Celebrity Details:
Comedian/actor Saturday Night Live was born in Brooklyn, NY Sept. 9 1966 but raised in Manchester, NH. Though goofy as a child, Sandler never aspired to be a comedian until age 17 when his brother encouraged him to perform at a Boston comedy club.
He continued to perform after he left Boston to attend New York University and after graduation became a regular on MTV's humorous game show, "Remote Control". He starred in his first film, Going Overboard, in 1989, and later became a Saturday Night Live cast member during the 1990-91 season, creating such characters as "Cajun Man," "Opera Man" and "Canteen Boy".
His first comedy album, the Grammy-nominated They're All Gonna Laugh At You, became an instant hit and expanded his fan base among young people through offensive songs and sketches (like the infamous "Thanksgiving Song").
In 1993, Sandler released his first comedy album, "They're All Gonna Laugh at You!," which gave voice to a teenage boy's innermost thoughts. Despite its abundant references to masturbation and scatology, the recording was nominated for a Grammy and spent more than 100 weeks on Billboard's charts.
After Saturday Night Live, Adam went on to the movies, starring in many hit movies. He co-wrote and starred as "Billy Madison" (1995), the scion of a wealthy family who tries to prove to his retiring father that he's worthy of taking over the family business by attending grades 1-12 in six months. In December of that year, his comic "Hanukkah Song" became a surprise hit on radio stations nationwide.
Sandler co-writing another low-brow starring vehicle, the golfing comedy "Happy Gilmore" (1996), which took in more than $40 million. Adding further proof of his box-office appeal, that year's "Bulletproof", teaming him with Damon Wayans, opened at Number 1, but none of these coups prepared anyone for the breakout phenomena of "The Wedding Singer" (1998), a relatively sophisticated product (by Sandler's standards) which grossed $80 million and finally brought women to the ranks of what had previously been his male fan base.
He reverted to his classic outsider image for "The Waterboy" (also 1998), its $39 million opening weekend flying in the face of conventional wisdom saying moviegoers prefer more serious fare in the fall. With everyone calling him the heir-apparent to Jim Carrey's low-comedy throne, Sandler, whose underdog quality and vulnerability separates him from his comic peers, headlined "Big Daddy" (1999), as a slacker who adopts a boy to win back his girlfriend. The film had more heart than "The Waterboy" and while it was not as overwhelmingly succesful, it did register as another solid hit for Sandler. While helping fellow SNL alumnis out by producing their comedies ("Joe Dirt" for David Spade in 2001 and "The Animal" for Rob Schneider, also in 2001) he put out the mediocre comedy "Little Nicky" in 2001. He followed up with "Mr. Deeds" in 2002 which also performed poorly, suggesting maybe Sandler's golden touch was beginning to tarnish.
Perhaps sensing the need for a change of direction, Sandler starred opposite Emily Watson in the critically acclaimed dramatic comedy "Punch-Drunk Love" (2002) which premiered at Cannes and took home The Golden Palm award there. Taking on a more mature role in the romantic comedy created expressly for him by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, Sandler successfully built upon his likeable sad-sack persona and added darker edges in a more true-to-life scenario.
The new dimension impressed both critics and moviegoers. In 2003, Sandler joined Jack Nicholson as the unlikely pair took on the roles of patient and therapist in the clever David Dorfman comedy "Anger Management." The ingenious blend of Sandler and Nicholson's proved to be ideal as the two made the hilarious script jump to life. Sandler and Nicholson's name alone brought other top-notch performers to the project, and before long, Marisa Tomei was also attached which made the feature even more inviting. |
