David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian, writer and television personality. He rose
to fame in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, for co-starring in the 1995 comedy
Tommy Boy, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!.
He also starred as C. J. Barnes, along with Katey Sagal, James Garner, and Kaley Cuoco
on 8 Simple Rules. He starred as Russell Dunbar on the CBS sitcom
Rules of Engagement. He also is working with TBS on an animated series based on his film,
Joe Dirt.
Early life, high school and college Spade was born in Birmingham, Michigan, and
is the son of Judith J., a writer and magazine editor, and Wayne M. Spade, a sales representative.
His brothers are Bryan and Andy Spade; Andy Spade is the husband of designer Kate Spade.
Spade and his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, when he was four years old. Spade
attended Saguaro High School and later Scottsdale Community College, before transferring to
Arizona State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in business in 1986.
He also was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Spade performed standup at the
university's long-running sketch comedy show, Farce Side Comedy Hour, on numerous occasions.
In the mid-80s he also did "stand up" in the Monday night comedy show at Greasy Tony's
Pizza in Tempe, Arizona. Career
With the help of friend and fellow comedian, Dennis Miller, he joined Saturday Night Live
in 1990 as a regular cast member and writer. While there, his well-known sarcasm became
popular, and his smart aleck characters in a number of sketches were hits. Some of them
include: a flight attendant who bids a perceived-as-unpleasant "Buh-Bye" to each passenger upon disembarking;
a receptionist for Dick Clark who, as a matter of policy, asks people indiscriminately "And
you are?"; and the sarcastic "Hollywood Minute" reporter who communicates with celebrities
by means of one-liners. Other characters include Christy Henderson from the Gap Girls, and
Karl from the Karl's Video sketches. He also has done impressions of famous celebrities,
such as Brad Pitt and Michael J. Fox. According to interviews with Spade, most of the material
that he wrote early in his time at SNL was given to Dana Carvey to perform on the show.
Due to his relatively low work rate, he was in danger of being fired as a performer, until
the Hollywood Minute segment secured his position. Though most of the cast left in 1995, Spade
stayed the following year to help in the transition with the new cast. He then quit in 1996 citing
"burnout" as the reason. Said Spade, "When I leave, it will be to ease the pressure,
not to be a movie star. You can't stay there forever – it kills you inside. It ages you
in dog years. It's a tough place." He returned to host an episode in 1998 and another in
2005. He recently also voiced a chihuahua in an animated short, written by Fred Wolf,
in 2010. Spade's attempt at a film career met with
success. He worked with fellow Saturday Night Live cast member and friend, Chris Farley,
in the films Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. The two were planning a third film together when
Farley died of a drug overdose at the age of 33. He then proceeded to act in films where
he was the central character, such as Joe Dirt and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,
but they were not as well received. They were both written by Spade with Fred Wolf.
Although he received several offers to star in his own TV shows, he turned them down and
joined the ensemble cast of Steven Levitan's office sitcom Just Shoot Me!, opposite Laura
San Giacomo and George Segal, which ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. He played
a sarcastic receptionist, Dennis Finch, which earned him an Emmy nomination and two Golden
Globe nominations. Spade hosted both the Teen Choice Awards and
SpikeTV's Video Game Awards in 2003. He voiced characters on several episodes of Beavis and
Butt-head, and produced his own TV series Sammy in 2000. From 2002 to 2006 Spade regularly
appeared in commercials for Capital One where he played the employee of a fictional rival
company whose policy toward honoring credit card rewards is "always no." In 2004, he joined
the cast of 8 Simple Rules, following the death of the sitcom's star, John Ritter.
On September 5, 2003, Spade received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located
at 7018 Hollywood Blvd. He was the host of the Comedy Central show, The Showbiz Show
with David Spade, which began in September 2005. On the show Spade made fun of Hollywood
and celebrities in a manner similar to his old "Hollywood Minute" segment on SNL. The
Showbiz Show with David Spade was canceled in October 2007 after three seasons.
Along with actors Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman, Spade is one of the voice talents for The
Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, the sixth installment of the platform game series Spyro
the Dragon. He provides the voice for Spyro's dragonfly companion, Sparx.
He also starred as Russell Dunbar in the CBS comedy, Rules of Engagement.
Personal life Spade has one daughter named Harper with Playboy
Playmate Jillian Grace. Spade confirmed his paternity on September 3, 2008.
Spade is very sensitive to light. The combination of bright lights on-set and working under
sunlight while filming Black Sheep caused permanent damage to his eyes. Spade says of
his condition: "I have to wear a hat even indoors and flashes in particular freak me
out. I even have to make them turn down the lights in the make-up trailers. I've become
such a pain in the butt with this light-sensitive thing, it's a wonder they don't just shoot
me!" In December 2005, Spade donated $100,000 to
the police department in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, as part of a program designed to
provide patrol officers with rifles. Spade's contribution will buy 50 AR-15 semi-automatic
rifles for Phoenix police officers. On May 20, 2013, he donated $200,000 for the
Oklahoma tornado relief program. Filmography
Music videos Video games
References
External links Official website
David Spade at the Internet Movie Database