Adam Sandler To Receive Performer Tribute At 2022 Gotham Awards

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read
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The Gotham Film & Media Institute will honor Adam Sandler with a Performer Tribute at its annual ceremony, presented by Josh and Benny Safdie, co-writers and directors of the actor’s 2019 crime thriller Uncut Gems.

Nomination for the 32nd annual event will be announced Tuesday at 9 am PT/12 pm ET. Awards will be handed out Nov. 28 at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC for the first major ceremony of the fall season, which can draw early critical recognition and media attention to indie films and series.

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“Adam Sandler’s spectacular performances across some of the most popular films of the past three decades have inspired the community of filmmakers that we represent here at The Gotham time and time again,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, the awards’ parent organization. “Adam has proven that he is a brilliant talent who can deliver genuine heart and hilarious comedy in any role. Whether creating absurdly specific characters, telling jokes, or singing clever songs that we all know and love, [he] is the consummate performer who has brought immeasurable joy to audiences throughout the world.”

Sandler was nominated for Best Actor at The Gotham Awards for Uncut Gems (he won the 2020 Independent Spirit Award for best male lead) and for Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories in 2017.

The actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and musician first garnered national attention during a five-year run on SNL. Small parts in comedies like Shakes The Clown (1991), Coneheads (1993) and Mixed Nuts (1994) led to a breakout with Billy Madison (1995), which he co-wrote. A string of hit comedies — Happy Gilmore (1996), The Waterboy (1998), The Wedding Singer (1998), Big Daddy (1999) — cemented Sandler as a comedic powerhouse and major box office draw.

He formed Happy Madison Productions in 1999, producing and taking on wider-ranging roles including Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love (2002), James L. Brooks’ Spanglish (2004) and Funny People, by Judd Apatow in 2009, along with comedies from 50 First Dates (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (2008). He anchored Sony’s Hotel Translyvania franchise, and produced and starred in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2.

Sandler most recently appeared in Netflix’s Hustle as a down on his luck basketball scout

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