Coordinates	41°32′2″N171°57′37″N
Holiday name	Thanksgiving Day
Observedby
Date	2nd Monday in October (Canada)1st Thursday in November (Liberia)Last Wednesday in November (Norfolk Island)4th Thursday in November (USA and Leiden, Netherlands)
Type	Cultural
Longtype	National, cultural
Date	October }}

, (Canada); November }}, (Liberia); November }}, (Norfolk Island); November }}, (USA and Leiden, Netherlands) |date = October }}, (Canada); November }}, (Liberia); November }}, (Norfolk Island); November }}, (USA and Leiden, Netherlands) }}

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks to God, friends, and family.

Currently, in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October and in the United States, it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving in Canada falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States.

History

Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks for a good harvest, to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans had also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest. Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In Canada

The origins of the first Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest, but for homecoming. He had safely returned from an unsuccessful search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. Years later, the tradition of a feast would continue as more settlers began to arrive to the Canadian colonies.

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving can also be traced to the French settlers who came to New France with explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who also took to celebrating their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter season, even sharing their food with the indigenous peoples of the area. Champlain had also proposed for the creation of the Order of Good Cheer in 1606.

As many more settlers arrived in Canada, more celebrations of good harvest became common. New immigrants into the country, such as the Irish, Scottish and Germans, would also add their own traditions to the harvest celebrations. Most of the U.S. aspects of Thanksgiving (such as the turkey) were incorporated when United Empire Loyalists began to flee from the United States during the American Revolution and settled in Canada.

In the United States

In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. There is also evidence for an earlier harvest celebration on the continent by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565, as well as thanksgiving feasts in the Virginia Colony. The initial thanksgiving observance at Virginia in 1619 was prompted by the colonists' leaders on the anniversary of the settlement. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. In later years, the tradition was continued by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this however, did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.

According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden.

Contending origins

The claim of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States, and even the Americas has often been a subject of debate. Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon, of the University of Florida, have argued that the earliest attested "Thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida.

Similarly, many historians point out that the first thanksgiving celebration in the United States was held in Virginia, and not in Plymouth. Thanksgiving services were routine in what was to become the state of Virginia as early as 1607. A day of Thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619.

Fixing the date of the holiday

The reason for the earlier Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada has often been attributed to the earlier onset of winter in the north, thus ending the harvest season earlier. Thanksgiving in Canada did not have a fixed date until the late 19th century. Prior to Canadian confederation, many of the individual colonial governors of the Canadian provinces had declared their own days of Thanksgiving. The first official Canadian Thanksgiving occurred on April 15, 1872 when the nation was celebrating the Prince of Wales' recovery from a serious illness. By the end 19th Century, Thanksgiving Day was normally celebrated on November 6. However, when World War I ended, the Armistice Day holiday were usually held during the same week. To prevent the two holidays from clashing with one another, in 1957 the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving to be observed on its present date on the second Monday of October.

Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various dates throughout history. The first Thanksgiving which was celebrated on a fixed day was in 1863, in an effort by President Abraham Lincoln to foster a sense of American unity between the Northern and Southern states. By the middle of the 20th century, the final Thursday in November had become the customary day of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states. It was not until December 26, 1941, however, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after pushing two years earlier to move the date earlier to give the country an economic boost, signed a bill into law with Congress, making Thanksgiving a national holiday and settling it to the fourth (but not final) Thursday in November.

Observance around the world

Canada

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: ''Jour de l'Action de grâce''), occurring on the second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. Although the original act of Parliament references God and the holiday is celebrated in churches, the holiday is mostly celebrated in a secular manner. Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in all provinces in Canada, except for Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. While businesses may remain open in these provinces, the holiday is nonetheless, recognized and celebrated regardless of its status.

Germany

Erntedankfest (English: "harvest festival of thanks") is the German equivalent of Thanksgiving. It is primarily a religious holiday held during the first Sunday in October, but its celebration coincides with the closing day of Oktoberfest, the world-famous Bavarian beer festival. This crossover has been observed in Canada as well; see, for instance, Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, which culminates with a Thanksgiving parade.

Liberia

In the West African country of Liberia, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the first Thursday of November.

The Netherlands

Many of the Pilgrims who migrated to the Plymouth Plantation had resided in the city of Leiden from 1609–1620, many of whom had recorded their birth, marriages and deaths at the Pieterskerk. To commemorate this, a non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day in the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church in Leiden, to commemorate the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World.

