Adam Sandler to Receive Career Achievement Honor at the Annual Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP
AARP announced today that Adam Sandler will receive this year’s Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award. Sandler, who this fall co-stars in the widely anticipated film Jay Kelly and who previously won the Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actor in 2020 for his performance in Uncut Gems. He will be honored at the annual Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP on Saturday, January 10, 2026, in Beverly Hills, California.
“We couldn’t be prouder to present this year’s Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award to Adam Sandler, a Hollywood legend whose remarkable career has set a new standard for comedic storytelling, captivating audiences across generations,” said Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP. “Adam’s enduring success, his ability to reinvent himself, inspire laughter, and move us through dramatic performances is a testament to the power of creativity at every age.”
For more than two decades, Movies for Grownups has championed movies for grownups, by grownups, by advocating for the 50-plus audience, fighting industry ageism, and encouraging films and TV shows that resonate with older viewers.
Over the past few years, Sandler has continued to prove that his strengths as a comedy legend are equal to his dramatic acting skills. This past summer, after reprising his beloved role in the long-awaited sequel Happy Gilmore 2, he landed Netflix its biggest opening weekend ever. And this November, he delivers a nuanced, emotional performance alongside George Clooney in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly.
An Independent Spirit Award winner and recipient of the 2023 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Sandler has also earned three Grammy nominations, seven Primetime Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In addition to receiving the Best Actor prize at Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP, Sandler won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Uncut Gems (2019), and his performance in Hustle (2022) earned him a Critics Choice Award nomination. Most recently, Sandler was also nominated for two Emmys (2024) for his Adam Sandler: Love You Variety special and for his songs in SNL50, for which he was recognized for outstanding Music and Lyrics. He also received a Golden Globe nomination for his variety special in 2024.
Few artists have so seamlessly bridged comedy and drama. From Sandler’s breakout on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s to a run of box-office classics including Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998) and Big Daddy (1999), Sandler became a defining comedic voice of his generation — and a lasting voice for all generations. He went on to earn critical acclaim for transformative performances in Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Reign Over Me (2007) and The Meyerowitz Stories (2017), showcasing the emotional depth behind his trademark humor. In addition to Happy Gilmore his films on Netflix have been some of the streamers most successful including Happy Gilmore (2025), Murder Mystery 1&2 (2019, 2023) and Hustle (2022).
As a writer, producer and performer, Sandler has built a creative empire through Happy Madison Productions, entertaining audiences worldwide for more than three decades. His films have generated billions at the box office and continue to resonate across generations.
Sandler joins a roster of previous Movies for Grownups Career Achievement honorees, including Jamie Lee Curtis, George Clooney, Glenn Close, Helen Mirren, Michael Douglas, Shirley MacLaine, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Robert Redford, Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro.
Alan Cumming, the Tony- and Emmy Award-winning host of The Traitors, will return as host of the annual Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP, which will recognize the best films and filmmakers of 2025, including Best Movie for Grownups, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and more. The show will be broadcast by Great Performanceson Sunday, February 22, 2026, 7/6c on PBS, pbs.org/moviesforgrownups and the PBS app.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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