108-612: Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor and comedian. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, his accolades include nominations for three Grammy Awards , five Primetime Emmy Awards , a Golden Globe Award , and a Screen Actors Guild Award . In 2023, Sandler was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor . Sandler was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995. He returned to Saturday Night Live as
216-613: A Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985. O'Brien's senior thesis, entitled Literary Progeria in the Works of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor , concerned the use of children as symbols in the works of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor . During college, O'Brien briefly played drums in a band called the Bad Clams and was a writer for the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. During his sophomore and junior years, he served as
324-468: A mock feud with Comedy Central 's Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show ) and Stephen Colbert (of The Colbert Report ) over a dispute about which of the three were responsible for giving a "bump" to Mike Huckabee 's campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee. This feud crossed over all three shows during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike . On February 20, 2009, NBC aired
432-498: A sidekick . After O'Brien's departure, the writers at The Simpsons would watch videotaped episodes of Late Night at lunch the day following their midnight broadcast and analyze them. Late Night with Conan O'Brien , originating from Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, premiered on September 13, 1993, to unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics. This reception was not completely unsurprising: there
540-483: A 30-city live tour beginning April 12, 2010, entitled, " The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour ". Co-host Andy Richter , along with members of the former Tonight Show Band , joined O'Brien on the tour. Max Weinberg , however, was not able to join, except for a guest appearance at one of Conan's New York City shows. On April 12, 2010, O'Brien opened his two-month comedy tour in Eugene, Oregon , with
648-486: A career best for Sandler, for which he earned the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead . In January 2020, Netflix announced a new four-movie deal with Happy Madison Productions worth up to $ 275 million. Sandler starred in and wrote the 2020 Netflix film Hubie Halloween . Besides, he voiced Leo the lizard in a Netflix's animated coming-of-age musical Leo . Sandler produced and starred in
756-518: A crowd of 2,500 and no TV cameras. The tour traveled through America's Northwest and Canada before moving on to larger cities, including Los Angeles and New York City, where he performed at Radio City Music Hall , next to his former Late Night studios. The tour ended in Atlanta on June 14. In 2011, the documentary film titled Conan O'Brien Can't Stop was released which followed O'Brien throughout his comedy tour. The film premiered March 2011 at
864-495: A cup of coffee. I heard a crash. I walked back to the office, and there was a hole in the window and a dead bird on the floor. Literally, in my first ten minutes at The Simpsons , a bird had flown through the glass of my window, hit the far wall, broken its neck, and fallen dead on the floor. George Meyer came in and looked at it, and said, "Man, this is some kind of weird omen." — O'Brien on his first moments at The Simpsons Mike Reiss and Al Jean , then showrunners of
972-829: A drama about a man who loses his entire family in the September 11 attacks and then struggles to rekindle a friendship with his old college roommate ( Don Cheadle ). Sandler starred alongside friend Kevin James in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and headlined You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). The latter was written by Sandler, Judd Apatow , and Robert Smigel , and directed by Dennis Dugan . That same year, Sandler starred along with Keri Russell and English comedian Russell Brand in Adam Shankman 's children's fantasy film Bedtime Stories (2008), as
1080-494: A four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go on Max to widespread critical acclaim. The series featured O'Brien traveling to Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland to meet fans whom he had previously featured via video calls in his podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan . The show was renewed for a second season of six episodes in May 2024. To promote the first season's release, O'Brien appeared on
1188-540: A gangster on an Armenian soap opera. In April 2016, O'Brien visited South Korea in response to a fan letter urging him to visit, as well as a growing fan base online. His visit included a trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone , which resulted in O'Brien and Steven Yeun also visiting North Korea on a technicality by stepping across the border line at the DMZ . Conan commented on the significance during
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#17327866535271296-432: A guest appearance as the "Wandering MC" in the 2019 video game Death Stranding , where he communicates with the player using voice lines and facial expressions recorded during his visit to Kojima Productions ' headquarters. O'Brien has hosted several awards shows and television specials. He hosted the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002 and the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, to critical acclaim. He also hosted
1404-479: A host change in 2010 . After this departure, O'Brien hosted a 32-city live comedy tour titled The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour , which was the subject of the documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011). He then hosted Conan from 2010 to 2021. Throughout his career, he has also hosted a number of awards shows and television specials , including the Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006 ,
