source
David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and producer. Born in Birmingham, Michigan, Spade is the youngest of Wayne Spade and Judy Todd’s three sons. His father moved the family to Scottsdale, Arizona, but abandoned them not long afterwards. His brothers are Bryan Spade and Andy Spade, husband of famed designer Kate Spade and CEO of Kate Spade New York.

Spade’s mother eventually remarried, but David’s stepfather committed suicide in 1980 (David was 15 years old at the time).

David Spade graduated one year early (he was 17) from Saguaro High School in 1982. He then went on to Arizona State University, where he earned a degree in business in 1986. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. ASU has a long-running improvisational comedy group that performs for free in the Memorial Union during Friday lunchtimes called “Farce Side Comedy Hour” (from 1985 through 2005, along with a break-off group that peforms on Thursdays). David Spade is said to have been an early leader in the group recognized for his star potential.

Spade, encouraged by friends to pursue a career in comedy, pursued stand-up not long after college. His stepfather’s suicide, followed closely by his best friend’s death in a motorcycle crash, propelled him into comedy full-time.

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 character in a number of skits, 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. This particular role won Spade both acclaim from the public and scorn from celebrities, notably from fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus Eddie Murphy when Spade did a joke in which a photograph of Murphy, whose career had started to falter, was shown, and Spade quipped, “Look children, a falling star… Quick, make a wish.” Hollywood Minute was originally a section of SNL’s Weekend Update, but with the success of the bit, Spade eventually got his own segment, called Spade in America. In one episode he received a tattoo of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes from Sean Penn. He also impersonated celebrities such as Michael J. Fox, Kurt Cobain and Tom Petty.

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 also has a reasonably successful movie career highlighted by his work with fellow Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Farley in the movies Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, essentially forming a modern-day Laurel and Hardy as well as a new SNL duo similar to Dan Aykroyd/John Belushi pairings of the original season. The two were planning a third movie together, but things came to a tragic end when Farley died of a drug overdose at the age of 33.

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. His role as sarcastic receptionist Dennis Finch, which garnered him several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, was not unlike some of his more popular SNL roles.

He 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. Spade has also 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 is “always no.” In 2004, he joined the cast of 8 Simple Rules, following the untimely death of the sitcom’s star, John Ritter.

On Friday, September 5, 2003, at 11:30 a.m., Spade received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 7018 Hollywood Blvd.

He is currently 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.

Along with actors Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman, Spade is one of the voice talents for the upcoming sixth installment of the platform game series Spyro, The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. He will provide the voice for Spyro’s dragonfly companion, Sparx.

Other July 22nd Birthdays:

Franka Potente (32)
Rufus Wainwright (33)
Rhys Ifans (38)
John Leguizamo (42)
Rob Estes (43)
Keith Sweat (45)
Willem Dafoe (51)
Albert Brooks (59)
Don Henley (59)
Danny Glover (60)
Alex Trebek (66)
Terence Stamp (67)