Adam Sandler – Hollywood Celebrity, Actor

9 September 1966, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Adam Richard Sandler

Sandman

5′ 10″ (1.78 m) 

Adam Sandler was born on September 9, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, to Judy and Stanley Sandler. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University (graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991) by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. During his freshman year, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family’s friend Smitty on “The Cosby Show” (1984). While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was “discovered” by Dennis Miller, who recommended him to “Saturday Night Live” (1975) producer Lorne Michaels and told him that Sandler had a big talent. This led to his being cast in the show in 1990, which he also wrote for in addition to performing. After “Saturday Night Live” (1975), Sandler went on to the movies, starring in such hit comedies as Airheads (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), Billy Madison (1995) and Big Daddy (1999/I). He has also starred in Mr. Deeds (2002) alongside Winona Ryder; Eight Crazy Nights (2002), an animated movie about the Jewish festival of Chanukah; and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including The Wedding Singer (1998). Sandler has had several of his songs placed on the “Billboard” charts, including the classic “The Chanukah Song”.

Often casts Allen Covert, Peter Dante ,Jonathan Loughran and former “Saturday Night Live” (1975) players in his films.

His characters often have a penchant for a particular brand name food (i.e. Snack Packs, Subway, Popeye’s chicken, etc.)

Often plays a character with a bad temper, or a short fuse

Frequently appears in Rob Schneider films either with a large role or a small cameo.

Frequently uses 1980s music for the soundtrack of his movies

His characters frequently wear licensed professional sports team apparel, based on the locale of the film.

In the films he writes the female characters often have names that begin with the letter V (Veronica Vaughn, Virginia Vennet, Vicki Vallencurt, Vanessa, Valerie Veran)

Adam’s comedy album “Stan and Judy’s Kid” set a record for most albums sold by a comedy album in its first week. It debuted at number 16 on the Billboard charts. All three of his previous comedy albums have gone platinum.

Graduated from New York University (1991).

Grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Often casts Allen Covert, Blake Clark, Peter Dante, Jonathan Loughran, Steve Buscemi, Henry Winkler and former SNL players – such as Rob Schneider — in his films.

Was originally cast for a role in Very Bad Things (1998).

In 1988, he was hired as a repertory player for MTV’s TV-trivia game show “Remote Control” (1987).

Announced engagement to longtime girlfriend, model/actress Jackie Sandler. [June 2002]

Ranked #35 in Premiere’s 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #43 the previous two years.

Father was an electrician. His brother is an attorney. One sister is a dentist; the other sister is a waitress.

Started Happy Madison Productions, which is behind most of his films.

His production company, Happy Madison, is named after two of his films, Happy Gilmore (1996) and Billy Madison (1995).

His beloved dog, Meatball, who also has a section on Adam’s official website with photos and videos, passed away due to a heart attack, at 4 years old. He was the son of Mr. Beefy, the talking dog in Little Nicky (2000). Meatball was best “man” at Sandler’s wedding and was dressed in a tux, with a yarmulka on his head. [January 27 2004].

Is a major Yankee fan, refers to the team in some of his films, especially Anger Management (2003). He has gone to games when the Yankees are playing.

He is a huge fan of Van Halen, The Police and Styx. There is usually a reference or song in his movies.

He was originally set to play taxi driver Max in Collateral (2004), opposite Tom Cruise, but he backed out to work on Spanglish (2004). Jamie Foxx was cast in Collateral (2004) instead. Jamie Foxx went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for the role.

Was parodied by Jimmy Fallon on “Saturday Night Live” (1975).

Performed at the RNC (Republican National Committee) convention in 2004.

Was a Resident Advisor in Brittany Hall during his time at New York University.

Spoke at Manchester Central High School’s 2003 Graduation, the same school he graduated from. His nephew was one of three Valedictorians that year.

Attended WWE’s WrestleMania 21 (2005) (TV) in April 2005.

Has starred alongside Drew Barrymore in two movies: The Wedding Singer (1998) and 50 First Dates (2004).

Adam wore an Armani tux in his June 2003 wedding to Jackie Sandler.

