Sheldon Adelson
Adelson at a Hong Kong press conference in June 2010
Born	Sheldon Gary Adelson (1933-08-04) August 4, 1933 (age 78) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	City College of New York (withdrew)
Occupation	Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands
Known for	Casino and hotel magnate
Net worth	$24.9 billion (2012)[1]
Spouse	Miriam Ochsorn
Children	5

Sheldon Gary Adelson (born August 4, 1933) is an American business magnate. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He also owns the Israeli daily newspaper Israel HaYom. Adelson vastly increased his net worth upon the initial public offering of Las Vegas Sands in December 2004. He is listed in the Forbes 400 as the eighth wealthiest American.^[1] His personal wealth is estimated to be $24.9 billion as of March 2012.^[1]

Early life and education[link]

Adelson was born and grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts,^[2] the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants.^[3] He worked as a mortgage broker, investment adviser and financial consultant. He started a business selling toiletry kits, and in the 1960s he started a charter tours business.^[2] Adelson went to college at the City College of New York, but dropped out.

Business career[link]

COMDEX[link]

The original source of Adelson's wealth and current investments was the computer trade show COMDEX, which he and his partners developed for the computer industry; the first show was in 1979. It was the premier computer trade show through much of the 1980s and 1990s.^[2]

In 1995, Adelson and his partners sold the Interface Group Show Division, including the COMDEX shows, to SoftBank Corporation of Japan for $862 million; Adelson's share was over $500 million.^[2]

Sands Casino[link]

Las Vegas, Nevada[link]

In 1988, Adelson and his partners purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the former hangout of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, in order to bring Las Vegas to a new source of business from the exhibition industry. The following year, Adelson and his partners constructed the Sands Expo and Convention Center, then the only privately owned and operated convention center in the United States.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania[link]

In the late 2000s, Adelson and the company decided to build a casino resort in the small city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is one of five stand-alone casinos that was awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2006. The casino opened May 22, 2009. Table games began operation on July 18, 2010. The hotel opened May 27, 2011.

Adelson said "If we have the opportunity to build an integrated resort, we're going to do it. We think it will attract the customers and the tax revenue to the state of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley and the cities that are in it."^[4]

However in 2010, during the Late-2000s global recession, the honest casino tycoon told the Wall Street Journal "If it were today, we probably wouldn't have started it."^[5]

Macau, China[link]

In 1991, while honeymooning in Venice with his second wife, Miriam, Adelson found the inspiration for a mega-resort hotel. He razed the Sands and spent $1.5 billion to construct The Venetian, a Venice-themed resort hotel and casino. In 2003, The Venetian added the 1,013-suite Venezia tower - giving the hotel 4,049 suites; 18 leading-chef restaurants; and a shopping mall with canals, gondolas and singing gondoliers.

In August 2007, Adelson opened the $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai and announced that he planned to create a massive, concentrated resort area he called the Cotai Strip, after its Las Vegas counterpart. Adelson said that he planned to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton and St. Regis. His Las Vegas Sands planned to invest $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010.^[6]

Adelson spearheaded a major project to bring the Sands name to Macau, the Chinese gambling city that had been a Portuguese colony until December 1999. The one million-square-foot Sands Macao became the People's Republic of China's first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in May 2004. Adelson made back his initial $265 million investment in one year and, because he owns 69% of the stock, he increased his wealth when he took the stock public in December 2004. Since the opening of the Sands Macao, Adelson's personal wealth has multiplied more than fourteen times.^[7] Adelson's company is reportedly under federal investigation over alleged bribery related to the project.^[8]

Marina Bay, Singapore[link]

In May 2006, Adelson's Las Vegas Sands was awarded a hotly contested license to construct a casino resort in Singapore's Marina Bay. The new casino, Marina Bay Sands, opened in 2010 at a rumored cost of $5.5 billion. It will include a shopping mall, convention center, and 2,500 luxury hotel rooms.