Norfolk Island

In the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Wednesday of November, similar to the pre-World War II American observance on the last Thursday of the month. This means the Norfolk Island observance is the day before or six days after the United States' observance. The holiday was brought to the island by visiting American whaling ships.

United States

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year.

References

Further reading

External links

Category:Agriculture in society Category:Autumn festivals Category:Autumn holidays Category:Christian holidays Category:Meals Thanksgiving

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Coordinates	41°32′2″N171°57′37″N
name	Eli Roth
birthname	Eli Raphael Roth
birth date	April 18, 1972
birth place	Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
othername	David KaufbirdEli R. Roth
occupation	ActorAnimatorDirectorProducerScreenwriter
yearsactive	1996–present
website	}}

Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds'' for which he won both a SAG Award (Best Ensemble) and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award (Best Acting Ensemble), and for bringing back R rated horror at a time when studios were only making PG-13 films. He is part of a group of filmmakers dubbed the Splat Pack, because of their dedication to the genre, and their relentless horror films which reinvented the genre for the modern age.

Early life

Roth was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Dr. Sheldon Roth, a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, and Cora Roth, a painter. His grandparents emigrated from Austria, Russia, and Poland. Roth was raised Jewish.

Roth began shooting films at the age of eight after watching Ridley Scott's ''Alien'' (1979). He made over 50 short films with his brothers Adam and Gabe before graduating at Newton South High School and attending film school (the Tisch School of the Arts) at New York University, from which he graduated in 1994. By the age of 20, and while still a student at NYU, Roth ran the office of producer Frederick Zollo, eventually leaving to devote himself to writing full-time.

Actress Camryn Manheim gave Roth one of his first jobs in Hollywood, putting him on as an extra on ''The Practice'' when he first moved to Los Angeles. Roth would stay in Manheim's dressing room working on his scripts while she filmed the show. The two had met and become friends while Roth was working for Fred Zollo in New York City. Roth also met Manheim's cousin Howie Nuchow (former EVP of Mandalay Sports Entertainment and also from the Boston, MA area) at Camryn's family passover seder—this led to Roth's first animation project "Chowdaheads" in the year that followed. Roth also co-wrote a project called "The Extra" with Manheim; Manheim would later sell the pitch to producer (and former CEO and Chairman of Fox Studios) Bill Mechanic's Pandemonium company.

He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1994 at NYU.

Film career

In his final years (1993/1994) at NYU film school, Roth wrote and directed a student film called ''Restaurant Dogs'' as an homage to Quentin Tarantino's ''Reservoir Dogs''. The film was nominated for a Student Academy Award in 1995, and won its division (Division III.)

Through his internship with producer Fred Zollo in years prior, Roth met David Lynch and remained in contact with him over the years, eventually producing content for Lynch with his fledgling website in the late 1990s. Roth met film and TV composer Angelo Badalamenti through Lynch; he would later use Badalamenti's music in his first feature film. He also met a member of special effects company KNB EFX through Lynch; KNB EFX would later contribute to his first feature.

Roth moved from NYC to LA in 1999; shortly thereafter he wrote, directed, edited, produced, animated, and provided voices for a series of animated shorts called ''Chowdaheads'' for Mandalay Sports Entertainment. The shorts were intended to be shown between WCW Monday Nitro pro wrestling matches, but the C.E.O. of WCW who had green lit the project was fired the weekend before they were supposed to be aired, and they were never actually broadcast, despite being completed. Roth's friend Noah Belson co-wrote the shorts and provided the other character voices.

After receiving financial backup from the website Z.com to deliver a 5-minute pilot, Roth wrote, directed, animated and produced a series of stop-motion shorts in mid-2000 called ''The Rotten Fruit''. The company (z.com) folded shortly after several episodes were completed, and the domain name "z.com" was picked up by Nissan years later to promote their sports car of the same name. A portion of the work for ''The Rotten Fruit'' was done at the Snake Pit studios in Burbank using miniature sets, poseable clay and foam figures, two high-end digital still cameras, and a pair of Macintosh computers. Roth's friend Noah Belson co-wrote the shorts and performed the character voices along with Roth.

''Cabin Fever''

In 1995, a year after graduating from NYU, Roth cowrote ''Cabin Fever'' with his roommate and friend from NYU, Randy Pearlstein. Roth based the premise of the script on his own encounter with a skin infection he contracted while training horses at a farm in Selfoss, Iceland, in 1991. Much of the script was written while Roth was working as a production assistant in 1996 for Howard Stern's movie ''Private Parts''.

