Known as the funnyman for his comedic roles in films, Adam Sandler is a comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. The 'natural comic' was discovered by Dennis Miller at a comedy club in LA, which led to him being cast on Saturday Night Live in 1990. Sandler then went on to acting in films like Airheads (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), and Big Daddy (1999). In 1999, he formed his film production company, Happy Madison Productions, and started off with producing Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo. The production company since then, has produced most of Sandler's subsequent movies till date. Although, his films were not the most popular among critics, they won over audiences.
EARLY LIFE
Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 9, 1966 to Judith Sandler, a nursery teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer. The family has a Russian Jewish ancestry. He has three siblings; a brother, who is an attorney, and two sisters one of whom is a dentist. When Sandler was six, the family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire where he attended Manchester Central High School and later graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988. Sandler's brother encouraged him to perform at a Boston Comedy Club, where he realized his true potential. Sandler continued performing through his college years as well and became a regular on MTV's game show Remote Control as the Stud Boy or Trivia Delinquent. He also played Smitty, Theo Huxtable's friend on the Cosby Show.
PERSONAL LIFE
Sandler married actress Jacqueline Titone on June 22, 2003, and has two children with her Sadie born in 2006 and Sunny born in 2008.
TV CAREER
Dennis Miller, a comedian and one of the cast members on the American TV show Saturday Night Live, spotted Sandler in one of his acts in Los Angeles and recommended him to the producer Lorne Michaels. He was hired as a writer for the show and was featured the following year where he performed the funny original songs like "The Chanukah Song." In his stint with the show from 1990 to 1995 he created characters like, Opera Man, Cajun Man, and Canteen Boy.
MOVIE CAREER
Adam Sandler made his debut with Going Over Board, an American comedy released in 1989, directed by Valerie Breiman. After Sandler shot to fame with Saturday Night Live, his subsequent movies Billy Madison (1995) and Happy Gilmore (1996) were given a wider release by Vidmark Entertainment in 1996. The Waterboy (1998) was one of his first hits, however, none of his films received any critical praise until 2002 when he starred opposite Emily Watson in Punch-Drunk Love for which he got a Golden Globe nomination. In 2004, Sandler, along with Drew Barrymore, won the award for Best On-Screen Team at the MTV Movie Awards for their movie 50 First Dates.
He starred in a dramatic presentation with Mike Binder in Reign Over Me in 2007, which circled the life of a man who lost his family in 9/11. The same year, he also starred in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with Kevin James. In 2008, he wrote, acted, and produced the film You Don't Mess with the Zohan, which was an American political satire black comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. His first family film under the Walt Disney banner was Bedtime Stories (2008), a fantasy film, where he starred along with Keri Russell and Russell Brand. It was announced that Sandler was invited to join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he starred in Funny People (2009) and his performance in Punch-Drunk Love (2002) was cited in the announcement. Sandler starred opposite Jennifer Aniston in the romantic comedy Just Go With It in 2011, before he starred as Count Dracula in Hotel Transylvania (2012). In 2015, Netflix announced that The Ridiculous 6, starring Sandler, was viewed more times in 30 days than any other movie in Netflix history. Sandler revived his role as Count Dracula in the sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) and Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018).