David Wayne Spade
(born 1964(1964--)) is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live
, and from 1997 until 2003 starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!
. He also starred as C.J. Barnes, along with James Garner on 8 Simple Rules
. He currently stars as Russell Dunbar on the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement
.
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Biography
Early life
Spade was born in
Birmingham, Michigan, the son of Judith M., a writer and magazine editor, and Wayne M. Spade, a sales representative.
[1] [2] His father moved the family to
Scottsdale,
Arizona, but abandoned them not long afterwards. His mother eventually remarried, but Spade's stepfather committed
suicide in 1981 when Spade was 17 years old. His brothers are Bryan and Andy Spade; Andy Spade is the husband of designer
Kate Spade and CEO of Kate Spade New York.
Spade graduated from
Saguaro High School in 1982. He attended
Scottsdale Community College and then briefly went on to
Arizona State University, where he was a member of the
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
[3] Spade performed standup at the university's long-running sketch comedy show,
Farce Side Comedy Hour
, on numerous occasions. In the mid-80's he also did standup in the Monday night comedy show at Tony's Pizza in
Tempe, Arizona. Before finding success as a comedian, Spade made money by working as a busboy, a valet parker, a skee ball championship competitor and a
skateboard shop employee.
Career
Not long after college, Spade was encouraged by friends to follow a career in comedy.
With the help of friend and fellow comedian
Dennis Miller, he joined
Saturday Night Live
in 1990 as a regular cast member and writer. Here, he made popular his well-known sarcastic, smart aleck characters in a number of
sketches, some of which include: a
flight attendant who bids an unpleasant "Buh-Bye" to each passenger as they disembark; a receptionist for
Dick Clark who, as a matter of policy, asks even the most recognizable face "And you are?"; and, most famously, the bitingly sarcastic "
Hollywood Minute" reporter who assaults celebrities with a series of
one-liners. Other characters include Christy Henderson from the
Gap Girls, and Karl from the Karl's Video sketches. He has also 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 on 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 on 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.
Spade's attempt at a film career was met with mixed success. Movies such as
Joe Dirt
and
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
were, especially the former, not very successful critically, although both made back their budget and more. He worked with fellow
Saturday Night Live
cast member
Chris Farley in the movies
Tommy Boy
and
Black Sheep
, in an attempt to form a modern-day
Laurel and Hardy. The two were planning a third movie together when Farley died of a
drug overdose at the age of 33. Spade did not attend Farley's funeral because he "could not be in a room where Chris was in a box."
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!,
which ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. He played to type as 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 with
Nate Torrence, where he plays the employee of a fictional rival company whose policy toward honoring
credit card rewards (and just about everything else) 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. His star is located at 7018 Hollywood Blvd. He was recently the host of a new Comedy Central show,
The Showbiz Show with David Spade,
which began in September 2005. On the show, Spade makes 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.
[4]
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 and seventh installment of the
platform game series
Spyro the Dragon
. He provides the voice for Spyro's dragonfly companion,
Sparx.
Currently, he stars as Russell in the
CBS comedy,
Rules of Engagement
.
Personal life
Spade has one daughter with
Playboy Playmate Jillian Grace. The daughter is named Harper, and she was born on August 26, 2008 in
Missouri. Spade confirmed his paternity on September 3, 2008.
[5]
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. On 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!
[6]
Philanthropy
In December 2008, Spade donated $100,000 to the police department in his former hometown of
Phoenix, Arizona, as part of a program designed to provide patrol officers with
rifles.
[7] Spade's contribution will buy 50
AR-15 semi-automatic rifles for Phoenix police officers.
[8]
In March 2009, he partnered with the
non-profit to provide 3,000 blast- and impact-protecting helmet pads to U.S. troops; Spade donated over $100,000 of his own money to the program.