The film was made in 2001 on a budget of $1.5 million raised from private investors. Roth sold the film to Lionsgate at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival for $3.5 million, the biggest sale of the festival that year. The film was released in 2003 and was Lionsgate's highest grossing film of the year, earning $22 million at the U.S. box office and $35 million worldwide. Lionsgate used the theatrical success of ''Cabin Fever'' to raise the money to purchase Artisan Entertainment. Lionsgate stock rose from $1.98 a share at the time ''Cabin Fever'' was purchased at the Toronto Film Festival to nearly $6 a share after ''Cabin Fever'' was released theatrically. The film made Roth a new star in the horror genre. In his 2004 Premiere Magazine interview for ''Kill Bill,'' Quentin Tarantino called ''Cabin Fever'' his favorite new film and Roth "the future of horror."

''Hostel''

Roth's second feature film, ''Hostel'', was made in 2005 on a budget of a little more than $4 million. It opened to No. 1 at the box office in January 2006, taking in $20 million over its opening weekend. It went on to gross $80 million worldwide in box office, and more than $180 million worldwide on DVD. In April 2006 on Eli Roth's birthday, ''Hostel'' opened on DVD at No. 1. The movie plot is said to take place in Slovakia, however, all the exteriors were shot in the Czech Republic. The story line is naively simple - three friends are lured to visit a hostel in which they think their sexual fantasies will come true. Instead, they drop into the clutches of an international syndicate offering a first-hand torturing and killing experience to the sadistic pleasure of rich tourists. The film was voted the No. 1 scariest movie moment on the Bravo TV special ''30 Even Scarier Movie Moments''. Empire Magazine readers voted ''Hostel'' the Best Horror Film of 2007.

Roth reportedly turned down numerous studio directing jobs to make ''Hostel.'' He took a directing salary of only $10,000 on ''Hostel'' in order to keep the budget as low as possible so there would be no limitations on the violence. In January 2006, film critic David Edelstein in ''New York Magazine'' credited Roth with creating the horror sub-genre 'torture porn,' or 'gorno,' using excessive violence to excite audiences like a sexual act.

Le Monde critic Jean-François Raugier named ''Hostel'' as the Best Film of the Decade in the January 2010 issue of Film Comment Magazine.

Controversy

In the country supposedly depicted in the movie, the Slovak Republic, it generated unanimously indignant reaction in general public and official representatives. The artistic qualities of the movie aside, the very story is said to have slandered Slovakia, a country mostly unfamiliar to the non-European audience. Roth argued that he selected Slovakia as a setting for the picture to show Americans' lack of knowledge. "Americans do not even know that this country exists. My film is not a geographical work but aims to show Americans' ignorance of the world around them," The official Slovak response to the movie was an invitation to the director to visit the country. "I think I have to be a man and go there and face the music," director Eli Roth was quoted by Reuters as saying. He also apologised to Slovaks for depicting them as maniacs. In later reports, Roth appeared to backtrack, saying he was scared to visit. "I have a feeling that now I've made the film, I will get beaten and tortured in Slovakia," virgin.net Movie News section quoted him as saying.

''Thanksgiving''

In 2007, Roth directed the faux trailer segment ''Thanksgiving'' for ''Grindhouse'' in addition to appearing in ''Death Proof'', Quentin Tarantino's segment of the film. Roth and cowriter Jeff Rendell won a 2007 Spike TV Scream Award for best "screamplay" for their writing in ''Grindhouse,'' sharing the honor with Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright. Roth also provided the narration for the faux trailer.According to IMDb, Roth will be directing a feature-film version of ''Thanksgiving'' to be released in 2013.

''Hostel: Part II''

''Hostel: Part II'' opened in sixth place with $8.2 million and went on to total $17.6 million by the end of its theatrical run. The film cost $10.2 million and made $35 million dollars worldwide and another $50 million on DVD and pay television.

Lionsgate attributed the lower grosses to the summer release date opposite summer blockbusters such as ''Shrek 3'', ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' and ''Ocean's 13'', as well as the film's workprint being leaked from a Lionsgate studio executive online prior to the film's release. Close to 2 million illegal workprint downloads were tracked the day ''Hostel 2'' opened theatrically in the U.S.

}}

''Hostel Part II'' was nominated for six Spike TV Scream Awards, including best horror film and best director. It was on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 20 best horror films of the past 20 years.

''Endangered Species ''

Eli Roth announced that after ''Inglourious Basterds'' was done he would begin work on his next film, ''Endangered Species''.

