The Transformation Of Adam Sandler's Mom, Judy

Adam Sandler has been making millions laugh for decades with his incredible comedic talent and charming personality. The "Just Go With It" actor has earned a reputation for being one of Hollywood's most sought-after comedians, with dozens of accolades and even a few Grammy nominations under his belt. His down-to-earth personality is infectious, and many fans have dug into his backstory to find out where exactly his knack for making so many people smile came from. 

His mother, Judy Sandler, takes partial credit, as the matriarch raised Adam and his three siblings in New Hampshire. Judy and Adam have maintained a close relationship over the years, and the comedian has sung his mother's praise several times in media interviews. Adam didn't grow up with ties to the industry, yet Judy was along for the ride every step of the way while her son became a household name. 

While Judy Sandler may not be in the public eye as much as her son, she has appeared with him at various events to support his career. Fans have gotten a glimpse into her adoring relationship with the "Funny People" star and have seen how Judy raised him to be the charismatic man he is today. From a small-town mother of four to walking the red carpet with her son, she has evolved alongside her super-famous offspring.

Unlike many Hollywood stars who were born with elite connections or finances to help ease their path to fame, Judy Sandler worked a regular job to support her children, so Adam wasn't raised with a silver spoon, to say the least. Judy gave her son and his three siblings, Scott, Elizabeth, and Valerie, a fairly normal upbringing while she worked as a nursery school teacher and her husband Stanley worked as an electrician contractor. 

Judy raised her kids far away from the glitz and glam of Hollywood, with the family of six enjoying a happy and wholesome childhood residing in New Hampshire. Adam grew up to appreciate his roots, admitting he never had any trauma tied to a less-than-perfect upbringing. "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," Adam told AARP. 

Judy still resides in New Hampshire in the same home where she raised her four children. Adam took fans on a tour of where he grew up in an interview with "60 Minutes," where many of his childhood medals are still proudly on display at the humble abode.  

Judy Sandler met her husband Stanley in the unlikeliest of ways. Taking a note from many of the romantic comedies that have future couples swapping partners or experiencing an initial attraction too strong to ignore, she and her future beau were both out on a date with other people when they first locked eyes in the 1960s. In the most movie-like of ways, the two were immediately infatuated with each other and tied the knot not long after, going on to welcome four children, with Adam being the youngest child. 

Judy moved several times after meeting Stanley, relocating from the Brooklyn enclave of Bensonhurst to Long Island to eventually settle in Manchester, New Hampshire. Judy and her husband's relationship continued to flourish until Stanley passed in 2003, and she has yet to remarry. 

Judy Sandler is her son's number one fan. The mother of four inspired her son to dream big and continued to support his ambitions to become a comedian while he was growing up. In an interview for "60 Minutes," Adam admitted he doesn't exactly know where he got his confidence, but Judy may have something to do with it. "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.'"

Judy also encouraged her son to practice his jokes playing using the Stratocaster guitar his father gifted him when he was 12 years old. At the time, she had no idea he would carry that guitar to several comedy gigs while making a name for himself in Hollywood. "When we had company, my mother would take peanuts out and put toothpicks in little meatballs and say, 'Adam, play them a song,'" the actor told AARP. "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?'"

Judy's belief in her son ultimately paid off, but she admitted that she still has reservations about his performances at times, especially when it comes to curse words. "Any time I curse, she hates it. I can curse amazing," Adam told "60 Minutes." To which his mother replied, "My mother didn't teach me to curse and I didn't teach him. Where did you learn it?"

Judy Sandler suffered a tragic loss in 2003 when her husband Stanley died of lung cancer. The death shook the family, with Adam being just 37 years old at the time. Despite the unexpected tragedy, Judy and her kids find ways to keep Stanley's memory alive. From the looks of the photos Adam posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, he had a knack for comedic relief just like his son. 

Adam tweeted a tribute to Stanley on Father's Day, thanking him for all he did for his mother and family. "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," the actor wrote. 

Judy Sandler became a grandma to Adam's daughter in 2006 when he and his wife Jackie welcomed their first child, Sadie. Not long after, he and Jackie had their second child, another daughter named Sunny, in 2008, completing their family tree. The "50 First Dates" star admitted that growing up with a working mother like Judy in a fairly normal household in New Hampshire has inspired him to try and attain somewhat of a normal atmosphere for his own daughters' upbringing.

"The idea of my kids being spoiled, I go to sleep thinking about it and I wake up thinking about it," he told The Toronto Sun (per Parade) in 2010. "I try to do the right thing, but with the amount of money I have, it's difficult to raise the children the way I was raised." He went on to jokingly add, "But I took away the West and North wing of the house from those guys. They're not allowed in there, and so far I think that's working."

Just like Judy had encouraged him to pursue his comedic talents at a young age, Adam is offering that same support to his own children. "Both my daughters come on stage and sing sometimes because they're on the road with me all the time," Adam told Us Weekly in 2020. "They like to sing ... and they see Daddy up there and they're like, 'Can I try that?' So I say, 'Get on up there.'"

What's an Adam Sandler film without a special appearance from his mother? Judy has made cameos in several of her son's films, earning her quite the impressive IMDb page for a small-town mom of four. Judy and her late husband Stanley tried their hand at show business first in 2002 when they voiced characters in the film "Eight Crazy Nights." The New Hampshire native also lent her voice to the 2012 film "Hotel Transylvania" and has made several other cameos in her son's films, including "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry", "Blended," and "Sandy Wexler."

It's safe to say that Judy is her son's biggest fan, from starring in many of his films to supporting him at several red-carpet events. While she's undoubtedly proud of her son for his achievements, there are some roles that Adam takes on that never cease to surprise her. She spoke to "60 Minutes" about her son playing the role of a gritty jewelry dealer with a gambling addiction, admitting his new persona took some getting used to. "Oh, I loved it. It was very different," she said laughing. "Very different ... Especially his false teeth ... No. Not exactly. I spent all this money to make his teeth nice," she joked.

Judy Sandler was her son's red-carpet date for a special screening of his 2022 Netflix film "Hustle," making it a family affair. The movie revolves around a basketball scout who ruined his chance of playing professionally and discovers a basketball player with a criminal past whom he takes under his wing. "Hustle" has a deeper meaning, however, one that Adam says was inspired by his father. 

"I was just basically doing my dad when he used to coach my teams growing up, his kind of demeanor," he told ET Canada. "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." 

Judy stepping in to support her son's special film role marked one of many times she has attended his red-carpet events. She was in attendance at the Footprint Ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles in 2005, and Judy also cheered on her son at the Los Angeles premiere of "Bedtime Stories" in 2008, as well as enjoying a dinner for "The Cobbler" at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.