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David Spade
David Spade 1
Name
David Wayne Spade
Birthplace
Birmingham, Michigan, U.S.
Birth date
July 22, 1964 (age 54)
Occupation
Actor, comedian, writer, television personality
Active Years
1987-present

David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, then began a successful acting career in both film and television. He also starred or co-starred in the films Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Joe Dirt, Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, Grown Ups, and Grown Ups 2, among others.

He has been part of an ensemble cast of two long-running sitcoms: Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003) and Rules of Engagement (2007–2013). Additionally, he starred as C. J. Barnes in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2004–2005). In animation, he voiced Kuzco in the 2000 film The Emperor's New Groove and its direct-to-video sequel, Kronk's New Groove and the red panda Aliur in Snowflake, the White Gorilla.

His comedic style, in both his stand-up material and acting roles, relies heavily on sarcasm and self-deprecation.

Early life[]

Spade was born in Birmingham, Michigan to Judith J. (née Meek), a writer and magazine editor, and Wayne M. Spade, a sales representative. His brothers are Bryan and Andy Spade; Andy Spade is an entrepreneur who, together with his late wife Kate Spade, co-founded the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

Spade and his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, when David was four years old. His parents divorced soon thereafter, and he and his brothers were raised for the most part by their mother, in relative poverty.

Spade attended Saguaro High School and later Scottsdale Community College, before transferring to Arizona State University where he eventually dropped out. 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. Spade started as a writer and eventually moved up to cast member. While there, he became known for his brand of sarcasm, and his characters in a number of sketches were hits. Some of them include a flight attendant for "Total Bastard Airlines" who bids a dismissive "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 puts celebrities down by means of one-liners. Other characters include Christy Henderson from the Gap Girls and Karl from the Karl's Video sketches. He also did impressions of various celebrities, including 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.

The most infamous moment of "Hollywood Minute" occurred in 1996 when a picture appeared on-screen of Eddie Murphy, himself a former Saturday Night Live cast member and Spade exclaimed, "Look, children, it's a falling star. Make a wish!", referring to Murphy's lack of box office success at the time, most recently with the film Vampire in Brooklyn. The crack led to audience boos and made Murphy angry at both Spade and SNL for several years afterward.

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.

Spade's film career was successful. He appeared with fellow Saturday Night Live cast member and friend Chris Farley in two buddy comedy films, Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996). The two were planning a third film together when Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33. When Spade declined to attend Farley's funeral, rumors abounded that there was a falling out between the two. Spade admitted that their friendship had been under some tension partly because of Farley's drug problem, but stated that the reason he did not attend the funeral, had nothing to do with any of that, and was simply because he could not handle it emotionally.

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.

While appearing on Just Shoot Me, Spade had his first solo starring role as the title character in the 2001 film Joe Dirt, which was a modest box office success. The film was co-written by Spade and Fred Wolf.

Spade starred again in the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, again co-written by Spade and Wolf. It was the first of many films in which Spade has appeared that were produced by another Saturday Night Live castmate, Adam Sandler. Most notable among these are the films Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013), both of which included Spade and Sandler among the lead roles, and both of which were major box office hits.

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 played 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, for the show's third and final season.

He hosted the Comedy Central TV show The Showbiz Show with David Spade for three seasons, from September 2005 to October 2007. On the show, Spade made fun of Hollywood and celebrities in a manner similar to his old "Hollywood Minute" segment on SNL.

Spade was one of the voice talents for the 2006 video game The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. He provided the voice of Spyro's dragonfly companion, Sparx.

From 2007 to 2013, Spade starred as Russell Dunbar in the ensemble CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement.

In 2010, he worked with TBS on a pilot for an animated series based on Joe Dirt, but it was eventually dropped.

In 2014, Spade had a guest role on an episode of ABC sitcom The Goldbergs (on which George Segal has a major role as "Pops", the protagonist's grandfather). The end credits featured an interaction between Pops and Spade's character.

Awards and honors[]

Spade received an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations for his role as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!.

On September 5, 2003, Spade received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal life[]

Spade has dated numerous actresses and celebrities, including Heather Locklear, Julie Bowen, Teri Hatcher, and Naya Rivera, with E! News calling him "a bachelor-era George Clooney of the comedy world". He and Playboy Playmate Jillian Grace have a daughter together.

In December 2005, Spade donated $100,000 to the police department of Phoenix, which provided firearms for the officers. Spade also donated $200,000 for the Oklahoma tornado relief program on May 20, 2013, $100,000 toward the ALS ice bucket challenge in 2014, and $100,000 to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in June 2018 after the suicide of his sister-in-law Kate Spade, a fashion designer.

