Adam Sandler

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University (graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991) by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. During his freshman year, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family's friend Smitty on _The Cosby Show (1984)_ (qv). While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was "discovered" by 'Dennis Miller' (qv), who recommended him to _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv) producer 'Lorne Michaels' (qv) and told him that Sandler had a big talent. This led to his being cast in the show in 1990, which he also wrote for in addition to performing. After _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv), Sandler went on to the movies, starring in such hit comedies as _Airheads (1994)_ (qv), _Happy Gilmore (1996)_ (qv), _Billy Madison (1995)_ (qv) and _Big Daddy (1999)_ (qv). He has also starred in _Mr. Deeds (2002)_ (qv) alongside 'Winona Ryder' (qv); _Eight Crazy Nights (2002)_ (qv), an animated movie about the Jewish festival of Chanukah; and _Punch-Drunk Love (2002)_ (qv). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including _The Wedding Singer (1998)_ (qv). Sandler has had several of his songs placed on the "Billboard" charts, including the classic "The Chanukah Song".::A. Nonymous