Everything We Know About Adam Sandler's Parents, Judy And Stanley
Adam Sandler certainly isn't shy about parading his family in front of the cameras. Indeed, over the years, the "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" star has given film roles to his wife Jackie, children Sadie and Sunny, and even his parents. Yes, despite having no acting experience, mom Judy Sandler, in particular, has the kind of IMDB page that most aspiring thespians would give their right arm for.
Apart from cameos in various goofball comedies, what else do we know about the two individuals who birthed one of America's most successful funnymen? Did they have a similarly zany sense of humor, for example? Or were they prone to shouting like an angry manchild at any given moment? Well, since rising to fame, Sandler has offered the odd tidbit about his beloved mom and pop, even honoring them on his 1999 fourth studio album "Stan and Judy's Kid." Sandler's parents have a heartwarming story from their early courtship to their sad ending.
They met on a double date
"The Wedding Singer" fans may remember how Adam Sandler's leading man, Robbie, goes on the double date from hell with the object of his affection (played by regular co-star Drew Barrymore, of course), her cousin that she's trying to set him up with, and the man she's marrying (who he founds out is cheating on her). Luckily, the real-life double date that Adam's parents went on back in the 1960s ran much smoother.
Yes, Stanley and Judy Sandler first clapped eyes on each other when they shared a date with two other people. And it was love at first sight. They eloped soon after and went on to move from the Brooklyn city of Bensonhurst to Long Island to Manchester, New Hampshire, eventually settling with their four offspring in the latter. Adam's own meet-cute was a little different: he met his wife, Jackie Sandler, while she was playing a sports bar waitress in his 1999 comedy "Big Daddy." But like his parents, the pair appear to be in it for the long haul, as in 2023, they celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.
Stanley and Judy weren't in the business
Having already appeared in the likes of "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah," "Hubie Halloween," and "Murder Mystery," Adam Sandler's daughters, Sunny and Sadie, will no doubt be labeled nepo babies. But that's not an accusation that could ever be leveled at their famous father. Adam grew up in a very non-showbizzy household, with his mother, Judy Sandler, a nursery school teacher, and his father, Stanley Sandler, an electrical contractor. And alongside siblings Scott, Elizabeth, and Valerie, "The Wedding Singer" star enjoyed a normal, happy childhood in the New Hampshire city of Manchester.
In 2022, Sandler told AARP, "I didn't have a lot of the pain that some comedians talk about, like problems with drugs and stuff like that. Everybody always had my back growing up." He reiterated this point when asked about the more difficult times in his life by CBS News: "Man, I don't know what the downs have been. I mean, maybe in some people, when they write about me, they talk about my downs. But I don't have any downs. I love every movie I've made. I've never in my entire career phoned one thing in."
They were both supportive of Adam Sandler's career
Judy and Stanley Sandler supported their son's showbiz ambitions, albeit in slightly different ways. In a 2019 interview with CBS News, the "50 First Dates" star recalled, "My mother said how great I was all the time. I started to believe her. But my father would be like, 'You're great, but you ain't that great.'" Funnily enough, it was Adam's music that his parents appeared to appreciate more than his sense of humor. Judy would often ask him to sing her favorite Johnny Mathis tunes during car journeys, while the Stratocaster guitar that he still uses on stage was a present bought for him at age 12 by Stanley.
In a chat with AARP, the Hollywood star spoke of how lucky he felt to have such encouraging parents: "When we had company, my mother would take peanuts out and put toothpicks in little meatballs and say, 'Adam, play them a song.' They all loved me. They all laughed, even if some of the guests were probably thinking, 'We have to watch this f***ing kid play guitar right now?'"
They inspired Adam Sandler's love of comedy
In an interview with CBS News, Adam Sandler revealed that he'd wanted to be the new Johnny Carson while growing up because "he's making my dad happy." But the late-night talk show host wasn't the only funnyman that "The Waterboy" star was exposed to from a young age. Stanley Sandler was also a fan of Buddy Hackett and would regularly wake Adam up in the middle of the night so they could both watch Marx Brothers movies such as "A Night at the Opera" and "Duck Soup" together (via the New York Times).
"My father, man, when he laughed, boy, you were excited," Adam said. "You were excited that the big man was good and thought it was funny, because he was a smart guy." As for Judy Sandler, well, she also has a good sense of humor, too. However, according to Adam, she often laughed at his jokes without understanding the punchline.
