Adam Sandler Honors His Alligator Costar from Happy Gilmore After 80-Year-Old Reptile Dies
Most of all, I will miss your infectious laugh,’ Sandler reminisced on social media about Morris the alligator
Adam Sandler honored his old friend Morris, the alligator actor in Happy Gilmore, in an Instagram post on May 14
Morris the gator died on May 11 at Colorado Gator Farm, his home of 19 years, at the age of 80
“The day you wouldn’t come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: never compromise your art,” Sandler wrote of Morris on social media
Adam Sandler is remembering an old friend.
The actor, 58, paid tribute to Morris, the alligator actor who starred alongside him in Happy Gilmore, in a touching and humorous Instagram post following the gator’s death on May 11. For the post, Sandler shared a still from the film, in which he faced off against Morris with a golf club, and reminisced on their shared time on set.
“Goodbye, Morris. We are all gonna miss you,” Sandler began. “You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers — really anyone with arms or legs — but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the film.”
He continued, “The day you wouldn’t come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: never compromise your art.”
Sandler also recalled splitting a Three Musketeers bar from craft service with his cold-blooded friend, and Morris gave him the bigger piece, the actor said. “That’s who you were,” he added.
The actor recalled the gator’s on-screen demise — Morris’s character got decapitated in the 1996 comedy, which “precluded your participation in the sequel,” Sandler wrote — after which Morris reportedly delivered a fruit basket and “hilarious note,” the actor reminisced.
“I will miss the sound of your tail sliding through the tall grass, your cold, bumpy skin, but, most of all, I will miss your infectious laugh,” Sandler concluded. “Thanks to Mr. Young for taking care of you all these years, and vaya con dios, old friend.”
Morris’s death was announced on May 11 in a Facebook post from Colorado Gator Farm in Mosca, Colorado. The post stated that Morris had been a park resident for the past 19 years, and was the oldest gator at the farm.
“His exact age was unknown, but he was 9 feet long in 1975, and by his growth rate and tooth loss, we can estimate his age at over 80 years,” the Facebook announcement read. “While we knew this was inevitable, we are very saddened by his passing to old age. RIP Morris.”
Jen Affleck Breaks Down in Tears as She Learns She’s Pregnant with Baby No. 3
Jen and Zac were still finding their footing again when the news rocked their world
Jennifer Affleck and husband Zac’s marriage struggles were the talk of season 1
Jen and Zac continue to work through those issues as the show enters its second season
Things get tense when the struggling couple learns they are expecting baby No. 3
Jennifer Affleck already was grappling with a tough time in her marriage when she learned some life-changing news.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star starts season 2 in a state of transition, working on her marriage with husband Zac and living separately as they figure things out.
The couple goes to therapy and engages in a lot of difficult conversations in trying to get back on the right track. After a Halloween party where Zac felt they were once again made the butt of MomTok’s joke, he expressed frustrations on a walk with Jen discussing the night’s events.
“I am frustrated because I feel like I’m having to stick up and defend our family, and it’s making me look like the bad guy. When these are your friends, like if my friends were doing these kind of things to us, I would confront them, before I would drop them,” Zac tells his wife.
Jen tearfully says that she feels like they’re reliving their traumatic Chippendales argument. As Zac tries walking away, Jen pushes to finish the conversation they started.
Zac even turns to the cameras and asks them to stop filming as he tries to walk away.
“I’m not getting this twisted on me again. I’m not gonna do this. I’m not gonna have to switch back on me again because of your crazy ass friends,” he says.
In a confessional, Zac reflects on the tough moment, admitting, “I’ve been doing so much work to handle things differently to go about things differently and Jen is such a sweet, pure-hearted person that I think…”
He continues, “Yeah, sometimes I feel I get a little…I don’t know, I don’t want to say anything bad about Jen.”
In the scene, Jen tells her husband, “I need you to own up to this.”
“I’m not being quiet about it. If you don’t want to be on camera, then you can go,” she says through tears. “If you don’t want to be part of this, you don’t want to be part of this marriage, you can go. I’m only moving forward in this marriage if you take accountability.”
Later, the two are still in a tense and emotional state as Jen informs him she’s going to take a pregnancy test. In a confessional, she explains, “I started feeling depressed and anxious because my life has been really rocky and all over the place.”
“So I am stressed out of my mind with the thought of me being pregnant,” she admits. “Because Zac and I aren’t on the best of terms. And I think the last thing we need is another baby.”
When the test is ready, Jen is in tears before even seeing that it’s positive. Daughter Nora comes over and checks on her mom, who tries to reassure her she’s okay.
In a confessional, Jen explains, “I’m just scared because I’m not the person I want to be before bringing in another child.”
“I’m sad for this child because I don’t even know where my marriage is at,” she adds. “And so, I think, in this moment, I’ve kind of come to my breaking point.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ new season is now available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.