1512-1035: A host in 2019 earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He has starred in Hollywood comedy films that cumulatively grossed over $ 2 billion worldwide. Sandler had an estimated net worth of $ 420 million in 2020, and signed a new four-movie deal with Netflix worth over $ 250 million. Sandler's comedic roles include Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Waterboy (1998), The Wedding Singer (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Mr. Deeds (2002), 50 First Dates (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), Grown Ups (2010), Just Go with It (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013), Blended (2014), Murder Mystery (2019) and Hubie Halloween (2020). He also received praise for his dramatic roles in Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Reign Over Me (2007), The Meyerowitz Stories (2017), Uncut Gems (2019), and Hustle (2022). He also voiced Dracula in
1620-510: A large supporting role may be considered a secondary lead . Award nominations for acting often reflect such ambiguities. Therefore, sometimes two actors in the same performance piece are nominated Oscars for Best Actor or Best Actress —categories traditionally reserved for leads. For example, in 1935 Clark Gable , Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone were each nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for Mutiny on
1728-404: A live audience and marking the end of O'Brien's twenty-eight year run as a late-night host. It was announced that O'Brien would move to a weekly untitled variety show on fellow WarnerMedia property HBO Max , where he was expected to focus more on his podcast and travel shows with a relaxed production schedule. On his final show, O'Brien featured fictional character Homer Simpson , marking also
1836-577: A man who fathered a son ( Andy Samberg ) with his teacher ( Eva Amurri ) in high school. In 2013, he guest starred in the Disney Channel Original Series Jessie as himself in the episode "Punched Dumped Love". He and Jessie star Cameron Boyce had worked together in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2 ; Sandler's 2020 film Hubie Halloween was dedicated to Boyce's memory. Sandler next reunited with Drew Barrymore for
1944-437: A mock court case to decide whether Sandler or Jim Carrey is a better comedian. In 2021, Vogue named Sandler the year's fashion icon for popularizing a "grocery-run look", characterized by oversized T-shirts, XXL pants, and Nike sneakers dubbed as "Adam Sandler style". Menswear brand Old Jewish Men sells a line of basketball shorts inspired by the style. Speaking on the title with Esquire , Sandler remarked: "It took
2052-421: A more lucrative deal at another network. O'Brien was a guest on Jay Leno's final episode of The Tonight Show . On June 1, 2009, Will Ferrell became Conan's first Tonight Show guest on the couch and Pearl Jam appeared as his first musical guest. Conan acquired the nickname " Coco " after its use in the first "Twitter Tracker" sketch during the second episode of his Tonight Show run. Guest Tom Hanks used
2160-470: A second [of it].... All I ask is one thing, and I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism; for the record it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. —Conan O'Brien, on his departure from The Tonight Show , January 22, 2010 Sources familiar with
2268-528: A shoo-in to take over as showrunner. O'Brien wrote some of the series' most acclaimed episodes: " Marge vs. the Monorail " and " Homer Goes to College ". The show was initially a highly realistic family sitcom; after O'Brien's debut, the show took a rapid shift in the direction of the surreal. O'Brien also has sole writing credits on " New Kid on the Block " and " Treehouse of Horror IV ", on which he wrote
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#17327866535272376-416: A short stretch of reruns, sidekick Andy Richter described his vacation activities as follows: "I sat back and reminded myself what it's like to be unemployed." The in-joke alluded to the rumors floating in the trades that NBC was near canceling the program. Late Night under O'Brien slowly but steadily acquired commercial and critical success. Sketches grew in popularity ("If They Mated", "Desk Drive", "In
2484-554: A side project working with Smigel on the script for a musical film based on the " Hans and Franz " sketch from Saturday Night Live , but the film was never produced. Meanwhile, David Letterman was preparing to leave the talk show Late Night , prompting executive producer Lorne Michaels to search for a new host. Michaels approached O'Brien to produce; then-agent Gavin Polone stressed that O'Brien wanted to perform, rather than produce. He arranged with Michaels that O'Brien would do
2592-568: A stressed hotel maintenance worker whose bedtime stories he reads to his niece and nephew begin to come true. It marked Sandler's first family film and first film under the Disney banner. In 2009, Sandler starred in Apatow's third directorial feature, Funny People , a comedy drama about a famous comedian (Sandler) with a terminal illness . The film was released on July 31, 2009. After its release, Funny People and Punch-Drunk Love were cited in
2700-430: A test audition on the stage of The Tonight Show . Jason Alexander and Mimi Rogers were the guests, and the audience was composed of Simpsons writers. Wolodarksky recalled the experience: "Seeing this friend of yours, this guy that you worked with, walk out from behind that curtain and deliver a monologue was like something you could only dream up that you couldn't ever imagine actually happening." The performance
2808-588: A third time in the Warner Bros. romantic comedy Blended , which was filmed in South Africa and released on May 23, 2014. In October 2014, Netflix announced a four-movie deal with Sandler and Happy Madison Productions. Also that year, Sandler co-starred in the drama film Men, Women & Children , directed by Jason Reitman . He was considered for the voice of Rocket Raccoon in Marvel's Guardians of
2916-481: A while. I was working that angle for years. For a while I was like, 'Please accept me and the way I dress.' And 30 years later, they finally came around." Sandler has been married to Jacqueline "Jackie" Sandler (née Titone) since 2003. She converted to Sandler's religion, Judaism. The couple have two daughters, Sadie (b. May 2006) and Sunny (b. November 2008). Sandler's wife and children often appear in his films. Both Sadie and Sunny have each appeared in at least two of