}}

Other projects

He has talked about doing a film called ''Trailer Trash'', a film made of fake trailers; according to an appearance on G4, Roth was quoted saying "''Trailer Trash'' is not a horror film, it's a comedy. It will be very R-rated and completely insane, and I'm producing it with Mike Fleiss".

He is currently producing a kung fu movie entitled ''The Man with the Iron Fist''. It is being written, directed, and scored by The RZA, who stars in the film. According to Roth, Quentin Tarantino is involved with the movie as well. In a recent interview with CHUD, Roth said:

Roth has been a guest on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'', ''Chelsea Lately'', ''The Carson Daly Show'', ''Your World with Neil Cavuto'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''Late Night With Conan O'Brien'', ''Sunday Morning Shootout'', and served as a guest judge on the filmmaking reality series ''On The Lot''. He has been profiled and interviewed in ''The New York Times'', ''G.Q.'', ''Elle'' Magazine, ''Maxim'', ''Le Monde'', ''La Republica'', ''Time Out: London'', ''Time'' Magazine, ''Empire'' Magazine, ''Premiere'', and Italian ''Vogue''. Dolce & Gabbana and Nike give him clothes for all his public appearances. Roth has also appeared three times as an answer in the ''New York Times'' Sunday crossword puzzle, and was a subject of the G4 profile show ''Icons''. (2007)

Eli Roth has also been a frequent contributor to DVD extras content (liner notes and video commentary) for horror film distributors Grindhouse Releasing/Box Office Spectaculars, particularly on two of his favorite films Juan Piquer Simon's ''Pieces'' and the upcoming North American DVD release of Lucio Fulci's ''Cat in the Brain''.

''Men's Fitness'' magazine voted Roth Most Fit Director in their July 2006 issue, a title Roth takes very seriously with a strict workout routine that he documents on the ''Hostel'' DVDs. Roth claims he treats every red carpet like it was a Milan runway, and often jokes that he only makes films as a way to live out his lifelong dream of being a male supermodel. He spoke of his love for fashion in his interview in the October 2007 issue of Italian ''Vogue''.

Roth is an animator, having written, produced, directed, animated and voiced two series: ''Chowdaheads'' (1999) and ''The Rotten Fruit'' (2000). ''Chowdaheads'' was co-written and co-voiced with friend Noah Belson, and was made with traditional hand-drawn animation. ''The Rotten Fruit'', which Roth again co-wrote and co-voiced with Belson, was made with stop-motion animation done with foam puppets.

Roth also participated in the 2006 animated comedy film, ''Disaster!'', voicing the lumberjack during the opening moments of the film. The comical 'death by squirrels' the lumberjack suffers is inspired by Roth's gruesome and often ironic ways of killing characters in his own films.

Roth recorded an audio commentary for Troma's 2005 DVD release of ''Blood Sucking Freaks'' having no formal credit, billed only as a "Blood and Guts Expert." The DVD is one of Troma's highest selling. Roth often makes uncredited cameos in Troma films. He made an unbilled cameo as a Tromaville citizen in ''Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV'' in 2000.

Roth had a role in Quentin Tarantino's half of ''Grindhouse'', ''Death Proof'', in a scene with Jordan Ladd. Tarantino was so impressed by Roth's brief role as Justin in ''Cabin Fever'', he asked Roth to audition for the film. Roth left his preproduction on ''Hostel Part II'' in Prague to fly to Austin, Texas for one week to film the scene at the Texas Chili Parlor. Roth said working as an actor for Tarantino was like taking a masterclass in directing, and said the only directors he would ever act for were people who had won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Roth also made appearances in several projects that David Lynch directed for Davidlynch.com.

Roth was profiled on the G4 TV show ''Icons'', and was on the cover of ''Forbes'' magazine's "Hollywood's most profitable stars" issue.

Eli Roth brought a ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' shot-for-shot remake by kids to the attention of both Harry Knowles and Steven Spielberg. Roth had a copy in his collection of videos for years before showing it at Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival in December, 2002. The response was so overwhelming that Roth took the tape to his very first meeting at Dreamworks, and gave it to an executive to give to Steven Spielberg. The executive called Roth the next week saying that Spielberg loved it and wanted to contact the filmmakers. Roth had never met the filmmakers, but Google searched every name in the credits until he got a hold of Jayson Lamb, the cinematographer. The three filmmakers, Lamb, Chris Strompolis, and Eric Zala (a former Activision employee), had not spoken to each other in years when Roth contacted them out of the blue, saying that Spielberg wanted to write them a letter. This reunited the friends, who began touring the world doing charity screenings with the film. Roth felt that the film was so powerful he had to do whatever he could to make sure fans around the world saw it. Roth introduced the film at its premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in May 2008, five and a half years after he first got the tape to Knowles and Spielberg.

