David Wayne Spade 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 Dirty 2: Beautiful Loser, Grown Ups, Grown Ups 2, and Father of the Year, among others. Take a look below for 26 more fun and fascinating facts about David Wayne Spade.

1. Spade was born in Birmingham, Michigan, to Judith J., a writer and magazine editor, and Wayne M. Spade, a sales representative.

2. His brothers are Bryan and Andy Spade.

3. The latter is an entrepreneur who, together with David’s sister-in-law Kate Spade, co-founded the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

4. Spade and his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, when David was four years old.

5. His parents divorced soon thereafter, and he and his brothers were raised for the most part by their mother, in relative poverty.

6. Spade attended Saguaro High School and later Scottsdale Community College, before transferring to Arizona State University where he graduated with a business degree in 1986.

7. He also was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

8. Spade performed standup at the university’s long-running sketch comedy show, Farce Side Comedy Hour, on numerous occasions.

9. In the mid-80s he also did stand-up in the Monday night comedy show at Greasy Tony’s Pizza in Tempe, Arizona.

10. With the help of friend and fellow comedian Dennis Miller, he joined Saturday Night Live in 1990.

11. 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.

12. Spade’s film career has been successful. He starred with fellow Saturday Night Live cast member and friend Chris Farley in two buddy comedy films, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.

13. The two were planning a third film together when Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.

14. When Spade declined to attend Farley’s funeral, rumors abounded that there was a falling out between the two. Spade stated that their friendship had been under some tension, partly because of Farley’s drug problem, but that he did not attend the funeral simply because he could not handle it emotionally.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. Spade hosted both the Teen Choice Awards and SpikeTV’s Video Game Awards in 2003.

19. He hosted the Comedy Central TV show The Showbiz Show with David Spade for three seasons, from September 2005 to October 2007.

20. 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.

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

22. In 2019 he started hosting a new late night show called Lights Out with David Spade on Comedy Central.

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

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

25. 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”.

26. He and Playboy Playmate Jillian Grace have a daughter together.

27. 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 the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in June 2018 after the suicide of his sister-in-law Kate Spade, a fashion designer.