FUNNY PEOPLE

ADAM SANDLER (George Simmons) has enjoyed phenomenal success as an actor, writer, producer and musician. Sandler's films include the recent box-office smashes Bedtime Stories, for Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures' You Don't Mess With the Zohan and Universal Pictures' comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Sandler is currently in production on Sony Pictures' Grown Ups for director Dennis Dugan. The film centers around five good friends who reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend 30 years after their high school graduation, and stars Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Rob Schneider, Maria Bello, David Spade, Maya Rudolph and Chris Rock.

Previously, Sandler was seen in a starring role, opposite Don Cheadle, in Sony's Reign Over Me for director Mike Binder and the box-office hit Click, which starred Kate Beckinsale. He also starred in The Longest Yard, with Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds; James L. Brooks' Spanglish, opposite Téa Leoni; the romantic comedy 50 First Dates, with Drew Barrymore; Anger Management, with Jack Nicholson; and Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Sandler's first brush with comedy came at age 17, when he performed at a Boston comedy club. From then on he was hooked, performing regularly in comedy clubs throughout the state, while earning a degree in fine arts from New York University. Sandler's production company, Happy Madison Productions, was co-founded by Jack Giarraputo and

Sandler and has gone on to become an almost self-contained mini-studio that is involved in all aspects of film production. Happy Madison has produced Click, The Benchwarmers, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and Strange Wilderness, the recent films The House Bunny and Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and the upcoming The Zookeeper. Sandler has also collaborated with writer Tim Herlihy on the screenplays for Happy Gilmore, Little Nicky, Billy Madison, Big Daddy and The Waterboy, and executive produced Grandma's Boy, The Animal, Joe Dirt, The Master of Disguise, The Hot Chick and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.

Happy Madison Productions also has a deal with Columbia Tri-Star Domestic Television to develop shows for the studio, including the current hit show Rules of Engagement, which stars David Spade and Oliver Hudson, and the upcoming Comedy Central series The Gong Show With Dave Attell and Gay Robot.

Sandler's comedy albums on Warner Bros. Records have gone multiplatinum. Collectively, they have sold more than six million copies to date. Several years ago, Sandler launched AdamSandler.com. This site is updated weekly with mini-movies featuring Sandler and the staff of Happy Madison in their daily routines.

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