Roth co-starred with Brad Pitt in Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic ''Inglourious Basterds'', playing Donny Donowitz, a.k.a. "The Bear Jew." He also guest directed the Nazi propaganda film-within-the-film, ''Nation's Pride''.

Roth wrote, directed and acted in a P.S.A. for P.E.T.A. about the link between violence against animals leading to violence against people. Roth won a Telly Award for his spot (Public Service Category: Bronze.)

Roth, through his company Arcade with Eric Newman and Strike producer Marc Abraham, produced the horror film ''The Last Exorcism'', (originally titled ''Cotton'') which was directed by Daniel Stamm. It was completed in December 2009 and in February 2010 retitled ''The Last Exorcism''. ''The Last Exorcism'', which cost $1.5 million to produce, opened to over $20 million dollars in the U.S., and earned the #1 opening spots in Canada and the U.K. The film was completely paid for by selling off a few foreign territories and in profits before shooting began. It earned over $40 million dollars at the U.S. box office, totaling $70 million worldwide. Roth also had a cameo as a contest emcee in Alexandre Aja's ''Piranha 3-D''.

Filmography

Year	Film	Credited as
		! width=65	! width=65	! width=65	Actor	! Role
2002	align="left"
2004
align="left"
						align="left"
align="left"

Collaborations

Eli Roth has cast certain actors in more than one of his films.

!	Cabin Fever (film)>Cabin Fever''	Hostel (2005 film)>Hostel''	! ''Hostel: Part II''	Grindhouse (film)#Thanksgiving>Thanksgiving''
			2
Jay Hernandez				3
Rick Hoffman			2
Jana Kaderabkova			2
Jordan Ladd				3
Barbara Nedeljáková			2
Eli Roth		1	1	3

¹ Normal cameo. ² Flashback cameo. ³ Possible upcoming role.

References

External links

My Son Killed Adolf Hitler by Sheldon Roth on Patheos

D-Listed profile

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:People from Newton, Massachusetts Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:Horror film directors Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American writers Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:New York University alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners

an:Eli Roth de:Eli Roth es:Eli Roth fr:Eli Roth gl:Eli Roth it:Eli Roth he:אלי רות' hu:Eli Roth nl:Eli Roth ja:イーライ・ロス no:Eli Roth pl:Eli Roth pt:Eli Roth ru:Рот, Элай sk:Kokot fi:Eli Roth sv:Eli Roth

Coordinates	41°32′2″N171°57′37″N
name	Adam Sandler
birth name	Adam Richard Sandler
birth date	September 09, 1966
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer
years active	1987–present
spouse	Jackie Sandler (2003–present)(two children)
website	AdamSandler.com }}

Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.

After becoming a ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office. He is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films ''Billy Madison'' (1995), ''Happy Gilmore'' (1996), ''Big Daddy'' (1999), and ''Mr. Deeds'' (2002), though he has ventured into more dramatic territory. In 1999, Sandler founded Happy Madison, a film and television production company that has produced numerous films and developed the 2007 television series ''Rules of Engagement''.

Early life

Adam Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents, Stanley, an electrical engineer, and Judy Sandler, a nursery school teacher. When he was five, his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he attended Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic, and nurtured his talent while at New York University by performing regularly in clubs and on campuses. Sandler graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.

Later in his career, he would draw on his earliest experiences for material for his comedy and movies. The song "Lunchlady Land" from his debut album ''They're All Gonna Laugh at You!'' is dedicated to Emalee, the lunchlady at Hayden Dining Hall at New York University.

Career

Acting career

In the mid to late 1980s, Sandler played Theo Huxtable's friend, Smitty, on ''The Cosby Show'' (1987–1988). He was a performer for the MTV game show ''Remote Control'', on which he made appearances as the characters "Trivia Delinquent" or "Stud Boy". Early in his career, Sandler performed in comedy clubs, taking the stage at his brother's urging when he was only 17. He was discovered by comedian Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles. Miller 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 Chanukah Song". Sandler told Conan O'Brien on ''The Tonight Show'' that NBC fired him and Chris Farley from the show in 1995.

