Robert Michael "
Rob"
Schneider (born October 31, 1963) is an
American actor,
comedian,
screenwriter and
director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the
NBC sketch-comedy series
Saturday Night Live, Schneider went on to a career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedies
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and
The Hot Chick.
Early life
Schneider was born in
San Francisco, California and grew up in the nearby suburb of
Pacifica. He is the son of Pilar (
née Monroe) Schneider, a former kindergarten teacher and ex-school board president, and Marvin Schneider, a
real estate broker.
Schneider's father was a
secular Jew and his mother was
Catholic.
Schneider's maternal grandmother was a
Filipina who met and married Schneider's maternal grandfather, a
Caucasian American army private, while he was stationed in the
Philippines.
[A Conversation with Rob Schneider - InterfaithFamily.com] Schneider graduated from
Terra Nova High School in 1982.
Career
Schneider started his stand-up comedy career shortly after high school. The
Pacifica, California native played Bay Area nightclubs such as the
Holy City Zoo and the Other Cafe, and was a regular guest on local radio programs. After opening a show by comedian
Dennis Miller in 1987, Schneider won a slot on
HBO's 13th Annual Young Comedians special, which was hosted by Miller. Schneider's appearance on the HBO special led to a position as a writer for the late night
NBC sketch comedy series
Saturday Night Live.
Saturday Night Live
Schneider was hired at
Saturday Night Live in 1988, and was the first Asian-American to be a cast member on the show. Schneider swiftly graduated from writer and featured player to full cast member.
From 1990-1994 at SNL, he played such roles as "Tiny Elvis" and "Orgasm Guy." His best known recurring character was "Richard Laymer" - an office worker whose desk was stuck beside the photocopier, and who addressed each of his fellow employees with an endless stream of annoying nicknames. Schneider is featured in the video release
The Bad Boys of Saturday Night Live, along with colleagues
Adam Sandler,
Chris Rock,
David Spade and
Chris Farley.
Recurring SNL characters
- Richard Laymer ("The Richmeister"), an office worker who annoys people by giving them nicknames
- Carlo, from the Il Cantore Restaurant sketches
- The Sensitive Naked Man, a nude man who gives advice to other characters
Celebrity impersonations
Feature films, sitcoms, and other work
After leaving
SNL, Schneider played supporting roles in a series of movies including
Surf Ninjas,
Judge Dredd,
The Beverly Hillbillies,
Demolition Man and
Down Periscope. He also appeared in a recurring part on the TV series
Coach. In 1996, he co-starred in the
NBC sit-com
Men Behaving Badly, an American take on the hit British series of the same name. The U.S. version ran for two seasons.
Schneider starred in the 1999 feature film
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, a tale of a fish-tank cleaner who incurs a massive debt and is forced to become a "man-whore". This was followed by
The Animal, about a nebbish who is given animal powers by a mad scientist;
The Hot Chick, wherein the mind of a petty thief played by Schneider is mystically switched into the body of a pretty, but mean-spirited high school cheerleader (
Rachel McAdams); and the sequel
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. The latter movie was not well-received by critics or moviegoers, and as a result, Schneider won a
2005 Worst Actor Razzie Award for his role in the film.
[Awards Page for Rob Schneider at the Internet Movie Database]
In 2006, Schneider co-starred in the baseball-themed family comedy
The Benchwarmers, along with his fellow
SNL alumnus
David Spade as well as
Jon Heder. Other film roles include Schneider's appearance with
Jim Henson's Muppets in the 1999 film
Muppets from Space, and his role as a San Francisco hobo in the 2004 remake of
Around the World in 80 Days.
Schneider's directorial debut, the comedy
Big Stan, was released in some overseas markets during the fall of 2008, and is slated for U.S. release in early 2009. In the film, he stars as a con artist who is arrested for perpetrating real-estate scams. He's sentenced to prison, so he takes a crash-course in martial arts to survive incarceration.