3024-430: A writer was on the short-lived The Wilton North Report . In January 1988, Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) executive producer Lorne Michaels hired O'Brien as a writer. During his three years on SNL , he wrote such recurring sketches as "Mr. Short-Term memory" and "The Girl Watchers"; the latter was first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz . While on a writers' strike from Saturday Night Live following
3132-401: Is tongue-in-cheek , saying he would like to see if celebrity guests would actually be his friends. In each episode, Conan is joined by his guest, as well as his assistant Sona Movsesian and the show's producer Matt Gourley . Guests on the podcast have included Barack and Michelle Obama , Stephen Colbert , and Bob Newhart among others. The podcast has received strong reviews and became
3240-482: Is a physician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School where he specializes in epidemiology . His mother, Ruth O'Brien (née Reardon; b. 1931), is a retired attorney and former partner at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray . O'Brien has three brothers and two sisters. O'Brien attended Brookline High School , where he served as the managing editor of the school newspaper , then called The Sagamore . He
3348-506: Is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows , beginning with Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–2009) and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009–2010) on the NBC television network, and Conan (2010–2021) on the cable channel TBS . Before his hosting career, O'Brien was a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1991, and
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3456-489: Is depicted as an ex-boyfriend of lead character Liz Lemon , who works in the same building. In the episode " Tracy Does Conan ", Conan appears as himself, awkwardly reunited with Lemon and coerced by network executive Jack Donaghy into having the character Tracy Jordan on Late Night , despite having been assaulted in Jordan's previous appearance. O'Brien also made a cameo appearance on the U.S. version of The Office . In
3564-457: Is forced to act, and it's a glorious thing to watch". In 2018, Sandler starred in the Netflix film The Week Of alongside Chris Rock . He also starred in a Netflix stand-up special Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh , which was part of his company's Netflix deal and marked his first stand-up film in over two decades. The special was directed by longtime collaborator Steven Brill , while portions of
3672-506: Is often but not necessarily the lead. A lead role must also be differentiated from a starring role , which means that an actor is credited as a part of the main cast but not that they necessarily play the main character. This drama-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to film or motion picture terminology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Conan O%27Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963)
3780-725: Is on the Sony/ Columbia Pictures lot in Culver City, California . Most of its films have received negative reviews from critics, with three considered among the worst ever made yet most have performed well at the box office. Although his earlier commercially successful films did not receive favorable critical attention, Sandler started to receive more positive reviews beginning with his more dramatic role in Punch-Drunk Love in 2002. Punch-Drunk Love 's writer and director, Paul Thomas Anderson , had an "obsession-level" love for Sandler's previous movies and wrote
3888-694: The Hotel Transylvania movie series. Adam's nephew Jared has also been featured in his films, such as Pixels and Home Team . In 2007, Sandler made a $ 1 million donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Manchester, New Hampshire . Sandler has not publicly discussed his political opinions. It has been reported that he is a registered Republican . He performed at the 2004 Republican National Convention , and donated $ 2,100 to Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign . "The Peeper"
3996-862: The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes on May 2, 2010. During the interview with Steve Kroft , O'Brien said the situation felt "like a marriage breaking up suddenly, violently, quickly. And I was just trying to figure out what happened." He also said he "absolutely" expected NBC to give him more of a chance and that, if in Jay Leno's position, he would not have come back to The Tonight Show . However, Conan said he did not feel unfortunate. "It's crucial to me that anyone seeing this, if they take anything away from this, it's I'm fine. I'm doing great," said O'Brien. "I hope people still find me comedically absurd and ridiculous. And I don't regret anything." On March 11, 2010, O'Brien announced via his Twitter account that he would embark on
4104-658: The Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series , winning the award for the first and only time in 2007. In 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004, he and the Late Night writing staff won the Writers Guild Award for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series. In 2001, he formed his own television production company, Conaco , which subsequently shared in the production credits for Late Night . That same year, he returned to Saturday Night Live , hosting
4212-523: The Five-Timers Club with Tina Fey , Steve Martin , Paul Rudd , Candice Bergen and Elliott Gould . In May 2022, O'Brien's podcast, as well as the entire Team Coco digital media business, was sold to SiriusXM for $ 150 million. This sale included all other Team Coco podcasts including Inside Conan and Parks and Recollection , as well as the development of a comedy channel for SiriusXM radio service. On April 18, 2024, HBO released
4320-574: The Fox animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1991 to 1993. He has also been host of the podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend since 2018 and starred in the 2024 travel show Conan O'Brien Must Go on Max . Born in Brookline, Massachusetts , O'Brien was raised in an Irish Catholic family. He served as president of The Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University , where he graduated with an AB degree in history and literature. He