Sandler's first starring role was in 1989, in the film ''Going Overboard''. In 1994 he co-starred in ''Airheads'' with Brendan Fraser, and Steve Buscemi. He starred in ''Billy Madison'' (1995) as a grown, though uneducated, man repeating grades 1–12 to earn back his father's respect, along with the right to inherit his father's multi-million-dollar hotel empire. In ''At the Movies'', Siskel and Ebert gave the film a very bad review, and said of Sandler "...Not an attractive screen presence, he might have a career as a villain or a fall guy or the butt of a joke, but as the protagonist his problem is he creates the fingernails on the blackboard" with Siskel adding "...you don't have a good motivation for the character's behavior". He followed this film with other financially successful comedies such as ''Bulletproof'' (1996), ''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 earlier films did not receive critical praise, his more recent films, beginning with ''Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002), have received more positive reviews. Roger Ebert, in his review of ''Punch-Drunk Love'', concluded that Sandler had been wasted in earlier films with poorly written scripts and characters with no development. Sandler has moved outside the genre of slapstick comedy to take on more serious parts such as the aforementioned ''Punch-Drunk Love'' (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe), ''Spanglish'' (2004) and ''Reign Over Me'' (2007). He played a loving father figure in ''Big Daddy'' (1999). During filming, he met Jacqueline Samantha Titone—his future wife and mother of his two daughters -— who was cast as the waitress from The Blarney Stone Bar.

At one point, Sandler was considered for the part that went to Jamie Foxx in ''Collateral'' (2004). He also was one of the finalists along with Jim Carrey and Johnny Depp for the role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005). He returned to more dramatic fare with Mike Binder's ''Reign Over Me'' (2007), a drama about a man who loses his entire family in 9/11 and rekindles a friendship with his old college roommate (played by Don Cheadle). He starred in the film ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' (2007) alongside Kevin James, as a New York City fireman pretending to be gay to keep up an insurance scam so that his best friend's children can have benefits. Sandler headlined ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'' (2008), a comedy about a Mossad agent who fakes his own death and moves to the United States to become a hair stylist. The film was written by Sandler, ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' writer-director Judd Apatow (who was an old roommate of Sandler's when both were starting out), and ''Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog'' creator Robert Smigel, and was directed by ''Happy Gilmore'' director Dennis Dugan.

"Like Will Ferrell, Sandler has layers of tenderness under layers of irony under layers of tenderness—plus a floating anger like Jupiter’s great red spot," wrote David Edelstein of ''New York'' magazine in a review of ''You Don't Mess with the Z''. "Some performers become stars because we can read them instantly, others—like Sandler—because we never tire of trying to get a fix on them."

Sandler starred in ''Bedtime Stories'' (2008), a fantasy film directed by ''Bringing Down the House'' director Adam Shankman, about a stressed hotel maintenance worker whose bedtime stories he reads to his niece and nephew begin to come true. This marked Sandler's first family film and first film under the Walt Disney banner. Keri Russell and English comedian Russell Brand co-starred.

In 2009, Sandler starred in Judd Apatow's third directorial feature ''Funny People''. He played a very successful stand up comedian who finds out he has a terminal illness and he takes a young inexperienced comic, played by Seth Rogen, under his wing. Other co-stars included Eric Bana and Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann. The film contained more dramatic elements than Apatow's previous efforts. Filming began in October 2008 and finished in January 2009. The film was released on July 31, 2009. At one point, Sandler was in talks to star in Quentin Tarantino's World War II film ''Inglourious Basterds'', which he confirmed, but he did not appear in it due to a scheduling conflict with ''Funny People''. Following the release of ''Funny People'', it, along with ''Punch-Drunk Love'' were cited in the June 2010 announcement that Sandler was one of 135 people (including 20 actors) invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Sandler appeared in ''Grown Ups'', teaming up with Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade (all of whom have worked with Sandler before) for a film about five best friends from high school who reunite 30 years later on the July 4 weekend. Other costars include Salma Hayek (playing Sandler's wife), Maria Bello (playing James' wife), and fellow ''SNL'' alumna Maya Rudolph (playing Rock's wife), Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows, and Norm Macdonald. Sandler and ''Dickie Roberts'' scribe Fred Wolf wrote the script and Dennis Dugan directed the film.

Sandler starred in the 2011 film ''Just Go with It'', with Jennifer Aniston, a romantic comedy written by Allan Loeb and Tim Dowling and directed by Dennis Dugan. He played a plastic surgeon who asks his office manager, played by Aniston, to pose as his wife, in order to prove his honesty to his much younger girlfriend, played by Brooklyn Decker. Sandler also provided the voice of a capuchin monkey in Kevin James' ''Zookeeper'', released on July 8, 2011.