Spade resides in Beverly Hills, California. In June 2017, his house was burglarized.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol Kyle
1992 Light Sleeper Theological Cokehead
1993 Coneheads Eli Turnbull
1994 Reality Bites The "Wienerschnitzel" Manager Uncredited Cameo
1994 PCU Rand McPherson
1995 Tommy Boy Richard Hayden MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo
1996 Black Sheep Steven "Steve" Dodds
1996 A Very Brady Sequel Sergio
1997 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag Ernest "Ernie" Lipscomb
1998 Senseless Scott Thorpe
1998 The Rugrats Movie Ranger Franklin (voice)
1999 Lost & Found Dylan Ramsey Also writer
2000 Loser Video Store Clerk Uncredited Cameo
2000 The Emperor's New Groove Emperor Kuzco (voice) Nominated – Kid's Choice Award
2001 Joe Dirt Joseph "Joe" Dirt Also writer
2003 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star Dickie Roberts Also writer
2005 Racing Stripes Scuzz (voice)
2005 Lil' Pimp Principal Nixon (voice)
2005 Kronk's New Groove Emperor Kuzco (voice)
2006 Grandma's Boy Shiloh
2006 The Benchwarmers Richie Goodman Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Best Choice Chemistry
2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Transvestite Groupie Cameo
2010 Grown Ups Marcus Higgins
2011 Jack & Jill Monica Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
2012 Hotel Transylvania Griffin the Invisible Man (voice)
2013 Jungle Master Boss Cain (voice)
2013 Snowflake, the White Gorilla Jenga (voice) English dub
2013 Grown Ups 2 Marcus Higgins
2015 Space Breakout Xanor (voice)
2015 Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Joseph "Joe" Dirt Also writer and producer
2015 I Am Chris Farley Himself Documentary
2015 Hotel Transylvania 2 Griffin the Invisible Man (voice)
2015 The Ridiculous 6 General Custer
2016 The Do-Over Charlie McMillian
2017 Mad Families Johnny Jon-John Also writer
2017 Sandy Wexler Himself
2018 Hotel Transylvania 3 Griffin the Invisible Man (voice)
2018 Father of the Year Wayne

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1988 The Facts of Life Scott Episode: "Big Apple Blues"
1989 Baywatch B. J. Episode: "Second Wave"
1990 ALF Larry Slotkin Episode: "Make 'em Laugh"
1990 Monsters Teddy Episode: "Small Blessings"
1990 Born to Be Mild Stage Assistant Uncredited
Television film
1990–1996 Saturday Night Live Various roles 70 episodes; also writer
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series(1990–1993)
1992, 1998 The Larry Sanders Show Himself 2 episodes
1994 Beavis and Butt-Head Mr. Manners / Mr. Candy / Ticket Attendant (voices) 3 episodes
1997–2003 Just Shoot Me! Dennis Finch 149 episodes
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series(1999)
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film(1999–2000)
Nominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (1999)
1998 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "David Spade/Eagle-Eye Cherry"
1998 David Spade: Take the Hit Himself Stand-up special
2000 Sammy Sammy Blake / James Blake (voices) 13 episodes
2002 Greg the Bunny Himself Episode: "Welcome to Sweetknuckle Junction"
2003 2003 Spike Video Game Awards Himself (host) Television special
2004 Father of the Pride Tommy the Coyote (voice) Episode: "Road Trip"
2004–2005 8 Simple Rules C. J. Barnes 39 episodes
2005 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "David Spade/Eagle-Eye Cherry"
2005–2007 The Showbiz Show with David Spade Himself (host) 39 episodes; also writer and executive producer
2007–2013 Rules of Engagement Russell Dunbar 100 episodes
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy
2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm Himself Episode: The Reunion
2011 Entourage Himself Episode: "The Big Bang"
2012 Hot in Cleveland Christopher Episode: "Blow Outs"
2014 The Spoils of Babylon Talc Munson 2 episodes
2014 David Spade: My Fake Problems Himself Stand-up special
2014 The Goldberg Gus Episode: "Love is a Mixtape"
2015 Real Rob Himself Episode: "VIP Treatment"
2015–2017 Fameless Himself 7 episodes
2016 Crowded Kyle Episode: "RearviewMirror"
2016 Inside Amy Schumer Showrunner Episode: "Welcome to the Gun Show"
2016 Roadies Harris DeSoto 4 episodes
2016 Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe Himself (Roast master) Television special
2017–2018 Love Steven Hopkins 4 episodes
2017 Jimmy Kimmel Live! Himself/Guest Host 1 episode
2017 Lady Dynamite Himself Episode: "Kids Have to Dance"
2017 The Mayor Ed Gunt Recurring role; 7 episodes

Video games[]

Year Title Voice role
2000 The Emperor's New Groove Kuzco (archive footage)
2006 The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning Sparx

Music videos[]

Year Title Performer
1993 "Buddy" Adam Sandler
2018 Gucci Flip Flops Bhad Bhabie

External links[]

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