4428-578: The Lampoon' s president. At this time, O'Brien's future boss at NBC , Jeff Zucker , was serving as president of the school newspaper The Harvard Crimson . After graduating from Harvard, O'Brien moved to Los Angeles to join the writing staff of HBO 's sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News , where he worked for two seasons. Around this time, he started taking improvisation classes with Cynthia Szigeti and The Groundlings . His next job as
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4536-635: The NBC Universal –owned USA Network . On February 8, 2010, it was reported that O'Brien was attempting to sell his Central Park West penthouse in New York with an asking price of $ 35 million. He had purchased the apartment in 2007 for $ 10 million. Two years earlier, O'Brien had purchased a home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles for over $ 10.5 million. Some industry insiders have speculated that O'Brien had chosen to stay on
4644-616: The South by Southwest media festival to positive reviews. It was directed by Rodman Flender who is O'Brien's personal friend and classmate at Harvard University. The day his live tour began, O'Brien announced that he would host a new show on cable station TBS . The show, Conan , debuted on November 8, 2010, and aired Monday through Thursday at 11:00 pm ET/10:00 pm CT. O'Brien's addition moved Lopez Tonight with George Lopez back one hour. Refusing at first to do to Lopez what had happened to him at NBC, O'Brien agreed to join
4752-642: The White House Correspondents' dinner in 1995 and 2013, and will host the Academy Awards in 2025. Conan was named one of Time ' s 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Known for his spontaneous hosting style, which has been characterized by The New York Times as "awkward, self-deprecating humor", O'Brien's late-night programs combine the "lewd and wacky with more elegant, narrative-driven short films". His remotes have also become some of his best-received work, including
4860-616: The international travel series Conan Without Borders . With the retirement of David Letterman on May 20, 2015, O'Brien became the longest-working late-night talk show host active in the United States . This active streak ended with O'Brien's retirement from late-night television in June 2021, with his entire run as a late-night host lasting nearly 30 years. Conan Christopher O'Brien was born on April 18, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts . His father, Thomas Francis O'Brien (b. 1929),
4968-534: The pilot of the 2007 NBC adventure/comedy series Andy Barker, P.I. , starring O'Brien's sidekick Andy Richter . After six episodes and low ratings, the show was canceled despite being named one of the Top Ten Shows of 2007 by Entertainment Weekly . Later, USA Network ordered a pilot episode of the medical-themed Operating Instructions , which was produced by O'Brien's production company Conaco . In January 2010, NBC ordered two pilots from Conaco,
5076-420: The "childlike, love-starved" persona from his previous films, but was shown in a new light as the "key to all Adam Sandler films". Sandler was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance. The film marked the beginning of Sandler moving outside the genre of slapstick comedy to take on more serious roles, such as Mike Binder 's Reign Over Me (2007),
5184-565: The 1987–88 season, O'Brien put on an improvisational comedy revue in Chicago with fellow SNL writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel called Happy Happy Good Show . While living in Chicago, O'Brien briefly shared an apartment with Jeff Garlin near Wrigley Field . In 1989, O'Brien and his fellow SNL writers received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series . O'Brien, like many SNL writers, occasionally appeared as an extra in sketches; his most notable appearance
5292-551: The 2022 sports drama film Hustle , which received critical acclaim. His performance in the film was repeatedly singled out for praise and he received a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award . On March 19, 2023, Sandler was awarded the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor . Many of Sandler's friends and fellow performers, including Ben Stiller , Conan O'Brien , Dana Carvey , and Judd Apatow , spoke at
5400-743: The Bounty . There can even be controversy over whether a particular performance should be nominated in the Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Actor/Best Supporting Actress category; for instance, The Godfather 's Al Pacino boycotted the 45th Academy Awards ceremony since he was insulted at being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor award; he noted that he had more screen time than his co-star and Best Actor winner Marlon Brando and so he should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. A title role
5508-525: The Galaxy but Bradley Cooper was cast instead. In 2015, Sandler released his last theatrical film, Pixels , based on French director Patrick Jean's 2010 short film of the same name , before transitioning into a distribution deal with Netflix . Sandler's first original film for Netflix was the Western comedy film The Ridiculous 6 . Despite being universally panned by critics, on January 6, 2016, it
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#17327866535275616-630: 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 . In 2010, Sandler appeared in Grown Ups , alongside Kevin James, Chris Rock , Rob Schneider , David Spade, Salma Hayek , Maria Bello , and Maya Rudolph . Sandler and Dickie Roberts scribe Fred Wolf wrote the script and Dennis Dugan directed. Sandler's later comedy films, including Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2 , received largely negative reviews. Reviewing
5724-459: The Netflix film Murder Mystery , which broke the record for the biggest opening weekend in the company's history, and spawned a sequel, Murder Mystery 2 , in 2023. In December 2019, Sandler starred in the crime thriller drama Uncut Gems , directed by the Safdie brothers . The movie and Sandler's acting received critical acclaim and many end-of-year awards from critics, who noted this role as