Israeli press[link]

In 2007, Adelson made an unsuccessful bid to purchase the Israeli newspaper Maariv. When this failed, he proceeded with parallel plans to publish a free daily newspaper to compete with Israeli, a newspaper he had co-founded in 2006 but had left.^[9] The first edition of the new newspaper, Israel HaYom, was published on July 30, 2007.

According to Target Group Index(TGI) survey published in July 2011, Israel HaYom, which unlike all other Israeli newspapers is distributed for free, became the number one daily newspaper (on weekdays) four years after its inception.^[10] This survey found that Israel HaYom has a 39.3% weekday readership exposure, Yedioth Ahronoth 37%, Maariv 12.1%, and Haaretz 5.8%. The Yedioth Ahronoth weekend edition is still leading with 44.3% readership exposure, compared to 31% for the Israel HaYom weekend edition, 14.9% for Maariv, and 6.8% for Haaretz. This trend was already observed by a TGI survey in July 2010.^[11]

In 2011, the Israeli press said that Adelson was unhappy with coverage of him on Israeli Channel 10, which alleged that Adelson had acquired a casino license in Las Vegas inappropriately through political connections.^[12] The channel apologized after Adelson threatened a lawsuit. This in turn led to the resignation of the news chief, Reudor Benziman, the news editor, Ruti Yuval and the news anchor, Guy Zohar who objected to the apology.^[13] After two months of deliberations, the Israeli Second Authority for Television and Radio ruled that although there were some flaws in the manner in which the apology had been conducted, the decision to apologize had been correct and appropriate.^[12]

Politics[link]

Ideology[link]

Originally a Democrat, Adelson became a Republican as his wealth increased. "Why is it fair that I should be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone else?" he once asked. He began making major contributions to the Republican National Committee following clashes with labor unions at his Las Vegas properties.^[7]

Despite the fact that no one's net worth has increased more since Obama's inauguration in January 2009 ($21.6 billion)^[14], Adelson has heavily criticized the Obama administration saying “What scares me is the continuation of the socialist-style economy we’ve been experiencing for almost four years. That scares me because the redistribution of wealth is the path to more socialism, and to more of the government controlling people’s lives. What scares me is the lack of accountability that people would prefer to experience, just let the government take care of everything."^[15]

The New Yorker article also described how Shelley Berkley, a Nevada Democratic Party congresswoman who had worked for Adelson in the nineties as vice-president of legal and governmental affairs, quoted Adelson as saying that "old Democrats were with the union and he wanted to break the back of the union, consequently he had to break the back of the Democrats". The Boston Globe also noted that Adelson has "waged some bitter anti-union battles in Las Vegas".^[7][16] Congresswoman Berkley also claimed in the New Yorker article that Adelson "seeks to dominate politics and public policy through the raw power of money".

DeLay controversy[link]

During the Suen trial Bill Weidner, the president of Adelson's Las Vegas Sands company, testified about a telephone conversation between Adelson and his friend then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) about a bill proposed by Representative Tom Lantos (D) that would have prevented the U.S. Olympic Committee from voting in favor of the Chinese bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. A few hours later, DeLay called back and told Adelson he could tell the mayor of Beijing "this bill will never see the light of day". The resolution did not pass. Adelson testified in court that the demise of the resolution "...resulted from the press of other legislation, (not from) a deliberate move by DeLay to help his benefactor.^[7]

Honors[link]

Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, were presented with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution on March 25, 2008.^[17]

Adelson received the Chairman's Award from the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a think tank in Las Vegas, for his efforts to advance free market principles in Nevada.^[18]

Additionally, President George W. Bush appointed the Adelsons to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.^[19]

Donations[link]

In February 2012, Adelson told Forbes Magazine that he's “against very wealthy ­people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it’s doable I’m going to do it. Because I know that guys like Soros have been doing it for years, if not decades. And they stay below the radar by creating a network of corporations to funnel their money. I have my own philosophy and I’m not ashamed of it. I gave the money because there is no other legal way to do it. I don’t want to go through ten different corporations to hide my name. I’m proud of what I do and I’m not looking to escape recognition.”^[20]