Schneider has also appeared in numerous comedies starring his
SNL comrade
Adam Sandler. The comedic characters Schneider plays in these films include an overly enthusiastic
Cajun man who proclaims the catch-phrase, "You can do it!"; an amiable
Middle Eastern delivery boy; a prison inmate; and Sandler’s one-eyed
Hawaiian sidekick, Ula. Schneider has uttered the line "You can do it!" as a running gag in Sandler's films
The Waterboy,
Little Nicky,
50 First Dates,
The Longest Yard, and
Bedtime Stories, as well as in a deleted scene from
Click. (A sample of Schneider saying the phrase also turns up in the song "
Original Prankster" by
The Offspring.) Returning the favor, Sandler appeared in a cameo to spout the same line in Schneider's
The Animal, in which as a reference, Adam Sandler utters: "Yeah! You can do it!", and showed up briefly in Schneider's
The Hot Chick. Schneider narrated Sandler's 2002 animated movie
Eight Crazy Nights, and voiced the part of a Chinese waiter. Schneider also had an uncredited cameo as a Canadian-Japanese wedding-chapel minister in the 2007 Sandler-
Kevin James comedy
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and played a
Palestinian cab driver who serves as the title character's nemesis in the 2008 Sandler film
You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Schneider played a variety of roles in the 2005 TV special
Back to Norm, starring another former
SNL player
Norm Macdonald, and appeared on episodes of the popular TV shows
Seinfeld and
Ally McBeal. Schneider hosted the
Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit '97 TV special, and the 2005
Teen Choice Awards, and is a frequent guest on NBC’s late-night variety program
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (Schneider's most recent appearance with Leno was on the July 24, 2007 episode of
The Tonight Show ; he showed up in drag as actress
Lindsay Lohan after Lohan cancelled following a controversial arrest for driving under the influence.
["Lohan" Boozes, Bounces on Leno"; [[TMZ.com]; July 25, 2007.]]
Besides his efforts in movies and television, Schneider appeared in the music video for country singer
Neal McCoy's "
Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", as the song's title character. Schneider met McCoy while the two went on a
USO tour in support of U.S. troops two months after the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.
Satire and parody
In Schneider's movies, the main character often undergoes some type of transformation, be it an unlikely career change, or a supernatural or
science-fictional transformation. This formula was spoofed on the satirical
animated television series
South Park, in the episode "
The Biggest Douche in the Universe." (The title refers to television psychic
John Edward, and not to Schneider.) In the show, trailers are shown for a series of movies that feature Schneider undergoing absurd transformations: a stapler, a carrot, and even the
South Park character
Kenny. Asked about being parodied on
South Park, Schneider responded in an About.com interview: "I loved it. That was genius. I thought the only thing, they were too nice to me...When you’re spoofed by the best people in the business, that’s an honor."
Controversy and criticism
Schneider has engaged in a number of high-profile disputes with public figures.
In January 2005, film critic
Patrick Goldstein of the
Los Angeles Times said in an article that
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo was overlooked for an
Academy Award because "nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic." Schneider responded two weeks later with full-page ads in
Daily Variety and
The Hollywood Reporter, saying he had done research and found that Mr. Goldstein had never won any journalistic awards, commenting, "Maybe you didn't win a
Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers." Schneider also wrote, "Patrick, I can honestly say that if I sat with you and your colleagues at a luncheon, afterwards, they'd say 'You know, that Rob Schneider is a pretty intelligent guy, I hope we can do that again.' Whereas, if you sat with my colleagues, after lunch, you would just be beaten beyond recognition."
["By Request: Rob Schneider's Attack Ad"; defamer.com; February 3, 2005] He also called Goldstein a "real scumbag" in an appearance on
Tom Green's House Tonight when referring to his criticisms of the film, and opined that Goldstein's criticism was unimaginative.
[Tom Green's House Tonight Retrieved from on 4 August 2008]
In August 2005, film critic
Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times responded to the Schneider-Goldstein conflict in his review for
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. While noting that an online search showed that Goldstein had won a National Headliner Award, a Los Angeles Press Club Award, a RockCritics.com award, and the Publicists' Guild award for lifetime achievement, Ebert said, "As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."
[Ebert's review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo; rogerebert.suntimes.com; August 12, 2005] (Ebert's 2007 collection of reviews of movies for which he gave negative reviews was titled
Your Movie Sucks, a reference to his review of
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.)
In a later interview with
Stuff magazine, Schneider called Ebert an "ass", saying that Ebert "irks" him and that he had been told that Ebert is "not nice to the people he works with." Ebert rejected the accusation, and reaffirmed his opinion of the film, stating, "...if he's going to persist in making bad movies, he's going to have to grow accustomed to reading bad reviews."
["ARUBA COPS THINK X MAY MARK THE SPOT"; nydailynews.com; August 5, 2005]
On May 7, 2007, Roger Ebert reported via his website that he had received a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a note stating it was from "Your least favorite actor, Rob Schneider." Ebert had recently undergone a very serious surgery to remove a cancerous salivary gland, and spent months recovering. Ebert saw the flowers as a kind gesture and publicly thanked Schneider, and said that Schneider may have made a bad film, but he was not a bad man. Ebert also expressed hope that Schneider would make a film that Ebert finds wonderful.