5832-495: The Team Coco YouTube channel. As part of a new contract negotiated with NBC in 2004, the network decided that O'Brien would take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2009. Leno then moved to a prime time slot, named The Jay Leno Show . Hosting The Tonight Show was a lifelong dream of O'Brien's, and the promise of succeeding Leno kept him in NBC's employ despite the fact that he likely could have secured
5940-488: The Year 2000"). A reliable staple involved a TV screen, lowered behind O'Brien's desk and displaying a still photo of a news figure. The lips and voice of these characters ( Clutch Cargo ) – frequently a party-crazed "hillbilly" interpretation of Bill Clinton – were supplied by writing partner Robert Smigel . A turning point was David Letterman's February 1994 appearance. "It was a morale boost," said O'Brien. "I'm thinking, If
6048-624: The animated sitcom The Simpsons , called O'Brien and offered him a job. The series was prestigious in the writing community at the time; O'Brien recalls "everyone wanted to be on that show, but they never hired." O'Brien was one of the first hires after the show's original crew. With the help of an old Groundlings friend, actor Lisa Kudrow , O'Brien purchased an apartment in Beverly Hills . He and Kudrow became romantically involved as well, and Kudrow believed he should begin performing rather than writing. O'Brien disagreed, feeling that Kudrow
6156-645: The band and Ferrell sang " Free Bird " while reprising his SNL cowbell . Ferrell's wife, Viveca Paulin , together with Ben Harper , Beck , and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons , also joined the band for this final performance. Jay Leno returned to The Tonight Show following NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Under the $ 45 million deal with NBC, Conan was allowed to start working for another network as soon as September 2010. Conan's rumored next networks ranged from Fox to Comedy Central . Other networks reportedly interested in O'Brien included TNT , HBO , FX , Showtime , Revision3 , and even
6264-466: The episode wraparounds . Wallace Wolodarsky described a "room character" Conan put on for the writers: "Conan used to do this thing called the Nervous Writer that involved him opening a can of Diet Coke and then nervously pitching a joke. He would spray Diet Coke all over himself, and that was always a source of endless amusement among us." During his time at The Simpsons , O'Brien also had
6372-476: The episode " Valentine's Day ", Michael believes that he spots former SNL cast member, Tina Fey , but has actually mistaken another woman for her. In the meantime, Conan has a quick walk-on, and the camera crew informs Michael when he returns from talking to the Tina Fey lookalike. In 2011, he starred as himself in the web series Web Therapy (opposite Lisa Kudrow ) for three episodes. O'Brien also made
6480-508: The event. In 2024, Sandler starred in his second Netflix stand-up comedy special, Adam Sandler: Love You , which was directed by Josh Safdie . He also starred in the science fiction drama film Spaceman , an adaptation of the science fiction novel Spaceman of Bohemia (2017), directed by Johan Renck . Also in 2024, Sandler was named the People's Choice Icon at the 49th People's Choice Awards . In March 2024, Forbes announced that Sandler
6588-416: The film with him in mind. Sandler was intimidated to work with Anderson upon viewing his previous film Magnolia (2000), but these fears were alleviated upon receiving the script from Anderson. Roger Ebert 's review of Punch-Drunk Love concluded that Sandler had been wasted in earlier films with poorly written scripts and characters with no development. Ebert noted that Sandler's character still maintained
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#17327866535276696-605: The film, Sandler plays Danny Meyerowitz, who is unemployed and separated from his wife. His experiencing dysfunctional relationships with his brother ( Ben Stiller ), his sister ( Elizabeth Marvel ), and his father ( Dustin Hoffman ). The film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival where his performance received favorable notices from critics. Peter Debruge, film critic for Variety , wrote of his performance, "With no shtick to fall back on, Sandler
6804-468: The first three films of the Hotel Transylvania franchise (2012–2018). Sandler was born in Brooklyn , New York, on September 9, 1966, to Judith "Judy" ( née Levine), a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer. His family is Jewish and descends from Russian Jewish immigrants on both sides. Sandler grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire , after his family moved there when he
6912-457: The guy who created the 12:30 thing comes on and says we're smart and funny, let's go." The show went through a wobble in January 1995 when Robert Smigel, feeling burned out, quit as head writer. An increase in quality over time, perceived by some observers, was sometimes credited to a growth in O'Brien's comedic performance. Within a year, a comedic formula began to arise: the show would combine
7020-403: The interview show Hot Ones , where guests eat increasingly spicy chicken wings . The intensity and humor of his episode received significant media attention, resulting in widespread praise of his performance and more generally as a comedic performer. In 2024, He teamed up with Norwegian rap duo E.D.A. to release the song "Velkommen til Klubben". O'Brien was executive producer and co-wrote
7128-403: The largest role in the piece, and leading actor may refer to a person who typically plays such parts or an actor with a respected body of work. Some actors are typecast as leads, but most play the lead in some performances and supporting or character roles in others. Sometimes there is more than one significant leading role in a dramatic piece, and the actors are said to play co-leads ;
7236-680: The last episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien . The show consisted of a compilation of previous Late Night clips and included a surprise appearance by former sidekick Andy Richter. Will Ferrell , John Mayer , and the White Stripes also appeared. O'Brien ended the episode by destroying the set with an axe, handing out the pieces of the set to the audience, and thanking a list of people who helped him. Among those thanked were Lorne Michaels, David Letterman, Jay Leno , and O'Brien's wife and children. In 2019, clips from O'Brien's time on Late Night began to be posted on his TBS website and on