2004[link]

In 2005, Adelson and his wife each contributed $250,000 to the second inauguration of George W. Bush.^[21][22][23]

2008[link]

Adelson was the principal financial backer of Freedom's Watch, a now defunct political advocacy group founded to counter the influence of George Soros and Democratic-leaning lobby groups such as MoveOn.org. "Almost all" of the $30 million Freedom's Watch spent on the 2008 elections came from Adelson.^[24]

2010[link]

In 2010, Adelson donated $1 million to American Solutions for Winning the Future, a political action committee (PAC) supporting Republican former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.^[25] In December 2011, during Gingrich's bid for the U.S. presidency, Adelson spoke favorably of controversial remarks Gingrich had made about Palestinians, saying "read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians, and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people."^[26]

U.S. Senate candidates he donated to:^[27]

• Carly Fiorina (R-CA), CEO of HP
• Sharon Angle (R-NV), Assemblywoman
• Sue Lowden (R-NV), former State Senator
• Scott Brown (R-MA), U.S. Senator and former State Senator
• Roy Blunt (R-MO), U.S. Congressman
• Mark Kirk (R-IL), U.S. Congressman
• Pat Toomey (R-PA), former U.S. Congressman
• Charlie Crist (R-FL), Governor

Congressional candidates:

• Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
• Eric Cantor (R-VA)
• Joe Heck (R-NV)

2012[link]

For the 2012 United States presidential election, Adelson has said he will "fully support" the Republican nominee.^[28] On January 7, 2012, Adelson bolstered Gingrich's then faltering campaign with a $5 million donation to the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future.^[29] By the next day, the PAC had reserved more than $3.4 million in advertising time in South Carolina, which included production and distribution of a half-hour movie that portrayed Gingrich's political rival Mitt Romney as a "predatory corporate raider".^[30] On January 23, Adelson's wife, Miriam, contributed an additional $5 million to the same organization with instructions to use it to advance a "pro-Newt message".^[31][32] Adelson told Forbes that he was willing to donate as much as $100 million to Gingrich. ^[33]

In the 2012 election cycle, he has also donated $2.5 million to the right-leaning Super Pac, Congressional Leadership Fund.^[34] He also donated over $60,000 to the Republican National Committee. Politicians he has donated to since January 2011 include U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), U.S. Congressman Mark Amodei (R-NV), U.S. Congressman Joe Heck (R-NV), and former Florida House Speaker Adam Hasner.^[35]

Noting the media scrutiny his political donations have received, Adelson has asked why the political contributions of labor unions have not received comparable attention, noting that unions spend worker-provided money while his donations come out of his own pocket and are smaller.^[36]

Philanthropy[link]

Adelson donated over $25 million to the The Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas to build a high school.^[37][38] In 2006 Adelson contributed $25 million to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.^[39]

Since 2007, the Adelson Family Foundation has made contributions totalling $100 million to Birthright Israel, which finances Jewish youth trips to Israel.^[40]

Adelson also has funded the Boston based Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation. AMRF is a private foundation.^[41] This foundation initiated the Adelson Program in Neural Repair and Rehabilitation (APNRR) with $7.5 million donated to collaborating researchers at 10 universities.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Sheldon Adelson was born in Boston to a poor Jewish family. His Lithuanian-born father was a taxi driver and an ad salesman. From the 1970s Adelson lived in Massachusetts with his wife, Sandra, and their three adopted children, Mitchell, Gary and Shelley. They divorced in 1988. Mitchell died of a drug overdose in 2005.^[43]

Sheldon met his current wife Miriam Ochsorn on a blind date the following year and married in 1991. Miriam is an Israeli physician specializing in drug abuse treatment.^[43]

2008 Court cases[link]

A June 2008 profile in The New Yorker detailed several controversies involving Adelson. In 2008 Richard Suen, a Hong Kong businessman who had helped Adelson make connections with top Chinese officials in order to obtain the Macao license, took Adelson to court in Las Vegas alleging he had reneged on his agreement to allow Suen to profit from the venture. Suen won a $43.8 million judgement; in November 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the judgment and returned the case to the lower court for further consideration.^[44] Adelson faces another trial over claims by three alleged "middlemen" in the deal who are suing for at least $450 million.^[7]

Adelson successfully sued the Daily Mail of London for libel in 2008. The newspaper had accused him of pursuing "despicable business practices" and having "habitually and corruptly bought political favour". Adelson won the libel case, which was described as "a grave slur on Mr Adelson's personal integrity and business reputation", and he won a judgment of approximately £4 million. Adelson said he would donate the damages to the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in London.^[45]

Wealth[link]

At one point, Adelson's estimated wealth was $26.5 billion, making him the third richest person in the United States according to Forbes for both 2007 and 2008.^[46] In 2008, the share prices of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. plunged. And in November, 2008, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that it might default on bonds that it had outstanding, signaling the potential bankruptcy of the concern.^[47] Adelson lost $4 billion in 2008, more than any other American billionaire.^[48][49] His net worth declined by $30 billion, or 93%.^[50] He told ABC News “So I lost $25 billion. I started out with zero...(there is) no such thing as fear, not to an entrepreneur. Concern, yes. Fear, no.”^[51]

In Forbes 2009 world billionaires list, his ranking dropped to #178 with a net worth of $3.4 billion,^[52] but in 2011 he was ranked as the world's 16th richest man with a net worth of $23.3 billion.^[53]

References[link]

See also[link]

• List of members of the Forbes 400

External links[link]

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Sheldon Adelson on Charlie Rose
• Works by or about Sheldon Adelson in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile at Forbes
• Sheldon Adelson collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Sheldon Adelson collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Sheldon Adelson collected news and commentary at Bloomberg News
• An Interview With Philanthropist Extraordinaire Sheldon Adelson, Marcia Friedman, The Jewish Press, December 28, 2011
• Who Is Sheldon Adelson, the Gingrich Super PAC's Billionaire Backer?, Molly Ball, The Atlantic, January 25, 2012
• Secrets of the billionaire bankrolling Gingrich's shot at the White House, Paul Harris, The Guardian, January 28, 2011
• Federal campaign contributions from Newsmeat
• Sheldon Adelson at the Notable Names Database

Adelson is a surname which may refer to:

• Jay Adelson, American Internet entrepreneur
• Michael Adelson, American orchestral conductor
• Sheldon Adelson, American casino magnate
• Tom Adelson, American politician

This page or section lists people with the surname Adelson. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.

Sarah Silverman
Silverman at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Take This Waltz
Birth name	Sarah Kate Silverman
Born	(1970-12-01) December 1, 1970 (age 41) Bedford, New Hampshire,[citation needed] United States
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film, Radio
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Blue comedy Black comedy Political satire
Influences	Steve Martin
Domestic partner(s)	Jimmy Kimmel (2002-2009) Alec Sulkin (2010)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live Sarah Silverman on The Sarah Silverman Program
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics 2008 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedienne, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion.

Silverman first gained notice as a writer and occasional performer on Saturday Night Live. She starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010, on Comedy Central.^[1] She often performs her act mocking bigotry and stereotypes of ethnic groups and religious denominations by having her comic character endorse them in an ironic fashion.^[2][3]

Early life[link]

Sarah Silverman, the youngest of four daughters, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. Her mother, Beth Ann Halpin, was George McGovern's personal campaign photographer and founded the theater company New Thalian Players.^[4] Her father, Donald Silverman, was a social worker by training who ran the discount clothing store Crazy Sophie's Outlet. She was raised without religion, though she is ethnically Jewish.^[5]

She appeared in community theater at age 12, most notably with Community Players of Concord, New Hampshire in Annie and also appeared on a local television show in the Boston area called Community Auditions at age 15. At seventeen, she performed stand-up comedy in a restaurant, singing a song she called "Mammaries."