Sandler is set to release ''Jack & Jill'' on November 11, 2011. The film tells the story of a family man, played by Sandler, who gets a visit from his twin sister, also played by Sandler, and gets annoyed when she won't leave. Katie Holmes portrays his wife while Al Pacino appears as himself. He is also currently filming ''I Hate You, Dad'' with Andy Samberg, which tells the story of a man, played by Sandler, who fathered a son, played by Samberg, with his teacher in high school, and then, years later, visits his son on the eve of his son's wedding where he clashes with the bride, played by Leighton Meester.

Happy Madison Productions

Sandler formed his film production company, Happy Madison Productions, in 1999, first producing fellow ''SNL'' alumnus Rob Schneider's film ''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo''. Happy Madison has produced all of Sandler's subsequent films to date with the exceptions ''Punch Drunk Love'' and ''Spanglish''. ''Reign Over Me'' and ''Funny People'' were produced by Happy Madison but under the subsidiary label "Madison 23".

Sandler is known for consistently working with a core group of friends and associates through Happy Madison, frequently casting fellow ''SNL'' performers in various roles in his films. Sandler and Happy Madison produced ''SNL'' contemporary Rob Schneider's vehicles ''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'' (1999), ''The Animal'' (2001), ''The Hot Chick'' (2002), and ''Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'' (2005), and ''The Benchwarmers'' (2006), with Sandler making cameo appearances in the middle three. Meanwhile, Schneider has appeared in cameo roles in Sandler films ''The Waterboy'', ''Little Nicky'', ''Mr. Deeds'', ''Click'', ''The Longest Yard'', ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'', and ''Bedtime Stories''. Schneider had larger roles in Sandler films ''Big Daddy'', ''50 First Dates'', ''Eight Crazy Nights'', ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'', and ''Grown Ups''.

Happy Madison produced David Spade's ''Joe Dirt'', ''Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'', and ''The Benchwarmers'', which also featured Rob Schneider. Spade additionally made a cameo appearance in ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' and had a prominent supporting role in ''Grown Ups''. Sandler cameoed as a special audience member in an episode of ''The Showbiz Show with David Spade''. ''SNL'' contemporary Kevin Nealon has appeared in nine Happy Madison productions or Sandler films, including ''Happy Gilmore'', ''The Wedding Singer'', ''Little Nicky'', ''Joe Dirt'', ''Eight Crazy Nights'', ''Anger Management'', ''Grandma's Boy'', ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'' and the Dana Carvey vehicle, ''The Master of Disguise''.

Happy Madison also produced ''Paul Blart: Mall Cop'', the first starring vehicle for Kevin James. James had costarred with Sandler in ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' and ''Grown Ups'' and made a cameo appearance in ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''. Happy Madison also produced James' second starring vehicle ''Zookeeper''.

He appeared as the featured guest on the final episode of John McEnroe's eponymous CNBC talk show, airing in late 2004. McEnroe appeared as himself in three of Sandler's films (''Mr. Deeds'', ''Anger Management'', and ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'').

Anna Faris, who appeared in ''The Hot Chick'', became the first female actor to headline a production for Happy Madison with ''The House Bunny'' and will headline another film for Happy Madison in the near future.

Others who frequently appear in Sandler films include Steve Buscemi, Chris Rock, John Turturro, Jon Lovitz, Clint Howard, Norm Macdonald, Nick Swardson, and longtime Sandler pals Allen Covert, Peter Dante, and Jonathan Loughran. In particular Allen Covert plays unique and eccentric characters in Sandler's films. Most notably as a limo driver in ''The Wedding Singer'', Ten Second Tom in ''50 First Dates'', and Nicky's roommate in ''Little Nicky''. Covert starred in his first leading role in ''Grandma's Boy'', also produced by Happy Madison productions.

In June 2007, it was announced that Happy Madison had made a preemptive acquisition for Mitch Albom's screenwriting debut.

In June 2008, it was announced that Sandler will be executive producer for a horror thriller titled ''The Shortcut'' under a nascent genre label for Happy Madison called "Scary Madison".

In October 2009, it was announced that Sandler and Happy Madison will produce the Richard Pryor biopic ''Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?'' for Sony, the company's first major dramatic production. The film was written by Bill Condon, who is set to direct, and Pryor will be played by Marlon Wayans, who is replacing Eddie Murphy.