7344-665: The latter, critic Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times remarked that Sandler had become the antithesis of Judd Apatow ; he was instead "the white Tyler Perry : smart enough to know better, savvy enough to do it anyway, lazy enough not to care." The next year, Sandler starred with Jennifer Aniston in the romantic comedy film Just Go with It . He also voiced a capuchin monkey in Kevin James's Zookeeper , released on July 8, 2011. In 2012, he starred in That's My Boy , as
7452-419: The lewd and wacky with more elegant, narrative-driven remotes . One famous remote was when Conan visited a historic, Civil War-era baseball league. That piece was one of O'Brien's personal favorites, later remarking, "When I leave this earth, at the funeral, just show this, because this pretty much says who I'm all about." O'Brien's audience, largely young and male (a coveted demographic), grew steadily and
7560-513: The network after Lopez called to persuade him to come to TBS. In February 2015, following the onset of the Cuban thaw , O'Brien became the first American television personality to film in Cuba for more than half a century. O'Brien then visited Armenia for his next show abroad, during which he featured his assistant Sona Movsesian , who is Armenian American . While visiting, Conan guest-starred as
7668-468: The nickname during his subsequent interview, even getting the audience to chant it. In reaction to the moniker , Conan remarked to Hanks in jest, "If that catches on, I'll sue you." During the taping of the Friday, September 25, 2009, episode of The Tonight Show , O'Brien suffered a mild concussion after he slipped and hit his head while running a race as part of a comedy sketch with guest Teri Hatcher . He
7776-434: The one-hour courtroom drama Outlaw and a half-hour comedy. Outlaw was produced in eight episodes and premiered on September 15, 2010. O'Brien's first guest appearance after beginning his late-night career was playing himself in the season five Simpsons episode " Bart Gets Famous ", interviewing Bart Simpson during his rise to fame as a catchphrase comedian. In 1999, O'Brien made an appearance on Futurama in
7884-512: The race, which Halonen eventually won. O'Brien traveled to Finland shortly after the election. "We took the show to Helsinki for five days," O'Brien recalled, "where we were embraced like a national treasure." As part of the five-day trip, which was released as a one-hour special episode of Late Night , O'Brien met with Halonen at the Finnish Presidential Palace . During the writers' strike in 2008, O'Brien staged
7992-1093: The right to inherit his father's multimillion-dollar hotel empire. The film was successful at the box office despite negative reviews. He followed this film with Bulletproof (1996), and the financially successful comedies Happy Gilmore (1996) and The Wedding Singer (1998), his first collaboration with Drew Barrymore . 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 big hits. Sandler continued making successful comedy films including Big Daddy (1999), Mr. Deeds (2002), Anger Management (2003), 50 First Dates (2004, his second collaboration with Drew Barrymore ), The Longest Yard (2005), and Click (2006). He also formed his film production company, Happy Madison Productions , in 1999, first producing fellow SNL alumnus Rob Schneider 's film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo . The company has produced most of Sandler's subsequent films to date, and
8100-526: The second-season episode " Xmas Story ". O'Brien played himself as a head in a jar and still alive in the year 3000. O'Brien has made multiple voice appearances on the Adult Swim series Robot Chicken , including the specials Robot Chicken: Star Wars and Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II . Other voice work performed by O'Brien includes the voice of Robert Todd Lincoln in the audiobook version of Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell ,
8208-467: The show began to best competitors in the ratings, and continued to do so for 15 seasons. In the early days of the Internet, fans launched unofficial websites, compiling precise summaries of each episode. Even Tom Shales was a convert: he called the show "one of the most amazing transformations in television history." Beginning in 1996, O'Brien and the Late Night writing team were nominated annually for
8316-562: The show during its 26th season. As of October 2005 , Late Night with Conan O'Brien had for eleven years consistently attracted an audience averaging about 2.5 million viewers. In 2006, O'Brien exploited his perceived resemblance to Tarja Halonen , entering her second term as president of Finland . Capitalizing on the resemblance and on the 2006 Finnish presidential election , O'Brien and Late Night aired mock political ads both in support of Halonen and against her main opponent Sauli Niinistö , which influenced popular perception of
8424-571: The show in 1995. Sandler used his firing as part of his monologue when he returned in 2019 to host the show . In 1993, Adam Sandler appeared in the film Coneheads with Farley, David Spade , Dan Aykroyd , Phil Hartman , and Jane Curtin . In 1994, he co-starred in Airheads with Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi . Sandler starred in Billy Madison (1995) playing a grown man repeating grades 1–12 to earn back his father's respect and
8532-472: The show through 2018 in 2014 and through 2022 in 2017. In late 2018, Conan took a three-month hiatus while O'Brien launched another national comedy tour. The show returned January 22, 2019, in a new half-hour format without the live band. In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic , the program switched to a remotely-produced format from O'Brien's home beginning March 30, 2020. In July 2020, it
8640-454: The show's first years, O'Brien and the show developed and became highly regarded, earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series . He hosted Late Night for 16 years, and as of 2023 is still the longest-serving host in the history of the franchise. In 2009, O'Brien moved from New York to Los Angeles to host his own incarnation of The Tonight Show for seven months until highly publicized network politics prompted
