#Sandler and Apatow became roommates

[in-sightjournal]

Ask A Genius 1012: Have the Balls for Something

Rick Rosner, American Comedy Writer, www.rickrosner.org Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Independent Journalist, www.in-sightpublishing.com Rick Rosner: So one theme that runs through the book is that lonely comedy nerds, the ones in the book who became famous and successful were dedicated enough and or lucky enough to hook up with other comedy nerds. Like Sandler and Apatow became roommates and Apatow…

[adamsappleappreciation]

Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, he went on to star in many Hollywood films, which have combined to earn more than $2 billion at the box office.[2][3]

Sandler is best known for his comedic roles including Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Waterboy (1998), The Wedding Singer (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Mr. Deeds (2002), 50 First Dates (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), Grown Ups (2010), Just Go with It (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013), Blended (2014) and Murder Mystery (2019). He also voices Dracula in the Hotel Transylvania franchise (2012–present).

Some of Sandler's films, such as Jack and Jill (2011), have been widely panned, and Sandler is the holder of three Golden Raspberry Awards and 11 Raspberry Award nominations, more than any other actor but Sylvester Stallone. Conversely, he has earned praise for his dramatic performances in films such as Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Spanglish (2004), Reign Over Me (2007), Funny People (2009), The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017), and Uncut Gems (2019).[4]

Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 9, 1966,[5] to Judith "Judy" (née Levine), a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[5] His family is Jewish and descends from Russian Jewish immigrants on both sides.[6][7][8] Sandler grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, after moving there at the age of six.[9] He attended Manchester Central High School. As a teen, Sandler was in BBYO, a Jewish youth group. Sandler graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.[10]

Early in his career, in 1987, Sandler played Theo Huxtable's friend, Smitty, in The Cosby Show and the Stud Boy or Trivia Delinquent in the MTV game show Remote Control. After his film debut Going Overboard in 1989, Sandler performed in comedy clubs, having first taken the stage at his brother's urging when he was 17. He was discovered by comedian Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles and recommended him to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Sandler was hired as a writer for SNL in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, making a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including "The Thanksgiving Song" and "The Chanukah Song".[11] Sandler told Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show that NBC fired him and Chris Farley from the show in 1995, and played this up in his return to the show as a host in 2019.[12][13]

In 1993, Adam Sandler appeared in the film Coneheads with Chris Farley, David Spade, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, and Jane Curtin. In 1994, he co-starred in Airheads with Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi. He starred in Billy 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 with Bulletproof (1996), and the financially successful comedies Happy Gilmore (1996) and The Wedding Singer (1998). He was initially cast in the bachelor party–themed comedy/thriller Very Bad Things (1998) but had to back out due to his involvement in The Waterboy (1998), one of his first hits.

Although his earliest films did not receive favorable critical attention, he started to receive more positive reviews, beginning with Punch-Drunk Love in 2002. Roger Ebert's review of Punch-Drunk Love concluded that Sandler had been wasted in earlier films with poorly written scripts and characters with no development.[14] Sandler has moved outside the genre of slapstick comedy to take on more serious roles, such as the aforementioned Punch-Drunk Love, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, and Mike Binder's Reign Over Me (2007), a drama about a man who loses his entire family during the September 11 attacks, and then struggles to rekindle a friendship with his old college roommate (Don Cheadle).

He starred alongside friend Kevin James in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and headlined You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). The latter film was written by Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel, and directed by Dennis Dugan.