Early life and education Born in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, United States, to Pauline Simpson and Henry Oliver Wade, Jr., Wade was raised by his grandparents. Wade grew up in the
East Liberty neighborhood and attended
Westinghouse High School; graduating in 1952. After high school, Wade attended
Virginia State University but dropped out in his sophomore year.
Career After working for a time as a
lab assistant with Dr.
Jonas Salk on the
polio research team, Wade began to pursue a recording career, signing with
Coed Records in late 1959. He had his first hit in early 1960 (No. 58) with the song "
Ruby", a
cover of the hit movie song of 1953. Wade was popular in the early-1960s. In 1961 three of his recordings ("
Take Good Care of Her" (No. 7), "As If I Didn't Know" (No. 10) and
"The Writing on the Wall" (No. 5) made the Top Ten in the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. Wade's vocal style was generally compared to that of his contemporary
Johnny Mathis. In 1975, Wade became the first
African-American to host a television
game show, with the premiere of
Musical Chairs. In 1979, he co-starred with
Della Reese in a production of
Same Time, Next Year. On TV he was seen in the soap operas
The Guiding Light and
Search for Tomorrow, and was a familiar presence on such popular black-oriented sitcoms as
Sanford & Son,
The Jeffersons, ''
What's Happening!! and Good Times. In the late–1970s and early–1980s Wade began to concentrate on acting, and appeared in several of the so-called blaxploitation movies, including Gordon's War''. Wade briefly returned to recording, producing a self–titled
album on the Kirschner
record label, which was distributed by
Columbia Records. This was a venture into a more soulful singing genre. It met with moderate success but is still a favorite with his loyal fans. He appeared in one episode of
The Dukes of Hazzard. His latest theatrical appearance was with the 2008 touring company of the play
The Color Purple. Wade and his wife have a music production firm, Songbird, whose headquarters are in
New Jersey. ==Death==