It was perhaps most appropriate that one of Adam Sandler's first major roles was portraying a likeable NYU student hanging out with his clean-cut friends. A lot may have changed since Adam Sandler portrayed Theo's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show, but one gets the sense that he still seems to cherish watching football with his buddies from NYU more than most of the other perks that otherwise go hand-in-hand with fame and fortune.

"It's important I surround myself with people who make me happy," Sandler once told the Chicago Sun-Times.

It's precisely that down-to-earth manner that has endeared audiences to Sandler for over a decade. His television career is full of memorable belly-laugh inducing characters both on Remote Control (Stud Boy) and Saturday Night Live (Opera Man, Cajun Man, Angelo the host of Good Morning Brooklyn). While on Saturday Night Live, Sandler perfected his impersonation skills, delivering deadpan imitations of everyone from Axl Rose to Greg Brady.

During his SNL years (1991-1995), Sandler appeared in a series of major motion pictures including Shakes the Clown, Coneheads, Airheads and Mixed Nuts. None were incredibly successful and Shakes the Clown topped many critics' lists as the WORST movie of 1992. It wasn't until the very end of his SNL tenure that Sandler scored his first major hit with Billy Madison. The slapstick comedy about the son of a billionaire who must repeat elementary and high schools to claim the family fortune grossed over $25 million domestically (quite respectable for 1995).

Sandler followed the successful Billy Madison performance with Happy Gilmore, another comedy that allowed Sandler to play a role that suited him well—a hockey player-turned-golfer who feuds with, among others, Bob Barker. So memorable was the tussle with Mr. Price is Right that the scene received a nomination for Best Fight Sequence at the following year's MTV Movie Awards.

Though his next role, opposite Damon Wayans in Bulletproof, was hardly as memorable as the two previous, Sandler rebounded with a nice turn as the title character in the 1998 blockbuster The Wedding Singer. While this role allowed for his normal comedic goofiness to be showcased, for the first time it also enabled audiences to see Sandler in a romantic light. His character seduced, and ultimately won, the heart of the always-fetching Drew Barrymore.

With this gig, some diehard fans may have feared that Sandler had gone soft. All those worries were set aside with his next major role in The Waterboy. His portrayal of Bobby Boucher, the simple-minded Cajun waterboy who becomes a star college football player, helped the movie become one of the highest grossing domestic films of 1998.

At this point, some began to ponder whether Adam had dethroned Jim Carrey as the "King of Stupid." Sandler has since followed-up with two moderately successful (yet disappointing by his standards) films, Big Daddy and Little Nicky.

Oh, and then there's Adam the live performer/musician. In the early 1990's, Adam built a huge following with a touring comedy show highlighted by his musical impersonations and parodies. Based of the strength of his live performances, Sandler has released four albums: They're All Going to Laugh At You (1993); What the Hell Happened to Me? (1996); What's Your Name? (1997) and Stan and Judy's Kid (1999). Among the more notable tracks from his collection are "The Thanksgiving Song," and a couple of pieces entitled "The Chanukah Song" and "The Chanukkah Song II" (perhaps you've heard them). It is impossible to measure the impact that the latter two songs have had on Jewish pride nationwide. For once, Jewish children had a response to "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells," and for once Middle America knew how to properly pronounce Chanukah.

So, how has Adam's career differed from other celebrities his age? Let's see. There's been no bout with drugs, no arrests, no arrogant and politically incorrect statements to retract (intentional stupidity notwithstanding). In many ways Sandler is still the same good Jewish boy who just enjoys making people laugh.

"I don't know who I touch and who I don't," Sandler told eonline.com last fall. "I work hard trying to make people laugh. I try to do the kind of stuff that made me laugh growing up. I don't have any secrets. I don't know the reasons I've been so well received."

In his wacky youth, Efrem Epstein spent Sunday mornings memorizing the list of songs on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Countdown (What a geek)!! Efrem's vast knowledge of absolutely useless music trivia has frequently gotten him quoted in Billboard magazine and on Scott and Todd's nationally syndicated morning radio show.