Was considered for the role of “Willy Wonka” in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

Has worked with director Frank Coraci three times: The Wedding Singer (1998), The Waterboy (1998), and Click (2006/I).

Ranked #24 on Premiere’s 2006 “Power 50” list. Had ranked #24 in 2005 as well.

Is good friends with comedians Chris Rock, Norm MacDonald, David Spade, Steven Brill and Rob Schneider.

Owns a white and tan English bulldog named Motzaball.

Moved to New Hampshire when he was 5.

Is a fan of professional wrestling, and most of his self-written films have references to professional wrestling in them (the principal in Billy Madison (1995), Captain Insano in The Waterboy (1998), Chief Jay Strongbow’s sleeper hold in Big Daddy (1999/I), mind-wrestling and Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister – a.k.a. the WWF’s Zeus – in Little Nicky (2000), etc). Sandler even appeared on “WWE Smackdown!” (1999) to promote Little Nicky (2000). Kevin Nash, Bill Goldberg, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin; all professional wrestlers, appeared in Adam’s recent film, The Longest Yard (2005). Wrestler/producer Anthony Begonia almost appeared in 50 First Dates (2004) as an ukulele player.

His favorite cartoon character is “SpongeBob SquarePants” (1999).

Resides in New York City and Los Angeles.

December 2007 – According to Forbes, for each dollar he got paid, Adam Sandler’s movies averaged $9 of gross income.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $30 million.

Children: (with Jackie Sandler) Sadie Madison Sandler (b. May 6, 2006 in Los Angeles, California) and Sunny Madeline Sandler (b. November 2, 2008).

Former roommate of Writer/Director/Producer Judd Apatow during his time on “Saturday Night Live” (1975).

Lives in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, La Quinta, California and Highland Beach, Florida.

Received the 2,431st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 1, 2011. At the ceremony were his wife, Jackie Sandler, their daughters Sadie and Sunny, Henry Winkler and Kevin James.

Purchased Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s Hollywood home after his wife Jackie fell in love with the place during a New Year’s Eve party there. (Jackie Sandler’s best friend is Erinn Bartlett, Goldie’s daughter-in-law). [2004]

[after getting laser eye surgery] : Now I realize how ugly I am.

I never had a speech from my father [saying], ‘This is what you must do or shouldn’t do’ but I just learned to be led by example. My father wasn’t perfect. He had a temper. I took some of that. He would snap, but the older he got, he started calming down. He learned about life, but the thing that he taught my whole family was that family was the most important thing and, no matter what, if a family member needs you, you go and help them out, you get there. He just made us feel comfortable and respectful to other families, my mother also…part of my father having a temper led to me developing a sense of humor to calm the old man down. That kind of sense of humor.

I wasn’t a kid growing up thinking, ‘One day I’ll get an Oscar and make a speech.’ That wasn’t on my mind. I want to just do the best work I can do.

To be honest with you, when I got into this I never thought about reviews. I never thought about what people would say about me. I was just a young guy who was excited to become a comedian and an actor and I just wanted to get to do what I got to do.

If it’s something I feel I can do alright, I like being in those, and some that I think [Rob Schneider] and [David Spade] would be funnier at than me, I tell them to do it. I don’t have any clue how we decide. There’s this thing, this Click (2006/I) actually, one of my friends called me up, my partner told me about this idea that Steve Koren had. Steve Koren, by the way, the guy who wrote it with Mark O’Keefe, Steve Koren I’ve known since I was 22. He was a page at “Saturday Night Live” (1975). He would answer the phones and he’d give us phone messages and then he’d give you a message and he’d say, ‘Oh yeah. I wrote a joke.’ And he’d tell you the joke and you go, ‘Hey. Steve Koren’s pretty funny’ and then all of a sudden he’s wrote Bruce Almighty (2003) and this thing and he’s a giant writer and he’s just a great guy. And anyway, they told me about the premise of the movie and asked if I was interested in that and I didn’t even read the script, I just said, ‘Yeah. That’s a huge idea, it sounds great.’ That’s how I decided to do this script, just off three sentences about what the movie’s about, I knew it could be awesome.

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