The alligator from 'Happy Gilmore' has died; Adam Sandler offered tribute

USA Today

15-05-2025

The alligator from 'Happy Gilmore' has died; Adam Sandler offered tribute
With the PGA Championship taking center stage in the golf world this week, the focus is on winning the Wanamaker Trophy, and not a gold jacket.
But one of the stars of the classic golf movie "Happy Gilmore" died recently, which led to Adam Sandler paying tribute this week with a social media post in his honor.
The Colorado Gators Reptile Park, an exotic animal sanctuary, confirmed the news of the retired movie star's death on Facebook, writing that they were "sad to report the passing away of our oldest alligator, Morris."
Morris played a prominent role in the 1996 classic. Sandler, who co-wrote the movie, wrote the following on Instagram:
"Goodbye, Morris. We are all gonna miss you. 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. 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. I will never forget at craft service that time when we split the Three Musketeers bar and you let me have the bigger half. But that's who you were."
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Morris appeared in a variety of other films and television shows from 1975 to 2006, including "Dr. Dolittle 2," "Interview with the Vampire," "Eraser," "Night Court" and "Blues Brothers 2000," before retiring to the reptile park. He also made a cameo appearance with Steve Irwin on "The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno."
"While we knew this was inevitable, we are very saddened by his passing to old age," the sanctuary wrote in a May 11 Facebook post. "RIP Morris."
Jay Young, who runs the Colorado Gator Farm, told USA TODAY that he noticed something was wrong when he brought him food and he didn't eat it.
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"I thought, 'Well, maybe, he's just not hungry. He ate too much the other day,'" Young said. "Two weeks ago, he was trying to eat dogs and kids through the fence. He was fine a couple weeks ago."
Young stepped into his closure to check on him and when Morris didn't attack him, which was not like him at all, he attempted to force-feed him. But Morris swam toward the other side of the pond and spit it up.
"A lot of the times, it's like, 'Oh, we could have done this differently or sooner.' In this case, I don't think there's anything we could have done differently," Young said. "It's said, but it's not as tragic."
The Colorado Gator Farm revealed May 12 that Morris would be taxidermied "so that he can continue to scare children for years to come."
USA TODAY reporter Amaris Encinas contributed to this report.