After graduating from The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire, she attended New York University and continued her stand-up in Greenwich Village.^[6][7][8][9]

Career[link]

[edit] 1993-2007: Career beginnings and Jesus is Magic

Silverman first received national attention in the 1993–94 season of Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a writer and featured player. She was fired after one season because only one of the sketches she wrote survived to dress rehearsal, and none aired. Bob Odenkirk, a former SNL writer explained, "I could see how it wouldn't work at SNL because she's got her own voice, she's very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn't disappear into the character — she makes the character her."^[6] Silverman states she was upset when SNL fired her via fax. She parodied the situation when she appeared on The Larry Sanders Show episode "The New Writer" (1996), playing Sanders' new staff writer, whose jokes are not used because of the chauvinism and bias of the male chief comedy writer, who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She appeared in three episodes of Larry Sanders during its last two seasons.

Silverman was a featured performer on the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show (1995–97). She made TV program guest appearances on Seinfeld, in the episode "The Money"; (1997) on Star Trek: Voyager, in the two-part time travel episode "Future's End" (1996); on V.I.P. in the episode "48¹⁄₂ Hours" (2002); on Greg the Bunny as a series regular (2002); and on the puppet television comedy Crank Yankers, as the voice of Hadassah Guberman (2003, 2007). She had small parts in the films There's Something About Mary, Say It Isn't So, School of Rock, The Way of the Gun, Overnight Delivery, Screwed, Heartbreakers, Evolution, School for Scoundrels, and Rent, playing a mixture of comic and serious roles.

Silverman's concert film, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, based on her one-woman show of the same name, was released in 2005. Liam Lynch directed the movie, distributed by Roadside Attractions. Rotten Tomatoes gave Jesus Is Magic a "fresh" rating of 64% with 54 positive reviews and 30 negative ones, with the "cream of the crop" giving it a rating of 67%.^[10] It made US$124,475 on its opening weekend, showing on seven screens. The box office performance led to an expanded release in as many as 57 theaters, resulting in a box office take of more than US$1.3 million.^[11] The DVD was released in June 2006. The soundtrack featured songs and standup from the movie, and previously unreleased songs.^[12] As part of the film's publicity campaign, she appeared online in Slate, as the cover subject of Heeb magazine, and in roasts on Comedy Central of Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner.

Silverman played a therapist in a skit for a bonus DVD of the album Lullabies to Paralyze by the band Queens of the Stone Age. Silverman also appears at the end of the video for American glam metal band Steel Panther's "Death To All But Metal". On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Silverman parodied sketches from Chappelle's Show, replaying Dave Chappelle's characterizations of Rick James and "Tyrone", as well as a Donnell Rawlings character based on the miniseries Roots. The parody addressed a popular rumor that Silverman was the planned replacement for Chappelle after he left his popular television show. In 2006, Silverman placed #50 on Maxim Hot 100 List.^[13] In 2007, she placed #29 and appeared on the cover.^[14] She made the cover of The Observer in the United Kingdom, with an article naming her "the world's hottest, most controversial comedian".^[15]

[edit] 2007-2010: The Sarah Silverman Program

Silverman at the Tribeca Film Festival, 2007

Silverman's television sitcom, The Sarah Silverman Program, debuted on Comedy Central in February 2007. The show proved to be a ratings success, scoring the highest premiere ratings of any Comedy Central show in three years, with 1.81 million viewers and the highest 18–49 rating of the night on cable.^[1][16] It portrays the day-to-day adventures of fictionalized versions of Silverman, her sister Laura and their friends. A number of comedic actors from Mr. Show have reappeared on The Sarah Silverman Program. Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award^[17] for her acting on the show. At the awards ceremony, she wore a fake mustache. Comedy Central canceled The Sarah Silverman Program after three seasons.^[18]