[Ebert, Roger; "A bouquet arrives"; rogerebert.suntimes.com; May 7, 2007]
Following anti-Semitic remarks made by
Mel Gibson during his arrest for a
DUI in late July 2006, Schneider took out a full-page ad in
Variety to send an open letter to the Hollywood community, pledging as "a 1/2 Jew" to "never work with
Mel Gibson-actor-director-producer-and anti-Semite." He further wrote that "even if Mr. Gibson offered me a lead role in 'Passion of the Christ 2', I, like
Bernie Brillstein, would have to say 'No!'" Schneider also used the ad to make reference to his upcoming directorial debut,
Big Stan.
[Schneider, Rob; "Rob Schneider Takes On Mel Gibson To Plug New Movie In 'Variety'"; defamer.com] In 2008, Schneider described this ad as "a comedic, satirical view of how I saw the situation with
Mel Gibson, and also the hypocrisy of show business when they're all standing in line to say what a bad person he is when they're all a bunch of hypocritical assholes."
In early July 2007, film reviewers in Australia noted the similiarites between the 2007 American movie
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and the 2004 Australian feature
Strange Bedfellows.
On July 18, 2007, the
Sydney Morning Herald published an online article in which
Strange Bedfellows director and co-writer Dean Murphy aired his concerns that
Chuck and Larry may infringe on his copyright.
The article reported that
Michael Caton had stated he had passed a DVD of
Strange Bedfellows to Rob Schneider when the two actors were working on
The Animal. Caton was then quoted as saying, "I'm going to have to get onto Rob Schneider and say you owe me one pal … or
Adam Sandler owes me one. They're really good mates and it's obvious
[2] said 'Hey, have a look at this'." In August 2007, Schneider took out a full-page ad on Page 10 of the
Sydney Morning Herald in the form of an open letter, in which he repudiated the charges. Caton replied through the
Herald that he was disappointed with Schneider for not understanding his earlier criticisms were "obviously tongue in cheek."
Accusations of ethnic stereotyping
A 2005
New York Times editorial admonished, "Watch Rob Schneider play Ula, a leering Hawaiian in the
Adam Sandler movie
50 First Dates, with a
pidgin accent by way of
Cheech and Chong, and you get the sense that Hollywood still believes that there is no ethnic caricature a white actor can't improve upon." In a letter to the editor, Schneider defended himself by asserting his Filipino heritage, adding that he believes that "Hollywood should give roles to the most talented person irrespective of ethnicity, race or in my case ‘looks.’"
In 2007, The Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) criticized Schneider for donning prosthetic make up to play a Japanese minister in
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry by likening it to “yellow face.”
Richard Roeper said in his review that “Rob Schneider’s Filipino background hardly excuses his portrayal of an Asian minister in perhaps the most egregious stereotype of its kind since
Mickey Rooney in
Breakfast at Tiffany's.”
MANAA also criticized Schneider for an Asian character’s dialogue in 2005's
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, which he co-wrote. The organization stated that the portrayal of the character “perpetuated the tired stereotype that Asian men have small penises.”
[Kamisugi, Keith; "MANAA Blasts Rob Schneider For Offensive Racial Caricature in Chuck & Larry Movie"; hapihour.org; July 25, 2007.]
Personal life
In 1996, Schneider established the "Rob Schneider Music Foundation." The foundation returned music education to Pacifica's elementary schools by paying the teachers' salaries and providing funds for instruments and other equipment. Prior to Schneider's efforts, the school system had done without music education programs for many years.
["RSMF - About"; robschneidermusicfoundation.org/]
In keep with his keen interest in music, Schneider once owned a San Francisco nightclub,
DNA Lounge.
["Ancient History: 1906-1998"; dnalounge.com; October 24th, 2007]
Schneider's mother has made cameo appearances in her son's films, playing a cheerleading contest judge in
The Hot Chick, a restaurant patron in
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, and a nosy neighbor in
The Animal.
Schneider is an environmentalist. He drives a
Toyota Prius hybrid automobile, and served as host for the 13th annual
Environmental Media Awards in 2004.
["Green Light - News from the Environmental Media Association - Winter '03-'04 edition"]
Filmography
Upcoming:
