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| Adam Sandler |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 |
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Born: September 9, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York
Age at the time of the ceremony: 38
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Adam Sandler is the poster boy for Hollywood Comedies in the 1990s and 2000s. After breaking into the cast of Saturday Night Live by famously singing songs, Sandler made the transition to starring in movies easily. He is an everyman usually finding himself in awkward situations. His character names are usually Bobby, Sonny, Barry, Dave or Skeeter.
Sandler is of Russian Jewish heritage. When he was six, the family moved from Brooklyn to Manchester New Hampshire, where young Adam was a member of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization. Sandler attended the Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, graduating in 1988.
Right off, Sandler played a character named "Smitty" on four episodes of The Cosby Show, aired over NBC in March 1988. He then headlined in Going Overboard (released in May 1989) which was not a low-budget affair, but the film got horrible reviews and did no business — until later that is — when it came out on video after Sandler's stardom.
Sandler began to do stand-up in nightclubs, where he was seen by comic Dennis Miller, who recommended him as a writer for Lorne Michaels' show Saturday Night Live. Sandler jumped into the cast lineup right away and appeared in 87 episodes of the show aired over NBC, from December 1990 to May 1995.
Unlike many SNL alumni, Sandler began his film career slowly. He started out as a supporting player in Shakes the Clown (released in March 1992) with Bobcat Goldwhaite in the title role, then helped in a supporting role in Dan Aykroyd's ill-fated Coneheads (released in July 1993).
Producer Robert Simonds took a flyer and headlined Sandler in Billy Madison (released in February 1995) with Darren McGavin. The picture did well enough that it was followed up by the golf-centric Happy Gilmore (released in February 1996).
The Wedding Singer (released in February 1998) with Drew Barrymore, was a huge hit; The Water Boy (released in November, 1998), with Kathy Bates, became Sandler's biggest world-wide hit. Big Daddy (released in June 1999) did twice as much Wedding Singer. By now, Sandler had started Happy Madison Productions, and has since been a producer on all of his films, beginning with Little Nicky (released in November 2000) with Patricia Arquette.
Like many comics before him, Sandler has attempted more serious roles. One of these was in
Punch-Drunk Love (which played the Chinese in November 2002) with Emily Wilson, while his remake of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Deeds (released in June 2002) with Winona Ryder, started with good source material; the panned film made a pile of money anyway.
Sandler was executive producer of 41 episodes of Rules of Engagement, aired over CBS from February 2007 to May 2013. Then co-starred with Jack Nicholson in Anger Management (released in April 2003), which also did very well at the box-office.
For those who resist Sandler's films,
50 First Dates (released in February, 2004) with Drew Barrymore, might be the most pain-free way to experience his "I'm just a guy in love with this wack job" approach to his films. Terrible thrid act, though. Famed director James L. Brooks tried to legitimize Sandler in Spanglish (released in December 2004) with Téa Leonia.
Meanwhile, Sandler was able to fulfill his dream of re-making
The Longest Yard (which played the Chinese in May 2005) with Chris Rock. The film did very well, as did Click (released in June 2006) with Kate Beckinsale.
I Now Pronnounce You Chuck & Larry (released in July 2007) with Kevin James, You Don't Mess with the Zohan (released in June 2006) with John Turturro, and Bedtime Stories (released in December 2008) with Keri Russell, all grossed over $100 million each.
Funny People (released in July 2009) with Seth Rogen, squeaked by, but Grown Ups (released in June 2010) with Salma Hayek, made a fortune. Just Go with It (released in February 2011) with Jennifer Aniston, also passed the $100 mil mark. That's My Boy (released in June 2012) with Andy Samberg, sort of underperformed, as they say.
A surprise hit for Sandler was doing the voice of Dracula in Hotel Transylvania (released in September 2012), but Blended (released in May 2014) with Drew Barrymore, kinda was a dud. Pixels (released in July 2015) with Kevin James, was a suprise hit. Moving over to the Netflix streaming service, Sandler appeared in The Ridiculous 6 (streamed over Netflix in December 2015), and Sandy Wexler (streaming in April 2017) with Jennifer Hudson, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (streaming in October 2017), with Ben Stiller, and The Week Of (released in April 2018) with Chris Rock.
Sandler starred once more with Jennifer Aniston in the comedy Murder Mystery (released in June 2019), and starred in the drama Uncut Gems (released in December 2019) with Julia Fox. For people who like their Adam Sandler via streaming, there is Hubie Halloween with Kevin James, streaming on — yup — Netflix in October 2020. Somewhat better is Hustle with (released in June 2022).
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Adam Sandler Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Tuesday, May 17, 2005. 48 x 36 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Adam Sandler Forecourt ceremony, Tuesday, May 17, 2005. Adam Sandler gives the crowd a look as unidentified cement technicians wait for his next move. |
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