Spade was born on July 22, 1965, in Birmingham, Michigan, to Wayne Spade and Judy Todd as the youngest of three sons. His father abandoned the family shortly after he moved his family to Scottsdale, Arizona. Spade’s mother eventually remarried a war veteran who later committed suicide in 1981.

Spade graduated from Saguaro High School in Scottsdale when he was seventeen years old and he went on to study at the Arizona State University (ASU) where he graduated with a degree in business in 1986.

While at the university, Spade began acting with the university’s long-standing improvisational comedy group, and is said to have been an early leader of the group. The group did free Friday lunchtime performances called Farce Side Comedy Hour from 1985 to 2005.

In 1987 Spade landed his first movie part as Kyle in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. The following year he made his debut into television with the cameo role of Scott on The Facts of Life.

A few other minor television parts followed, but Spade didn’t gain wide recognition until 1990 when he joined Saturday Night Live, thanks to the help of friend and fellow comedian, Dennis Miller. He soon established a reputation as a sarcastic, smart aleck character in a number of skits. He also made sarcastic jokes about celebrities and celebrity impersonations.

While on Saturday Night Live Spade received a tattoo of Calvin and Hobbes on his left bicep from actor Sean Penn.

YUDDY