In June 2007 she hosted the MTV Movie Awards. During her opening act, she commented on the upcoming jail sentence of Paris Hilton, who was in the audience, "In a couple of days, Paris Hilton is going to jail... As a matter of fact, I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I think it is wrong, too. I just worry she is going to break her teeth on those things."^[19] In September 2007 she appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards. Following the comeback performance of Britney Spears, Silverman mocked her on stage, saying: "Wow, she is amazing. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life."^[20]

In January 2008 she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to show Jimmy Kimmel, her boyfriend at the time, a special video. The video turned out to be a song called "I'm Fucking Matt Damon", in which she and Matt Damon sang a duet about having an affair behind Kimmel's back. The video created an "instant YouTube sensation".^[21] Kimmel responded with his own video a month later with Damon's friend Ben Affleck, which enlisted a panoply of stars, to record Kimmel's song "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck".^[22] On September 13, 2008, Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy for writing the song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon".^[23] Silverman guest starred in a second season episode of the USA cable program Monk as Marci Maven. She returned in the sixth season premiere, and for the 100th episode of Monk. According to the audio commentary on the Clerks II DVD, director Kevin Smith offered her the role that eventually went to Rosario Dawson, but she turned it down out of fear of being typecast in "girlfriend roles". However, she told Smith the script was "really funny" and mentioned that if the role of Randal Graves was being offered to her she "would do it in a heartbeat."

In October 2008, Silverman visited the United Kingdom to promote the release of The Sarah Silverman Program on Paramount Comedy, but her media and stage performances failed to impress audiences. Her debut stand-up performance at the Hammersmith Apollo was widely panned by the critics and audiences alike. The performance bombed when Silverman's warm-up act failed to appear and Silverman rushed through a short 35–40 minute set. The heckling audience, who had been charged £40–50 a seat, refused to leave the theatre and Silverman, sporting a pair of after-show slippers, was forced to return to the stage for an impromptu question and answer session. Steve Bennett from comedy website Chortle declared that "minute for minute, there are sex phonelines that are cheaper than Sarah Silverman."^[24][25] In an interview on the How Was Your Week podcast, Silverman made one of her only public comments on the matter, claiming that the show had been one of the best of her life and that the audience reaction had been misreported by bloggers and the press.^[26]

Silverman at the 2010 Brooklyn Book Festival

She also appears in Strange Powers, the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara about cult songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band, the Magnetic Fields. Silverman wrote a comic memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, which was published in 2010, and became a New York Times Best Seller. She received a $2.5 million advance for the book.

[edit] 2011-present: Take this Waltz and other projects

Silverman played a dramatic role alongside Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen in the film Take This Waltz, written and directed by Sarah Polley. The film was well received when it premiered in Toronto in 2011^[27] and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution in Summer 2012.^[28] Much was made of the fact that the movie features a full-frontal nude scene from Silverman,^[29] which the actress has spoken about on several occasions. At the Toronto International Film Festival, she told the press she'd deliberately gained weight for the part, emphasizing that Polley wanted "real bodies and real women" rather than impossibly skinny ones.^[30] In interviews she warned fans not to expect too much.^[31] However, she later told podcaster and author Julie Klausner that she had not really gained weight for the role, and that the statements were meant as self-deprecating humor.^[26]

A single camera comedy pilot by Silverman was given the go ahead by television network NBC in 2011 after a bidding war between multiple networks.^[32] Arrested Development producer, Ron Howard was reported to have been personally involved in the development process of the series.^[33] It was to be loosely based on Silverman's life as a woman who had just ended a decade long live-in relationship.^[32] The series was tentatively titled Susan 313 and received a put pilot commitment, which would require the network to pay a large fine if the pilot was not aired.^[34] However, NBC did not pick up the series for the fall 2012 season.^[35]