Stanley Sandler persuaded his son not to join the military
While he encouraged Adam Sandler's showbiz goals, Stanley Sandler discouraged another of his son's other early brainwaves. Before flexing his comedic muscles on the late-night institution "Saturday Night Live," the funnyman seriously considered flexing his physical muscles as a member of the U.S. military. Luckily, as Adam told Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show," he was soon informed in no uncertain terms that he probably wasn't cut out for this way of life.
"That's all I ever talked about in my house," the "Click" star said about his 15-year-old self. "Like, 'I'm going, I'm defending, this is what I'm made for.'" But on one particular night around the dinner table, Stanley's patience was pushed past its limits, and he told the future star that he couldn't sign up because he was a "p***y." Adam admitted to Fallon that this was fair comment: "It made sense. 'Cause literally I would try to do one chin-up back then and my father would be like, 'That's going to join the military? Okay.'"
Judy became an Adam Sandler film regular
As Adam Sandler fans will know, the funnyman likes nothing better than giving parts to his nearest and dearest. As well as various celebrity friends, his wife Jackie, and their two daughters Sadie and Sunny, he's also given his mother Judy and father Stanley chances to show off their acting talents on the big screen. Both parents provided voices for the 2002 animation "Eight Crazy Nights," while Judy has popped up in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," "Blended," and "Sandy Wexler."
One Adam Sandler film Judy's no doubt glad she didn't get a role in was "Uncut Gems," the Safdie brothers' incredibly tense thriller in which her son played against type as a foul-mouthed jeweler with a gambling addict. In a joint CBS News interview, Judy revealed she didn't appreciate the colorful language on display: "My mother didn't teach me to curse and I didn't teach him. Where did you learn it?" An unrepentant Adam replied, "I don't know where I got it, Ma. But it's been fun."
Stanley Sandler died in 2003
2003 brought tragedy to Adam Sandler's life when he and his family were left devastated following the death of his father, Stanley Sandler, from lung cancer. But as his most famous son stated two decades later, his memory will always live on. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022, Adam wrote, "Happy Father's Day to all you dads! I had a great one. Every time I heard his footsteps comin down the hall I knew all the fun in the world was home. My sisters and brother felt the same. And so did my wife Jackie ... Loved every meal, car ride, tv watch, late night talk, phone call, beach day, boat trip, driving range, baseball catch, and giant family hang we had. He loved my wife a lot and she felt the same about him."
Adam, who told the New York Times that Stanley used to hit press play on the video recorder every time he appeared on TV, continued: "We talk to our kids all the time about just how damn cool and smart he was and what he would have said in certain situations if he was here. Miss that man everyday and thank him for his warmth, his love for my mom, and always putting his family first."
Stanley inspired Adam Sandler's character in Hustle
Although Stanley Sandler didn't get to share the screen with his son as much as his wife Judy, he posthumously inspired one of Adam Sandler's most critically acclaimed performances. In 2022, the Hollywood star made a rare departure from the goofy comedy genre when he played Stanley Sugerman, a basketball recruiter who gives Juancho Hernangómez's Bo Whiz the opportunity to make the leap from Spain to the NBA in Netflix original "Hustle." And as his name suggests, the funnyman based his character on his old man.
Adam told ET Canada (via People), "I was just basically doing my dad when he used to coach my teams growing up, his kind of demeanor. He'd push you but then he'd also say like, all right, I see my kid's about to snap, let me pull back a little bit." And while appearing at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Cinema Society Q&A, he revealed that the extreme measures Sugerman adopts to get his client match-ready were also rooted in reality: "It was so many mornings I would wake up in my house and my father was up before everybody, and he was ready to go, and he woke you, he goes, 'Come on, let's get out there. Let's hit some baseballs.' So anyways, I connected a lot with this character my pop."
Stanley Sandler was a wise man
While Adam Sandler has built a career playing the goofball, Stanley Sandler appears to have been a much wiser character. The "Bedtime Stories" star has often spoken about how his dad was a constant source of sage advice while growing up. And when asked by CBS News about his greatest pearl of wisdom, the actor revealed it was dished out during one particularly upsetting period.
Adam recalled that Stanley said, "You can't always be happy ... You've just got to enjoy when happy comes and know that you're down for a reason and you'll eventually get out of it. So I remember that one, but he gave me a million good ones. He wasn't like a guy who sat and had quotes all day long. He kind of just was there for you, made us all feel good and strong, and you knew you were loved."
Keen not to leave his other parent out of the love-in, Adam also gushed about how his mom left a positive impact on the way he raises his own children, Sunny and Sadie, with his wife Jackie Sandler: "And my mother always made us feel loved, and that's kind of like how we're doing it with our kids. My wife's certainly good at that too."