Max Elliott Slade

Max Elliot Slade was born on July 4th, 1980 in Pasedena, California. Oneof his first acting roles was as the child version of Steve Martin'scharacter Gil in the hit comedy Parenthood (1989) and, the followingyear, he went on to play Gil's nine-year-old son Kevin in the"Parenthood" (1990) television show where he rubbed shoulders with ayoung Leonardo DiCaprio and Thora Birch.However, Max is best known for his role as Colt, the most boisterous ofthree brothers, in the children's martial arts' films 3 Ninjas (1992), 3Ninjas Kick Back (1994) and 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995). In preparation forthe role, he studied karate in real life and earned his brown belt whilefilming the last of the trilogy. He was also the only original child actorto complete all three films after his co-stars Michael Treanor and ChadPower, who played his on-screen brothers, left after 'Kick Back'.Although he did continue to act after the '3 Ninjas' films, notably therole of Tom Hank's screen son in Apollo 13 (1995) at the age of fourteen,he stepped out of the acting scene by his mid-teens to focus on school andhis first love, music. He was seven years old when he was first introducedto the guitar by his grandfather and it was a gift he nurtured as he grewup. Max has since set up his own Los Angeles-based band 'Haden' where heplays lead guitar and vocal. He also attends the University of SouthernCalifornia where he is studying anthropology.