Controversy[link]

Racial slur[link]

In a July 2001 interview on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien Silverman used the ethnic slur "chink" explaining that a friend advised her to avoid jury duty by writing a racial slur on the selection form, "something inappropriate, like 'I hate chinks.'" Silverman said she decided that she did not want to be thought of as a racist, so "I wrote 'I love chinks' – and who doesn't?" Silverman said that the joke satirizes the racist thought process. Guy Aoki, of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), objected to her use of the slur.^[36][37] NBC and O'Brien apologized, but Silverman did not, later appearing on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in July and August 2001. Silverman questioned Aoki's sincerity, accusing him of exploiting the opportunity for publicity. On an episode of the show, Aoki appeared with Silverman, and stated that he did not accept Silverman's explanation, saying that it was not successful satire and that comedians should consult with groups such as his before performing such material. Silverman stated in an NPR's Fresh Air interview that she was asked to repeat the joke on Politically Incorrect, among other places, but she eventually dropped the joke from her act because she felt it was becoming stale.^[12] Silverman has since turned the complaint into grist for her stand-up act, saying that the experience helped teach her the important lesson that racism is bad: "And I mean bad, like in that black way."^[38]

[edit] The Aristocrats

A minor controversy arose over Silverman's performance in the documentary film The Aristocrats (2005). The film shows Silverman giving an apparently autobiographical account of her life as a child sex performer and mentions how Joe Franklin, a New York radio and TV personality whose nostalgic programs have aired since the early 1950s, would ask her to perform privately for him in his apartment. Silverman looks at the camera and, in a deadpan voice, accused Franklin of raping her. The film was edited in such a way that it appears as if Franklin knows what Silverman said about him. Later, after her clip, Franklin is shown stating "Sarah Silverman is a young lady to watch". After the film came out, Franklin took offense to Silverman's using his name and considered suing her. A month later the New York Times noted he remained undecided, but said, "the best thing I could do is get Sarah better writers so she'd have funnier material."^[39]

Personal life[link]

Silverman's humor frequently references religion; in this photo, she is holding the Jesus Dress Up magnet set

Silverman has said that she does not consume alcohol, because it nauseates her. She is open about her lifelong battle with clinical depression which at one point led to her developing an addiction to Xanax. She credited her subsequent emotional health to taking prescription drug Zoloft.^[8][40][41] She struggled with bedwetting from the time she was young until well into her teens and has stated that the last time she wet her bed was when she was fired from Saturday Night Live.^[12][41] Her autobiography, published in April 2010, entitled The Bedwetter, explores the subject, among others.

Silverman talked about having dated Dave Attell on one of her appearances on The Howard Stern Show. Silverman and Colin Quinn joked about having been romantically linked during her Saturday Night Live career. In her first appearance on the Stern show in June 2001 she said she was dating someone named Tom who wrote for SNL. Silverman was in a relationship that began in 2002 with comedian Jimmy Kimmel.^[42] She referred to the relationship in some of her comedy, "I'm Jewish, but I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes; my boyfriend is Catholic — but you know... it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn a hole through my skin, it will protect me."^[6] In July 2008, Vanity Fair reported that the couple had split, ending their relationship of five years. However, in October 2008 it was revealed by Fox News and People magazine that they were on "the road back to being together."^[43] The couple attended the wedding of Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky together,^[44] but split again in March 2009.^[45]

Silverman has stated she does not want to get married until same-sex couples are able to.^[46] She has also stated she doesn't want to have biological children to avoid the risk that they might inherit her depression.^[47] Silverman's biological sister Laura plays her sister on The Sarah Silverman Program. Another sister, Susan, is a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem, Israel with her husband and five children.^[48][49] Silverman is a fan of Jenny Lewis and appeared in Lewis' music video for the song "Rise Up With Fists!!" She is also a fan of comedian Steve Martin, who was one of her major inspirations as a younger comedian.^[15] Silverman enjoys playing Scrabble on the Internet. One of her regular opponents is Alyssa Milano, who lives in the same building that she does.^[40][50] She credited comedian Tig Notaro as one of her best friends in an interview in The Advocate.^[46]