Personal life

On June 22, 2003, Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone, and they are the parents of two daughters, Sadie Madison Sandler and Sunny Madeline Sandler. Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, although he also has a home in New York.

Political and charitable donations

In 2007, Sandler made a $1 million donation to the Boys and Girls Club in his hometown, Manchester, New Hampshire. He also donated $2,100 to Republican Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign the same year, and is a registered Republican.

Filmography

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	''Going Overboard''	Schecky Moskowitz	First film role
1992	''Shakes the Clown''	Dink the Clown
1993		Carmine
	''Airheads''	Pip
''Mixed Nuts''	Louie
1995	''Billy Madison''	Billy Madison	Also writerNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
	''Happy Gilmore''	Happy Gilmore
	Archie Moses	Nominated – Razzie Award for Worst Actor
	''The Wedding Singer''	Robbie Hart	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Comedy (Also for ''The Waterboy'')MTV Movie Award for Best KissNominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo
	Satan
''The Waterboy''	Robert "Bobby" Boucher Jr.
		Sonny Koufax	Also executive producer and writerBlockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – ComedyKids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformancePeople's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Star in a ComedyRazzie Award for Worst ActorNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Cole and Dylan Sprouse)Nominated – Razzie Award for Worst ScreenplayNominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor
''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo''	Robert Justin	Cameo (voice only)
2000	''Little Nicky''	Nicky	Also executive producer and writerNominated – Razzie Award for Worst ActorNominated – Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay
2001	''The Animal''	Townie	Cameo executive producer
	''Mr. Deeds''	Longfellow Deeds	Also executive producerKids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – Razzie Award for Worst ActorNominated – Teen Choice Award for Film – Choice Actor, Comedy
''Punch-Drunk Love''	Barry Egan	Gijón Internation Film Festival Award for Best ActorChlotrudis Award for Best ActorNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best KissNominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Eight Crazy Nights''	Davey Stone	VoiceAlso producer and writerKids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
''A Day with the Meatball''	Himself	Short film
''The Hot Chick''	Mambuza Bongo Guy (''uncredited'')	Cameo executive producer
	''Anger Management''	Dave Buznik	Also executive producer
''Pauly Shore Is Dead''	Himself	Documentary
''Stupidity''	Himself	Documentary
''The Couch''	Couch Testing Guy	Short Film
	''50 First Dates''	Henry Roth	Also executive producerKids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorMTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team (shared with Drew Barrymore)People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Chemistry (shared with Drew Barrymore)Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
	John Clasky
		Paul Crewe	Also executive producerPeople's Choice Award for Favorite Funny Male StarNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man
''Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo''	Javier Sandooski (''uncredited'')	Cameo Producer
2006		Michael Newman	Also producerKids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie StarNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Funny Male Star
	''Reign Over Me''	Charlie Fineman
''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry''	Chuck Levine
	''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''	Zohan Dvir	Also producer and writer
	Skeeter Bronson	Also producerNominated – Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor
	2009	''Funny People''	George Simmons
	2010		Lenny Feder	Also producer and writer
	''Just Go with It''	Dr. Danny Maccabee	Also producer
	Capuchin Monkey	Also producer
	Jack/Jill Sadelstein	Awaiting release
2012	''I Hate You, Dad''		Filming started in June 2011

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987–1990
1987–1988	''The Cosby Show''	Smitty	Episodes: "Dance Mania""The Locker Room""The Visit""The Prom"
	''The Marshall Chronicles''	Usher	Episode: "Brightman SATyricon"
''ABC Afterschool Special''	Drug Dealer	Episode: "Testing Dirty"
1991–1995	''Saturday Night Live''	Various
2001	''Undeclared''	Himself
2003	''Couch''	Couch Testing Guy
2005	''Getaway''	Henry Roth	Episode: "Found"
2007	''The King of Queens''	Jeff "The Beast" Sussman

Discography

Title	Year	Notes
''They're All Gonna Laugh at You!''	1993	2x Platinum
''What the Hell Happened to Me?''	1996	2x Platinum
''What's Your Name?''	1997	Gold
''Stan and Judy's Kid''	1999	Gold
''Shhh...Don't Tell''	2004

References

External links

Official website

Category:1966 births Category:20th-century actors Category:20th-century writers Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century writers Category:Actors from New Hampshire Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American comedy musicians Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American male singers Category:American musicians Category:American singers Category:American screenwriters Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:American voice actors Category:Former pupils of Manchester Central High School Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish comedians Category:New York University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Manchester, New Hampshire

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