David Spade made his big-screen debut in the 1987 American comedy film ‘Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol’ directed by Jim Drake. Even though the film received mostly negative reviews from critics, it managed to do decent business at the box office and grossed over $76.8 million on a budget of $17 million. He next appeared in television series like ‘The Facts Of Life’ (1988), ‘Baywatch’ (1989), ‘ALF’ (1990), and ‘Monsters’ (1990). In 1990, he became a part of the American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show ‘Saturday Night Live’ created by Lorne Michaels. He starred in 70 episodes and remained on the show until 1996. He also served as a writer on the show which earned him a ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ nomination. He next starred in films like ‘Light Sleeper’ (1992), ‘Coneheads’ (1993), ‘Reality Bites’ (1994), ‘PCU’ (1994), ‘Tommy Boy’ (1995), ‘Black Sheep’ (1996), and ‘A Very Brady Sequel’ (1996). In 1997, he played the role of ‘Ernest "Ernie" Lipscomb’ in the black comedy film ‘8 Heads in a Duffel Bag’ directed by Tom Schulman. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a box office disappointment. The same year, he joined the cast of the American sitcom television series ‘Just Shoot Me!’ as Dennis Finch. The series ran for 7 seasons and aired its final episode in 2003. Spade also received ‘Primetime Emmy Award,’ ‘Golden Globe Award,’ and ‘American Comedy Award’ nominations for his performance in the series.
He continued to star in television series and shows such as ‘Sammy’ (2000), ‘Greg the Bunny’ (2002), ‘Father of the Pride’ (2004), ‘8 Simple Rules’ (2004-2005), ‘The Showbiz Show with David Spade’ (2005-2007), ‘Rules of Engagement’ (2007-2013), ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ (2009), and ‘Entourage’ (2011). In 2012, he voiced ‘Griffin the Invisible Man’ in the American computer-animated monster comedy film ‘Hotel Transylvania’ directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. The film was a major box office success and grossed over $358.4 million on a budget of $85 million. He was next seen in films like ‘Jungle Master’ (2013), ‘Grown Ups 2’ (2013), ‘Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser’ (2015), ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’ (2015), ‘The Do-Over’ (2016), ‘Mad Families’ (2017), ‘Sandy Wexler’ (2017), ‘Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation’ (2018), ‘Warning Shot’ (2018), and ‘The Wrong Missy’ (2020). He was last seen in the 2022 American computer-animated adventure comedy film ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska. It was the fourth and final film in the ‘Hotel Transylvania franchise’ and received mixed reviews from critics upon release.