Hal Sparks on AllMovie

Whether you know him best as the former host of E! Television's Talk Soup, the boyish Michael on Showtime's Queer as Folk, or as the bubble-wrap wearing cult leader desperately seeking the "continuum transfunctioner" in Dude, Where's My Car, comic actor Hal Sparks has been cracking up film and television viewers since his feature debut in the 1989 cult classic Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. It was obvious from a young age that Sparks had energy and creativity to spare, and from the moment he met Randy "the Macho Man" Savage at a grade-school appearance, the talented Kentucky native (Sparks was born in Ohio but spent the first 14 years of his life living in Kentucky) had found his calling. Eventually escaping the rural trappings of his home state for the more urban environment of Chicago, Sparks took quickly to the Windy City comedy circuit, and shortly after being voted the city's "funniest teenager," signed on with the acclaimed Second City Comedy Troupe. The late '80s found Sparks becoming even more urbanized with a move to Los Angeles, with a series of small feature roles eventually leading to a coveted position as host of E! Television's popular Talk Soup. Sparks' subsequent role on the popular Showtime drama Queer as Folk proved that he was more than just a talking head, and the ambitious actor not only began getting more feature roles in such films as Dude, Where's My Car? and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, but also on such popular television series as Martial Law and Frasier. If Sparks' small supporting roles in such later features as Spider-Man 2 and Lightening Bug left fans feeling a bit unfulfilled, they could still get their fill of the popular actor-cum-musician when the Hal Sparks Band released their debut album, Zero 1, in late 2004.