8748-424: The situation stated that O'Brien was unhappy and disappointed with NBC's plan. On January 12, O'Brien released this statement: "I sincerely believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't The Tonight Show. " On January 21, 2010, it
8856-542: The sketch, claiming, "The idea that you and I could be in North Korea, talking and communicating freely, seems like kind of a cool message." These remotes were later branded Conan Without Borders and became part of their own series, with O'Brien eventually traveling to thirteen countries in total. The series became some of his most popular work, winning an Emmy in 2018. The international shows became available on Netflix before moving to HBO Max . TBS extended
8964-480: The song was performed on the David Letterman Show with a band that included, among others, Waddy Wachtel , who has appeared with Sandler on a number of occasions. Leading actor A leading actor , leading actress , or leading man or lady or simply lead ( / ˈ l iː d / ), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word lead may also refer to
9072-495: The special was filmed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which marked his first project with Sandler since Punch-Drunk Love sixteen years prior. On May 4, 2019, Sandler made his first appearance as host of Saturday Night Live , ending the episode with a tribute to his friend and fellow former cast member Chris Farley . Sandler received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination for his hosting stint. In June 2019, he reunited with Jennifer Aniston in
9180-606: The stage at his brother's urging when he was 17. He was discovered by comedian Dennis Miller , who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles and 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. He made a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including " The Thanksgiving Song " and " The Chanukah Song ". Sandler told Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show that NBC fired him and Chris Farley from
9288-407: The three episodes that O'Brien wrote for the series. Comedians Will Ferrell and Jack Black also paid their farewell to the show in the series finale. In 2018, O'Brien's production company, Team Coco, partnered with Earwolf to launch his own weekly podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend . The podcast debuted November 18, 2018, with Will Ferrell as the first guest. O'Brien stated the title
9396-467: The top podcast on iTunes . The podcast has also won numerous awards throughout its run. Deadline Hollywood reported that, as of August 2021, the podcast had been downloaded over 250 million times and was averaging more than 9 million downloads per month. O'Brien made a cameo appearance as himself on the February 26, 2022 episode of Saturday Night Live , as a guest inducting John Mulaney into
9504-532: The voice of talk show host Dave Endochrine in the 2013 DC Universe Animated Original Movie Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Part 2) , the voice of the character Kuchikukan in the " Operation: Lunacorn Apocalypse " episode of Nickelodeon's The Penguins of Madagascar , and the voice of Santa Claus in The Backyardigans episode "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve". On the TV show 30 Rock , O'Brien
9612-484: The west coast in order to facilitate a return to late night television and because he did not want to put his children through another move. O'Brien was included in the 2010 Time 100 , a list compiled by Time of the 100 most influential people in the world as voted on by readers. After being prohibited from making television appearances of any kind until May, O'Brien spoke about the Tonight Show conflict on
9720-471: Was "too smart, too East Coast, too sophisticated, too young and even too tall to be successful." The show was constantly at risk for cancellation; at one low point in 1994, NBC threatened to put him on a week-to-week contract. Executives were anxious to replace him with Greg Kinnear , who followed O'Brien with Later at 1:30 am. Interns filled empty seats in the audience while affiliates began to inquire about replacement hosts. In one installment after
9828-850: Was a congressional intern for Congressmen Robert Drinan and Barney Frank , and in his senior year won the National Council of Teachers of English writing contest with his short story "To Bury the Living". After graduating as valedictorian in 1981, O'Brien entered Harvard University. He lived in Holworthy Hall during his first year with future businessman Luis Ubiñas and two other roommates, and in Mather House during his three upper-class years. He majored in History & Literature, and graduated magna cum laude with
9936-498: Was a writer for the sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News . After writing for several comedy shows in Los Angeles , he joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live . O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons for two seasons until he was selected by Lorne Michaels and NBC to take over David Letterman 's position as host of Late Night in 1993. Despite unfavorable reviews and threats of cancellation in
10044-443: Was announced by Netflix that the film had been viewed more times in 30 days than any other movie in Netflix history. Sandler also starred in another Netflix film in 2016, titled The Do-Over . Sandler starred in the 2017 Netflix film Sandy Wexler , in which he plays a talent manager who falls in love with one of his clients. He returned to dramatic territory in 2017 with Noah Baumbach 's family drama The Meyerowitz Stories . In
10152-548: Was announced that Conan would continue with this format, but would be filmed with limited on-site staff from the Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles and no studio audience — making it the first American late-night talk show to return to filming outside of the host's residence (albeit still not from its main studio). In November 2020, TBS announced that Conan would end in June 2021. The final show aired on June 24, 2021, featuring
10260-594: Was announced that Conan had reached a deal with NBC that would see him exit The Tonight Show the next day. The deal also granted him $ 45 million, of which $ 12 million was designated for distribution to his staff, who had moved with Conan to Los Angeles from New York when he left Late Night . The final Tonight Show with Conan aired January 22, 2010, and featured guests Tom Hanks , Steve Carell (who did an exit interview and shredded Conan's ID badge ), Neil Young (singing " Long May You Run "), and Will Ferrell . For Ferrell's appearance, Conan played guitar with
10368-457: Was as a doorman in a sketch in which Tom Hanks was inducted into the SNL " Five-Timers Club " for hosting his fifth episode in 1990. O'Brien and Robert Smigel wrote the television pilot for Lookwell starring Adam West , which aired on NBC in 1991. Even with support from NBC president Brandon Tartikoff , the pilot never went to series. Despite the negative reviews, it became a cult hit . It
10476-455: Was beamed by satellite to New York, where Lorne Michaels and NBC executives watched. The audition was not well received by media commentators, citing his "awkward" humor. O'Brien was picked as the new host of Late Night on April 26, 1993. As the writers headed to the voice record for "Homer Goes to College", O'Brien received a phone call from Polone informing him of the decision. "He was passed out facedown into this horrible shag carpet. He
10584-503: Was examined at a hospital and released the same day. A rerun was aired that night, but O'Brien returned to work the following Monday and poked fun at the incident. By November 2009, ratings for O'Brien's The Tonight Show declined by around 2 million viewers since the previous year when Leno was host. On January 7, 2010, NBC executive Jeff Zucker met with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien to discuss how to move Leno out of prime time, where his ratings were lackluster, and back into late night. It
10692-480: Was flattering him, and asserting he was happy as a writer. In his speech given at Class Day at Harvard in 2000, O'Brien credited The Simpsons with saving him, a reference to the career slump he was experiencing before being hired for the show. From 1991 to 1993, O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons . When O'Brien first arrived at the Fox lot, they temporarily gave him writer Jeff Martin 's office. O'Brien
10800-465: Was just quiet and comatose down there on that carpet," recalled postproduction supervisor Michael Mendel. "I remember looking at him and saying, 'Wow. Your life is about to change, in a really dramatic way.'" Fox, however, would not let O'Brien out of his contract. Eventually, NBC and O'Brien split the cost to get him out of the contract. During pre-production, writer Robert Smigel suggested fellow writer Andy Richter to sit beside O'Brien and act as
10908-539: Was later screened at The Other Network , a festival of unaired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret ; it featured an extended interview with O'Brien and was rerun in 2002 on the Trio network. In 1991, after the failure of his sitcom, O'Brien also had an engagement to be married fall through and he quit Saturday Night Live , citing burnout . "I told Lorne Michaels I couldn't come back to work and I just needed to do something else," O'Brien recalled. "I had no plan whatsoever. I
11016-415: Was literally in this big transition phase in my life where I decided, I'll just walk around New York City, and an idea will come to me." O'Brien would later return to the show as host in 2001, and in a 2022 cameo appearance. I was very nervous when I started. They showed me into this office and told me to start writing down some ideas. They left me alone in that office. I left after five minutes to go get
11124-519: Was made into a flash cartoon, launched over the 1999 Labor Day weekend as a promotion for Stan and Judy's Kid and was watched by over 1 million users during that period, one of the most-watched video clips on the internet at the time. In 2009 Sandler contributed the Neil Young cover " Like a Hurricane " to Covered, A Revolution in Sound as part of Warner Brothers 50th Anniversary celebrations;
11232-484: Was nervous and self-conscious, feeling that he would embarrass himself in front of what he regarded as an intimidating collection of writers. O'Brien would pitch characters in their voices, as he thought that was the norm, until Reiss informed him that no one did this. He fit in quickly, commanding control of the room frequently; writer Josh Weinstein called it a "ten-hour Conan show, nonstop". According to John Ortved, one of his fellow writers said that Conan had been
11340-528: Was proposed that O'Brien would remain as host of The Tonight Show , which would run at 12:05 am with Leno hosting a 30-minute show at 11:35 pm. Three days later, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed that The Jay Leno Show would be moved to 11:35 pm following NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics . Every comedian, every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and—for seven months—I got to do it. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret
11448-447: Was significant public apprehension due to O'Brien being virtually unknown to the public, and O'Brien himself wrote a self-deprecating The New York Times piece titled "O'Brien Flops!" on the day of the show's premiere. Critics attacked O'Brien: Tom Shales of The Washington Post suggested that "the host resume his previous identity, Conan O'Blivion." Generally, critics viewed O'Brien as nervous and fidgety on-camera, and that he
11556-734: Was six years old. He attended Manchester Central High School . As a teen, Sandler was in BBYO , a Jewish youth group. He graduated from New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988. In 1987, Sandler played Theo Huxtable 's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show and the Stud Boy or Trivia Delinquent on the MTV game show Remote Control . After his film debut in Going Overboard in 1989, Sandler performed in comedy clubs, having first taken
11664-622: Was the best-paid actor in Hollywood in 2023, earning $ 73 million. Sandler has been referenced multiple times in various media, including in the TV shows The Simpsons , in the episode " Monty Can't Buy Me Love ", in the Family Guy episode " Stew-Roids ", and in the South Park episode " You're Getting Old ". He was also referenced in the video game Half-Life: Opposing Force . The HBO series Animals episode "The Trial" features
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