[9]
Filmography
Film
Year
| Film Title
| Role
| Notes
|
1987
| Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
| Kyle
|
|
1992
| Light Sleeper
| Theological Cokehead
|
|
1993
| Coneheads
| Eli Turnbull
|
|
1994
| Reality Bites
| Wienerschnitzel Manager
|
|
PCU
| Rand McPherson
|
|
1995
| Tommy Boy
| Richard Hayden
| MTV Movie Awards (won 1)
|
1996
| Black Sheep
| Steve Dodds
|
|
A Very Brady Sequel
| Sergio
|
|
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
| Voice
|
|
1997
| 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
| Ernie Lipscomb
|
|
1998
| Senseless
| Scott Thorpe
|
|
The Rugrats Movie
| Ranger Frank
|
|
Jerome
| Executive Producer
|
|
1999
| Lost & Found
| Dylan Ramsey
|
|
2000
| Loser
| Video Store Clerk
|
|
The Emperor's New Groove
| Emperor Kuzco
| Kid's Choice Awards (nominated-1)
|
2001
| Joe Dirt
| Joe Dirt
|
|
2003
| Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
| Dickie Roberts
|
|
2005
| Racing Stripes
| Scuzz
|
|
Lil' Pimp
| Principal Nixon
|
|
Kronk's New Groove
| Kuzco
|
|
2006
| Grandma's Boy
| Shilo
|
|
The Benchwarmers
| Richie Goodman
| Teen Choice Awards (nominated-1)
|
2007
| I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
| Transvestite in Playboy suit
| Cameo Appearance
|
2009
| Hollywood & Wine
| Harvey Harrison
|
|
2010
| Grown Ups
| Marcus Higgins
| post-production
|
Television
Year
| Show Title
| Role
| Other notes
|
1988
| The Facts of Life
| Scott
| cameo
|
1989
| Baywatch
| B.J.
| cameo
|
1990
| ALF
| Larry Slotkin
| cameo
|
Born to Be Mild
| Stage Assistant
| uncredited; cameo
|
Saturday Night Live
| Various
| writer and cast member from 1990-1996 Emmy Awards (nominated-3)
|
1994
| Beavis and Butt-Head
| Mr. Manners/Mr. Candy/Ticket Attendant (voice)
| uncredited; cast member from 1994-1997
|
1997
| Just Shoot Me!
| Dennis Finch
| American Comedy Awards (nominated-1) Emmy Awards (nominated-1) Golden Globe Awards (nominated-2) TV Land Awards (nominated-1)
|
1998
| David Spade: Take the Hit
| Himself
|
|
2000
| Sammy
| Sammy Blake/James Blake (voice)
| canceled after 2 episodes
|
2004
| Father of the Pride
| Tommy the Coyote (voice)
|
|
8 Simple Rules
| C.J. Barnes
| cast member from 2003-2005
|
2005
| The Showbiz Show with David Spade
| Himself
|
|
2007
| Rules of Engagement
| Russell
| Teen Choice Awards (nominated-1)
|
2008
| The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (TV series)
|
|
|
2009
| Late Show With David Letterman (TV series)
|
|
|
Videos
Year
| Song Title
| Performer
| Notes
|
1993
| "Buddy"
| Adam Sandler
|
|
Video games
Year
| Title
| Character
| Notes
|
2006
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
| Sparx
|
|
References
- David Spade Biography (1964-)
- 1 "David Spade"
- Facts and History, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
- The Showbiz Show with David Spade: Comedy Central Series Cancelled, ''TVSeriesFinale.com''. October 7, 2007
- "David Spade Becomes a Dad"
- Louis B. Hobson, 5 September 2003 "Spade digs up dirt". ''Cinema Confidential''. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
- David Spade Helps Phoenix Police Pay for Guns People Magazine, December 22, 2008
- David Spade Buys High-Powered Rifles for Local Police Department Fox News, December 23, 2008
- David Spade Providing Helmets to Troops US Magazine, March 16, 2009