Audiences may have noticed a familiar face in many of Adam Sandler’s movies. This face belongs to actor and comedian Jonathan Loughran and is oftentime crossed-eyed for comedic effect. Who is this character and how did he end up in so many Sandler projects? What is the backstory with his eyes? Read on to find out.
Jonathan Loughran Biography
Although Loughran has had an impressive career, he prefers to stay out of the limelight. He was born on November 3, 1966 in Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Connecticut where he studied theater arts. He married his wife Kat Loughran on July 28, 2009 in a ceremony that Rob Schneider officiated. The couple has three children. He is estimated to have a net worth of around 3 million dollars.
Loughran Meets Sandler
Loughran met Adam Sandler through their mutual friend Allen Covert. Covert met Sandler while working as the doorman at a comedy club. Everyone has to start somewhere. Loughran and Sandler would go on to become lifelong friends. Loughran has worked with Happy Madison Productions on over 40 film projects both as an actor and as Sandler’s personal assistant. Seems like Sandler’s and Loughran’s meeting all those years ago really paid off. Sandler even named a character in his film Hotel Transylvania after Loughran. The character named Johnny is a human who falls in love with Dracula’s daughter.
Loughran Acting Credits
Loughran has acting credits independent from his friendship with Sandler. He appeared in Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 movie Grindhouse as Jasper. He also appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill as a trucker. He also appeared in two episodes of The King of Queens as the characters Patrick and Bobby.
Loughran’s Eyes
Many of the characters Loughran has played have had a physical trait in common: crossed eyes. This was first seen in perhaps his best-known character, Lyle Robideaux in The Waterboy. This has led many fans to speculate if Loughran has strabismus, which is the medical term for crossed eyes. Johns Hopkins defines strabismus as a “misalignment of the eyes, causing one eye to deviate inward (esotropia) toward the nose, or outward (exotropia), while the other eye remains focused.”
Loughran’s eye muscles are not misaligned. In fact they are stronger and more flexible than most, allowing Loughran to manipulate them better than the average person. He is able to create unique physical traits for his characters and Sandler has loved using this special skill in many of his films. Another example of this is the character of Robideaux in Grown Ups 2. Having this unique special skill has allowed Loughran to create a specific niche for himself in Hollywood and have a wonderful career.
He really is living the dream.