Adam Richard Sandler was born inBrooklyn, New York City, on September 9, 1966,[9] to Judith "Judy" (née Levine), a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[9] He has three older siblings, Scott, Elizabeth, and Valerie.[10] His family isJewish and descends fromRussian Jewish immigrants on both sides.[11][12][13] Sandler grew up inManchester, New Hampshire, after his family moved there when he was six years old.[14] He attendedManchester Central High School. As a teen, Sandler was inBBYO, a Jewish youth group. He graduated fromNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in acting.[15]
Sandler starred inBilly Madison (1995) playing a grown man repeating grades 1–12 to earn back his father's respect and the right to inherit his father's multimillion-dollar hotel empire. The film was successful at the box office despite negative reviews. He followed this film withBulletproof (1996), and the financially successful comediesHappy Gilmore (1996) andThe Wedding Singer (1998), his first collaboration withDrew Barrymore. He was initially cast in the bachelor party-themed comedy/thrillerVery Bad Things (1998) but had to back out due to his involvement inThe Waterboy (1998), one of his first big hits.
Although his earlier commercially successful films did not receive favorable critical attention, Sandler started to receive more positive reviews beginning with his more dramatic role inPunch-Drunk Love in 2002.Punch-Drunk Love's writer and director,Paul Thomas Anderson, had an "obsession-level" love for Sandler's previous movies and wrote the film with him in mind.[21] Sandler was intimidated to work with Anderson upon viewing his previous filmMagnolia (1999), but these fears were alleviated upon receiving the script from Anderson.[22]Roger Ebert's review ofPunch-Drunk Love concluded that Sandler had been wasted in earlier films with poorly written scripts and characters with no development. Ebert noted that Sandler's character still maintained the "childlike, love-starved" persona from his previous films, but was shown in a new light as the "key to all Adam Sandler films".[23] Sandler was nominated for aGolden Globe Award forBest Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance.[22] The film marked the beginning of Sandler moving outside the genre of slapstick comedy to take on more serious roles, such asMike Binder'sReign Over Me (2007), a drama about a man who loses his entire family in theSeptember 11 attacks and then struggles to rekindle a friendship with his old college roommate (Don Cheadle).
In 2009, Sandler starred in Apatow's third directorial feature,Funny People, acomedy drama about a famous comedian (Sandler) with aterminal illness. The film was released on July 31, 2009.[25] After its release,Funny People andPunch-Drunk Love were cited in the June 2010 announcement that Sandler was one of 135 people (including 20 actors) invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[26]
In 2010, Sandler appeared inGrown Ups, alongside Kevin James,Chris Rock,Rob Schneider, David Spade,Salma Hayek,Maria Bello, andMaya Rudolph. Sandler andDickie Roberts scribe Fred Wolf wrote the script and Dennis Dugan directed.[27] Sandler's later comedy films, includingGrown Ups andGrown Ups 2, received largely negative reviews.[28] Reviewing the latter, critic Mark Olsen of theLos Angeles Times remarked that Sandler had become the antithesis ofJudd Apatow; he was instead "the whiteTyler Perry: smart enough to know better, savvy enough to do it anyway, lazy enough not to care."[29] The next year, Sandler starred withJennifer Aniston in the romantic comedy filmJust Go with It.[30] He also voiced a capuchin monkey in Kevin James'sZookeeper, released on July 8, 2011. In 2012, he starred inThat's My Boy, as a man who fathered a son (Andy Samberg) with his teacher (Eva Amurri) in high school. In 2013, he guest starred in theDisney Channel Original SeriesJessie as himself in the episode "Punched Dumped Love". He andJessie starCameron Boyce had worked together inGrown Ups andGrown Ups 2; Sandler's 2020 filmHubie Halloween was dedicated to Boyce's memory. Sandler next reunited withDrew Barrymore for a third time in theWarner Bros. romantic comedyBlended, which was filmed in South Africa and released on May 23, 2014.
2014–present: Final theatrical films and switch to Netflix
In 2015, Sandler released his last theatrical film,Pixels, based on French director Patrick Jean's2010 short film of the same name, before transitioning into a distribution deal withNetflix.
Sandler's first original film for Netflix was the Western comedy filmThe Ridiculous 6. Despite being universally panned by critics,[35] on January 6, 2016, it was announced by Netflix that the film had been viewed more times in 30 days than any other movie in Netflix history.[36] Sandler also starred in another Netflix film in 2016, titledThe Do-Over.
Sandler starred in the 2017 Netflix filmSandy Wexler, in which he plays a talent manager who falls in love with one of his clients. He returned to dramatic territory in 2017 withNoah Baumbach's family dramaThe Meyerowitz Stories. In the film, Sandler plays Danny Meyerowitz, who is unemployed and separated from his wife, and who is experiencing dysfunctional relationships with his brother (Ben Stiller), his sister (Elizabeth Marvel), and his father (Dustin Hoffman). The film premiered in competition for thePalme d'Or at the2017 Cannes Film Festival where his performance received favorable notices from critics.[7] Peter Debruge, film critic forVariety, wrote of his performance, "With no shtick to fall back on, Sandler is forced to act, and it's a glorious thing to watch".[37]
In 2018, Sandler starred in the Netflix filmThe Week Of alongsideChris Rock. He also starred in a Netflix stand-up specialAdam Sandler: 100% Fresh, which was part of his company's Netflix deal and marked his first stand-up film in over two decades. The special was directed by longtime collaboratorSteven Brill, while portions of the special were filmed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which marked Sandler’s first project with Anderson sincePunch-Drunk Love sixteen years prior.[38]
In December 2019, Sandler starred in the crime thrillerUncut Gems, directed by theSafdie brothers.[42] The movie and Sandler's acting received critical acclaim and many end-of-year awards from critics, who noted this role as a career best for Sandler, for which he earned theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.[43][44]
In January 2020,Netflix announced a new four-movie deal with Happy Madison Productions worth up to $275 million.[45] Sandler starred in and wrote the 2020 Netflix filmHubie Halloween. In addition he voiced Leo the lizard in Netflix's animated coming-of-age musicalLeo.[46]
In 2024, Sandler starred in his second Netflix stand-up comedy special,Adam Sandler: Love You, which was directed byJosh Safdie.[50] He also starred in the science fiction drama filmSpaceman, an adaptation of the science fiction novelSpaceman of Bohemia (2017), directed byJohan Renck.[51]
Also in 2024, Sandler was named the People's Choice Icon at the49th People's Choice Awards.[52] In March 2024, Forbes announced that Sandler was the best-paid actor in Hollywood in 2023, earning $73 million.[53]
In 2021,Vogue named Sandler the year'sfashion icon for popularizing a "grocery-run look", characterized by oversized T-shirts, XXL pants, andNike sneakers dubbed as "Adam Sandler style".[58] Menswear brandOld Jewish Men sells a line of basketball shorts inspired by the style.[59] Speaking on the title withEsquire, Sandler remarked: "It took a while. I was working that angle for years. For a while I was like, 'Please accept me and the way I dress.' And 30 years later, they finally came around."[60]
Personal life
Sandler with his two daughters, Sunny and Sadie, in February 2011, at a ceremony for receiving a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.
Sandler has been married to Jacqueline "Jackie" Sandler (née Titone) since 2003.[61] Sheconverted to Sandler's religion, Judaism.[62] The couple has two daughters,Sadie (born May 2006)[63] andSunny (born November 2008).[64] Sandler is the son-in-law of politicianJoseph H. Titone.[65][66] Sandler's wife and children often appear in his films. Both Sadie and Sunny have each appeared in at least two of theHotel Transylvania movie series.[67][68] Adam's nephew Jared has also been featured in his films, such asPixels andHome Team.[69]
Sandler's love forbasketball and his skill at itsstreet version has been widely reported. Sandler frequently seeks outpick-up games when traveling, and people who have played with him call out Sandler's creative passes to teammates.[70][71][72] He has suffered two major injuries while playing, including a broken ankle and a shoulder injury that required surgery.[70] He is also known for the baggy clothing he wears while playing.[73]
"The Peeper" was made into aflash cartoon, launched over the 1999 Labor Day weekend as a promotion forStan and Judy's Kid and was watched by over 1 million users during that period, one of the most-watched video clips on the internet at the time.[103]
^ab"Adam Sandler Biography (1966?-)". FilmReference.com. RetrievedDecember 24, 2014.Full name, Adam Richard Sandler; born September 9, 1966 (some sources cite 1964)...
^RetroRex."Half-Life: Opposing Force".VGFacts. Archived fromthe original on August 12, 2017. RetrievedAugust 11, 2017.There is a hidden message on the upper skybox texture in the V-22 osprey g-man sequence. It reads "HACK HACK HACK ALL DAY LONG. HACK HACK HACK WHILE I SING THIS SONG". This is a reference to the Adam Sandler song "The Beating Of A High School Janitor.
Steve Baker,Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham,James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda,Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy,Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo,Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro,Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark (2013)
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