Biography
An individual who ultimately clocked in as one of Hollywood's mainstays for helming male-dominated farces (and demonstrated an adroit hand for working with A-list stars), Peter Segal graduated from the University of Southern California. He forged his first significant professional association with
Tom Arnold, for whom he wrote a series of acclaimed specials and worked as a writer on the comic's sitcom The Jackie Thomas Show (1992-1993) during the early '90s. Segal first bowed as a director on the schtick-fest The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), and thereafter, moved almost exclusively into feature territory with his heaviest emphasis on slapstick. Projects included the
Chris Farley yuckfest
Tommy Boy (1995), the
Dan Aykroyd-
Jack Lemmon presidential comedy
My Fellow Americans (1996), and the
Eddie Murphy vehicle The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000).
Shortly thereafter, Segal began a longstanding, multi-film association with comedic actor
Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison production banner, for which he turned out
Anger Management (2003),
50 First Dates (2004), and
The Longest Yard (2005) -- all starring Sandler. Two years after
Yard, Village Roadshow tapped Segal to helm the spy comedy
Get Smart, starring
Steve Carell and
Anne Hathaway -- a cinematization of
Mel Brooks' 1960s sitcom of the same title. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide