A happy kind of guy, comic Adam Richard Sandler (1966-) was born on this day in Brooklyn, New York. The youngest of four children, he grew up as the perpetual class clown.

He explained, "God gave me a deformed looking head... I enjoy entertaining people with it."

Sandler graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1990, he was discovered as a stand-up comedian by Dennis Miller and joined Saturday Night Live where he sang funny songs (Remember the Chanukah Song?) and created such memorable characters as Opera Man, Cajun Man, Iraqi Pete, and Canteen Boy.

After five years on SNL, he graduated to films and established his own production company, Happy Madison. He said, "I'm just a buffoon. That's all. I look in the mirror, I see a buffoon. That's all I want to see."

Called "one of Hollywood's most bankable comedians" by Entertainment Weekly, Sandler's Happy Gilmore (1996),The Wedding Singer (w/ Drew Barrymore, 1998), The Waterboy (1998), and Big Daddy (1999) were all lightweight comedies AND huge hits.

The 2004 edition of Guinness World Records cites Sandler's 2001 earnings at $49.5 million, ranking him as Hollywood's best-paid actor for that year.

"My movies just kind of sneak up on you. I don't have to worry too much about what everybody is going to say," he said about the critics who generally pan him. "I really don't pay attention to what the world says about my movies. I just care about what my buddies think."

Surround yourself with people who make you happy.