Five years ago, on “Ellen,” Sarah Silverman talked about delightful things — like how she’s launching her new (now half-a-decade old! Mazel!) podcast, how she fell for her boyfriend Rory Albanese while killing Nazis together on “Call of Duty” during the pandemic and about how Adam Sandler’s mom, Judy, was her nursery teacher. How cool is that?!
The Sandman and Silverman — who are both nominated for an Emmy this year for each of their excellent comedy specials “Adam Sandler: Love You” and “PostMortem” — grew up in the same New Hampshire town, Manchester. Adam’s dad, Stan, who he calls his “hero,” was an electrical contractor; Sarah’s dad, Donald “Schleppy” Silverman, was a clothing store owner. And Adam’s mom taught nursery school.
Sandler, a few years older than Sarah, went to school with her older sister, Laura Silverman, but their dads were friends, and Judy once told Adam a story about Sarah that he would go on to tell on stage when the two did a show together in LA’s Club Largo.
While Silverman did not remember the incident from her childhood, Judy recalled how one time, when she was scolding a kid for saying swear words, the future star interjected with: “Those are at-home words!”
How adorable is that? I love it so much, especially as someone who inadvertently curses in front of my kids at home way too often. I’ve definitely told them those words were not appropriate outside the house, and I can imagine Silverman learning a similar lesson from her parents — especially her larger-than-life dad Schleppy — who I feel like I know, thanks to the moving “PostMortem.”
Silverman recently shared that snippet of the interview with the caption: “I love you, Judy Sandler.” I’m obsessed.
Around the same time that Silverman shared that delightful anecdote about Judy, Sandler and his mom appeared on “60 Minutes” to look back on his career and to promote another movie full of R-rated words: “Uncut Gems.”
The “60 Minutes” team visited Sandler’s childhood New Hampshire home to see the original carpet floor and memorabilia of his childhood bedroom and to meet with his “biggest fan and harshest critic,” Judy. She shared that she wasn’t a fan of the fake teeth Sandler put on to play Jewish jeweler Howard Ratner, lamenting that he spent so much of his hard earned money to make his pearly whites look just so only to cover them up.
And if you think that Judy has grown inured to cursing since she chided Silverman’s preschool classmate all those years ago, thanks to her son’s curse-word-laden comedy, well… she is not.
Sandler told the program that his mother hates it every time he curses, something he does quite often in all of his movies, comedy albums and special.
“I can curse amazing,” he rightfully boasted.
“My mother didn’t teach me to curse and I didn’t teach him… I don’t know where you learned it,” Judy wondered aloud in the 2020 interview.
“I don’t know where I learned, but it’s been fun,” Sandler replies.
While Judy wasn’t successful in raising prim and proper-mouthed kids either at her daycare or at home, she did help raise mensches. Sandler is know for being really kind to his fans and friends, and for keeping his family close always — in fact, Judy has been in many of his movies! Most recently, she’s in “Happy Gilmore 2,” where she is heart-meltingly adorable as the mother of Drago Larson, played by Serbian ball player Boban Marjanović. Watching them hug truly heals my heart.
via Netflix
Thanks for helping to raise amazing comedians, Judy Sandler! You’re an icon and we echo Sarah Silverman: We love you!
