Profile Text
Sandler in 2011, s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Adam Richard Sandler
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 9, 1966
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Adam Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer, and musician. Initially coming to fame on Saturday Night Live , his roles also include the films Going Overboard , Shakes the Clown , Coneheads , Airheads , Mixed Nuts , Billy Madison , Happy Gilmore , and its sequel; Bulletproof (1996), The Wedding Singer , Dirty Work , The Waterboy , Big Daddy , Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo , Little Nicky , The Animal (2001), Punch-Drunk Love , Mr. Deeds , Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights , Anger Management (2003), 50 First Dates , Spanglish , The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), Reign Over Me , I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry , You Don’t Mess with the Zohan , Bedtime Stories , Funny People , Grown Ups , and its sequel; Just Go with It , Zookeeper , Jack and Jill (2011), That’s My Boy (2012), Hotel Transylvania , and its first two sequels; Blended , Men, Women & Children ; The Cobbler (2014), Pixels (2015), The Ridiculous 6 , The Do-Over , Sandy Wexler , The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) , The Week Of , Murder Mystery , and its sequel; Uncut Gems , Hubie Halloween , Hustle (2022), You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah , Leo (2023), Spaceman (2024), Jay Kelly , and Roommates (2026); and the series The Cosby Show . He is nicknamed “Sandman” and “The King of Comedy.”
Adam was raised in a Jewish family, the son of Judith (Levine), a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. He said in a Russian interview that his parents’ families were both Russian Jewish. He also has Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. He was raised partly in Conservative Judaism, and then mostly in Reform Judaism. Adam had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
Adam is married to model and actress Jackie Sandler (born Jacqueline Samantha Titone), with whom he has two children, actresses Sadie Sandler and Sunny Sandler. Jackie is of Italian descent. She is a convert to Judaism.
He founded production company Happy Madison Productions. He also co-wrote his Billy Madison , Happy Gilmore , The Waterboy , Big Daddy , Little Nicky , Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights , You Don’t Mess with the Zohan , Grown Ups , Jack and Jill , Grown Ups 2 , Hotel Transylvania 2 , The Ridiculous 6 , Sandy Wexler , The Week Of , Hubie Halloween , Leo , and Happy Gilmore 2 ; as well as the film Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star .
Adam’s patrilineal line can be traced to his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Berko Sandler, who was born, c. 1792, in Poland.
Adam’s paternal grandfather was Philip Sandler (the son of Joseph Jacob/Jossel Sandler and Beckie/Becki/Rebecca/Rivka Zilberman/Silberman/Silverman). Philip was born in New York, to Lithuanian Jewish parents. Joseph was born in Panemune, Tauragė County, the son of Yehuda Yudel Sandler and Feige Polak/Pollak. Adam’s great-grandmother Beckie was born in Vilnius, the daughter of Eliyahu Zilberman/Silberman/Silverman and Mina Finklestein.
Adam’s paternal grandmother was Anna Eva Friedman (the daughter of Harry Friedman and Bessie Fried). Anna was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Harry was the son of Max Friedman and Lottie Cohen. Bessie was the daughter of Samuel Fried and Annie Katz.
Adam’s maternal grandfather was named Daniel Levine. Daniel was born in Russia.
Adam’s maternal grandmother was named Mollie. Mollie was born in Russia.
Sources: Jewish Journal article about Adam Sandler, 2002 – http://www.jewishjournal.com
Interview with Adam Sandler about his Jewish upbringing, 2019 – https://www.wunc.org
Russian interview with Adam Sandler – http://www.voanews.com
Genealogy of Adam Sandler (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Adam’s father on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary record of Adam’s father – https://familysearch.org
Sandler with wife Jackie Sandler in 2011, photo by prphotos