Adam Sandler is an American actor, producer, comedian, screenwriter, and musician. He is best known for being a comedic actor. He was also on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for five years from 1990 to 1995. Sandler has starred in multiple blockbuster Hollywood films and his films have made an accumulative box office collection of over $2 billion. He has received accolades such as a SAG nomination, three Grammy nominations, five Emmy nominations, and more.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is an honor bestowed by John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The award is named after the writer Mark Twain who was a humorist writer. The award is given to people who have made similar contributions to American humor as Mark Twain. 23 individuals have been awarded the honor which includes 17 men and six women. The award for the year 2023 was given to Adam Sandler. Read on to learn more about this year’s ceremony.
Adam Sandler Bestowed With Mark Twain Prize
On March 2019, Adam Sandler was awarded the Mark Twain prize for American Humor. The ceremony took place at the Kennedy Center in D.C. Sandler became the 24th individual to be awarded the prize. Many celebrity friends of Sandler were present at the ceremony to honor him and his work such as Conan O’Brien, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Chris Rock, Luis Guizman, Steve Buscemi, Dana Carvey, and many more.
Adam Sandler spoke at the end of the event after his friends gave him heartfelt tributes for his glorious career in comedy. Sandler said, “As I look at this goofy award I’m holding, I can’t help but think that one day it might be the weapon used to bludgeon me in my sleep by a disgruntled intruder or possibly Mr. Rob Schneider.”
After the joke, the actor also thanked his family and friends who supported him throughout his career. He said, “The key is family which gave me some unbelievable weird confidence about myself that I guess I still carry today.” Sandler added, “Everyone in this room has made my life fun.” His mother Judy Sandler and wife Jackie Titone also shared anecdotes from Sandler’s personal life. His family also congratulated him on stage for the award.
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Adam Sandler’s Friends Give Speeches In His Honor
Conan O’Brien first took the stage for the ceremony and joked about how Sandler was getting an award for humor. He said, “’There he is,’ I exclaimed, ‘Our Twain! You’re making a terrible, terrible mistake, this entire event is a sad, corrupt display.” O’Brien also added saying, “A lot of amazing, amazing people have flown to D.C. to say nice things about Adam Sandler, But have you asked yourself why so many of Adam’s friends were available to speak tonight? I’ll tell you why. Because when Adam isn’t working, they’re not working.”
Judd Apatow, who has also been friends with Sandler since the beginning also gave a small speech. He said, “The moment you met him, you knew Adam was going to be a big star, and so did Adam.” Luis Guzmán also paid tribute to Sandler and said, “He puts a lot of people to work.” Steve Buscemi also gave a speech and remarked, “No one has taken better care of me in this business than you.” Buscemi added, “He takes his comedy very seriously. I laugh hard at everything I do with him.”
Jennifer Aniston has starred in many movies with Sandler like ‘Murder Mystery’ and ‘Just Go With It’. She also said, “(Adam is) someone who leads with kindness and takes care of his friends.” David Spade also joked how “This is like giving the Nobel Prize in medicine to Dr. Pepper.” The ceremony lasted for three hours and all of Sandler’s near and dear ones felicitated him with the award and celebrated with the actor.
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