Adam Sandler recently spent time with his friends, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Steve Buscemi, Dana Carvey, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Spade, Rob Schneider, and more. They gathered to roast the comedian during the 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor award ceremony.
The 56-year-old “Saturday Night Live (SNL)” alum became the star and filmmaker of movies valued at over $3 billion. Additionally, he is known to keep his friends working by casting them in his films. According to AARP, these facts became a running joke at the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts Center all evening.
Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter, “Adam Sandler has entertained audiences for over three decades with his film, music, and his tenure as a fan-favorite cast member on “SNL. Adam has created characters that have made us laugh, cry, and cry from laughing.”
Joking about Sandler’s suit, Conan O’Brien said that he “even dressed up tonight…a change from his usual basketball shorts with a Hawaiian shirt.” Impressed, he continued laughingly, the comic “was able to find a suit made out of gum short material.”
Adam Sandler Trivia
- Happy Madison Productions makes most of Sandler’s films. Using his own production company enables him to employ his friends such as Drew Barrymore, Chis Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph, Dan Aykroyd, Rob Schneider, Alan Covert, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Aniston, and more.
- The comedian explained his father’s temper led him to develop a sense of humor that he used to “calm the old man down” during an IGN Entertainment interview.
- Rob Schneider played matchmaker when he introduced his friend, Adam, to Jacqueline (Jackie) Titone. The couple married in 2003. This former fashion model appears regularly in her husband’s films.
- Judd Apatow and Sandler once shared an apartment in Los Angeles. After joining “SNL” in New York, he kept paying rent for his portion of the L.A. apartment. Apatow told The Hollywood Reporter his roommate worried that SNL would fire him. “He just left, like he was going to come back, but he didn’t.”
- “SNL” edited “The Chanukah Song” to satisfy FCC censors. According to a satire news site, Oregano, the song’s final version included an anti-marijuana message contrary to the comedian’s original lyrics. Sandler explained: “In the first SNL version, when I said, ‘Don’t smoke marijuanika; if you really, really wannukah,’ what I really wanted to say was, ‘Do smoke marijuanika.'”
- Adam and Jackie married in 2003. The couple has two children, 16-year-old Sadie and 14-year-old Sunny. These young actresses also regularly perform in their dad’s films.
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
The Kennedy Center’s website indicates the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor awards people who have impacted American society in ways comparable to the “distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain. As a social commentator, satirist, and creator of characters, Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective on social injustice and personal folly.”
Past Prize awardees include many “SNL” alumni: Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, and Bill Murray.
Additional winners are Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Simon, Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Ellen DeGeneres, Carol Burnett, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dave Chappelle, and Jon Stewart. However, Mark Twain Prize organizers rescinded Cosby’s award in 2018 after his incarceration.
CNN will air Adam Sandler winning the 24th Mark Twain Prize celebration on March 26, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
The Kennedy Center: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Adam Sandler
KGW 8: Adam Sandler receives Mark Twain Prize, praise from comic pals; by Ashraf Khalil (AP)
Morning Consult: The Enduring Appeal of Adam Sandler; by Sarah Shevenock
The Hollywood Reporter: Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow Spill Secrets From Roommate Days (Video); by Aaron Couch
Oregano: Adam Sandler Confirms Support for Smoking Marijuanika
AARP: 12 Hilarious, Touching Moments From Adam Sandler’s Mark Twain Prize Tribute; by Cindy Clark Kramer
Featured and Top Image by GabboT Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image by Mario Antonio Pena ZapateríaCourtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image by Robert Fulton/Library of Congress Courtesy of Wikimedia – Public Domain License
