Adam Sandler

Infobox actor
name = Adam Sandler


caption = Sandler at Cannes, May 2002
birthname = Adam Richard Sandler
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|9|9
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
occupation = comedian, actor, musician, screenwriter,
film producer
Label = Warner Bros. Records
yearsactive = 1987 — present day
spouse = Jackie Sandler
website = http://www.adamsandler.com/
awards =All awards: [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001191/awards "Adam Sandler Awards."] "IMDB". Retrieved 2008-09-18.]
* 1996 "MTV Movie Awards - Happy Gilmore" Best Fight
* 1998 "MTV Movie Awards - The Wedding Singer" Best Kiss
* 1999 "MTV Movie Awards - The Waterboy" Best Comedic Performance
* 1999 "Blockbuster Entertainment Award - The Waterboy" Favorite Actor Comedy
* 2000 "MTV Movie Awards - Big Daddy - MTV Movie Awards" Best Comedic Performance
* 2000 "People's Choice Awards" Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy
* 2000 "Blockbuster Entertainment Award - Big Daddy" Favorite Actor Comedy
* 2001 "Teen Choice Award" Choice Comedian
* 2002 "Teen Choice Award" Choice Comedian
* 2003 "Teen Choice Award - Anger Management" Choice Movie Hissy Fit
* 2003 "Kids' Choice Awards - Mr. Deeds" Favorite Movie Actor
* 2003 "Kids' Choice Awards - Eight Crazy Nights" Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
* 2003 "Chlotrudis Awards - Punch-Drunk Love" Best Actor
* 2004 "Teen Choice Awards - 50 First Dates" Choice Movie Actor
* 2004 "Teen Choice Awards" Choice Comedian
* 2004 "MTV Movie Awards - 50 First Dates" Best On-Screen Team<
* 2004 "Kids' Choice Wannabe Award<
* 2005 "People's Choice Awards - 50 First Dates" Favorite On-Screen Chemistry
* 2005 "Teen Choice Award" Choice Comedian
* 2005 "Kids' Choice Awards" Favorite Movie Actor
* 2006 "Teen Choice Award" Choice Comedian
* 2006 "People's Choice Awards" Favorite Funny Male Star
* 2007 "Kids' Choice Awards" Favorite Movie Actor
* 2007 "Gijón International Film Festival - Click" Best Actor
* 2008 "Teen Choice Award" Choice Comedian

Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, musician, screenwriter and film producer. After becoming a "Saturday Night Live" cast member, he went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over US$100 million at the box office. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=adamsandler.htm "Adam Sandler." "BoxOfficeMojo.com".] ] Though he is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films "Billy Madison" (1995), "Happy Gilmore" (1996), "Big Daddy" (1999) and "Mr. Deeds" (2002), he has also had success in romantic and dramatic roles, such as in the films, "The Wedding Singer" (1998), "Punch-Drunk Love" (2002), "Spanglish" (2004), and "Reign Over Me" (2007).

Biography

Early life

Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Judy, a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/70/Adam-Sandler.html "Adam Sandler Biography (1966?-)."] Film Reference.com.] With a Jewish upbringing, [ [http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/crazy_for_chanukah_20021129/ "Crazy for Chaukah."] "JewishJournal.com". November 29, 2002.] his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire when he was five. There, 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. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991.

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.

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". 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". [ [http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542505 "Adam Sandler Biography."] "Biography.com".] He left the show in 1995 to focus on his film career.

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), [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124198/trivia "Very Bad Things" (1998) Trivia."] "IMDB".] 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. [Ebert, Roger. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021018/REVIEWS/210180308/1023 "Punch-Drunk Love."] "Chicago Sun-Times". October 18, 2002.] 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.

At one point, Sandler was considered for the part that went to Jamie Foxx in "Collateral" (2004). 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). 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 &mdash; 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 &mdash; like Sandler &mdash; because we never tire of trying to get a fix on them." [Edelstein, David, http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/47552/ "Israeli Stud, Aspiring Hairdresser: Adam Sandler makes his Jewish mother proud. Meanwhile, Werner Herzog tries to avoid penguins." "New York" magazine. June 5, 2008, accessed June 13, 2008.]

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. [ [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19719 "Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories Come True."] "ComingSoon.net".] 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". The film will star Sandler with Seth Rogen as a pair of stand up comedians. Filming was set to begin in mid-September 2008 with a tentative release date of July 31, 2009. [cite news | author = Michael Fleming | title = Trio joins Judd Apatow film | publisher = Variety | date = 2008-06-11 | url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987337.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | accessdate=2008-06-13] Other co-stars include Eric Bana and Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann. Sandler will play a more successful mentor of sorts to Rogen's character. [ [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45672 "In the Future with Seth Rogen."] "ComingSoon.net".] The film will contain more dramatic elements than Apatow's previous efforts. [ [http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1588439/20080531/story.jhtml "Adam Sandler To Star In Judd Apatow Movie About Stand-Up Comics."] "MTV". May 31, 2008.]

At one point, Sandler was in talks to star in Quentin Tarantino's World War II saga "Inglorious Bastards", which he confirmed, but he said he will not be in it due to a scheduling conflict with "Funny People". [>cite web| url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0814/sandlera.html | title= Sandler won't star in Tarantino film] In June 2007, it was announced that his production company, Happy Madison, had made a preemptive acquisition for Mitch Albom's screenwriting debut. [cite web| url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967095.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title= Sandler struck by Albom pitch]

Happy Madison Productions

Sandler formed his film production company, Happy Madison Productions, [http://www.adamsandler.com/index.php?section=happy "Happy Madison."] AdamSandler.com. Accessed October 9, 2008.] in 1999, first producing fellow "SNL" alumi Rob Schneider's film, "". 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 "" 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 ' (1999), "The Animal" (2001), "The Hot Chick" (2002), and ' (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, Jon Lovitz, Clint Howard, Norm MacDonald, and longtime Sandler pals Allen Covert, Peter Dante, and Jonathan Loughran.

Personal life

On June 22, 2003, Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone, and they are the parents of Sadie Madison Sandler, born May 6, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. [ [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1191818,00.html "Adam Sandler, Wife Have a Baby."] "People.com".] Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, though he also has a home in New York. Sandler and Titone are expecting a second daughter, due in late fall 2008. [ [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20201882,00.html "Adam Sandler Prepares His Daughter for a Sibling."] "People.com". September 27, 2008.]

In October 2007, Sandler made a million-dollar donation to the Boys and Girls Club in his hometown, Manchester, NH. [ [http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7262999&nav=4QcS "Adam Sandler donates $1 million to Manchester charity."] WCAX.com.]

Filmography

Discography

References

External links

* [http://www.adamsandler.com/ Official website]
*imdb name|id=0001191|name=Adam Sandler
* [http://adam.electricskies.org/ Adam Sandler fanlisting]
* [http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1-adam-sandler Adam Sandler's Charity Work]

Persondata
NAME=Sandler, Adam Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American comedian, producer, and musician.
DATE OF BIRTH=September 9, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH=Brooklyn, NY
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=