightman SATyricon"
ABC Afterschool Specials
Drug Dealer
Episode: "Testing Dirty"
1991 – 1995
Saturday Night Live
Various

2001
Undeclared
Himself
Episode: "The Assistant"
2003
Couch
Couch Testing Guy

2005
Getaway
Henry Roth
Episode: "Found"
2007
The King of Queens
Jeff "The beast" Sussman
Episode: "Mild Bunch"

Discography
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