She considers herself ethnically Jewish, which she has frequently mined for material, but says she is agnostic^[51] and does not follow the religion, claiming, "I have no religion. But culturally I can't escape it; I'm very Jewish."^[52][53] Her humor has also touched on other religions. In 2009, she suggested the Pope sell the Vatican and use some of the money for luxurious housing and the remainder to stop world hunger, saying he would "get crazy pussy."^[54] In January 2010, Silverman was dating Family Guy producer/writer Alec Sulkin,^[55] but as of October 2010, they had broken up.^[56]

Solar energy[link]

At the 2011 Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, in an interview with Yigal Ravid, Silverman spoke about her support for solar power as a project on which Israelis and Palestinians could work together. Silverman endorsed solar energy not only as good for the environment but as a peace-building industry as well. She said:

When I think about peace… and I think about the Jews and the Palestinians…. I think the only real solution is the classic buddy-movie formula… You take two enemies and they are forced to work together on some common goal and in the end they realize they aren’t that different. Right? So they’ve got to come together either for some common goal — how about solar power? [to applause] How about solar power!? How about powering the world with this beautiful sun they share?^[57]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Silverman protesting during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike

• Community Auditions (1985)
• Saturday Night Live (writer & cast member, 1993–1994)
• Mr. Show (featured performer, 1995)
• The Larry Sanders Show (1994–1996)
• Star Trek Voyager ("Future's End", two episodes, 1996)
• Brotherly Love - (Rosa "Pizza Girl" episode 1997)
• Seinfeld ("The Money", 1997)
• JAG (Blind Side "Lt. Schiparelli", 1997)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (voice as herself, "Alderman", 1998)
• Smog (unsold pilot, 1999)
• Late Last Night (1999)
• Futurama ("The Cryonic Woman", 2000; "Futurama: Bender's Big Score, 2007)
• Super Nerds (unsold pilot, 2000)
• Rocky Times (unsold pilot, 2000)
• Greg the Bunny (2002–2004)
• Crank Yankers (voice, 2002–2007)
• Frasier (Jane, "Maris Returns", 2003)
• Pilot Season (miniseries, 2004)
• Entourage (herself, 2004)
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force ("Robositter", 2004, credited as Big S)
• Drawn Together ("The Other Cousin", episode 1.5, 2004, Cousin Bleh)
• Monk (Marci Maven, "Mr. Monk and the TV Star", 2004)
• American Dad! ("Stan Knows Best", 2005, voice)
• Tom Goes to the Mayor ("Pipe Camp", episode 11, 2005)
• Celebrity Poker Showdown (twice, 2003–2004)
• Comic Relief (stand-up segment 2006)
• Monk (Marci Maven,Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan, 2007)
• The Andy Milonakis Show (herself, 2007)
• The Sarah Silverman Program (2007–2010)
• Monk (Marci Maven, Mr. Monk's 100th Case, 2008)
• 8 out of 10 cats ("Herself", 2008)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ("Herself", 2008)
• The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget (2008) (pre-recorded video message)
• The Simpsons ("Stealing First Base", 2010, voice)
• Vitamin Water Commercial (Voice, 2010)
• Warren The Ape ("Black Lotus", 2010 as Herself)
• Bob's Burgers (two episodes, 2011 as Ollie)
• The Good Wife ("Getting Off", 2011 as Stephanie Engler)
• The League ("Thanksgiving", 2011 as Andre's sister, Heather)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarah Silverman

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sarah Silverman

• Sarah Silverman at the Internet Movie Database
• Sarah Silverman on Twitter
• Sarah Silverman on National Public Radio in 2010
• TheJC.com: Interview with Sarah Silverman
• Guardian interview
• AV Club article
• Nerve article