Kevin James

Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known as Kevin James, is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. He is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, The Dilemma, and Zookeeper. He hosted the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 27, 2010.

Kevin James - Sweat The Small Stuff (compilation)


Kevin James - Sweat The Small Stuff Part 1 of 5



Chris Matthews Tears Up Kevin James on Hardball




Early years

James was born Kevin George Knipfing in Mineola, New York at Winthrop-University Hospital. He is the son of Janet, a homemaker who also worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, who owned an insurance agency.[1][2][3] He has German ancestry.[4] James has two siblings, Gary Joseph Knipfing, known as Gary Valentine, also a comedian, and Leslie Knipfing; Leslie works for James and helped raise money through charity events for retinitis pigmentosa, with which she is afflicted. James was raised in the "S-Section" of Stony Brook and graduated from Ward Melville High School in 1983,[5] where one of his teammates on the wrestling team was (professional wrestler) Mick Foley. He was a student at, but did not graduate from, the State University of New York at Cortland, where he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity.
[edit]Career

[edit]Stand-up
James began doing stand-up comedy in 1989, making his debut at the East Side Comedy Club in Manhattan.[5] He gained popularity through numerous appearances on various talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Dennis Miller Live, The Late Late Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Live with Regis and Kathy Lee. James was #89 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians. James has also done his stand-up routine on Just for Laughs, an annual comedy festival in Montreal.Later he was on commercials for Mazzio's Italian Eatery.
In 2001, James did his own stand-up special called Kevin James: Sweat the Small Stuff. He has also appeared as a musical guest on Just for Laughs.
[edit]Television
James is a friend of Ray Romano and he guest-starred on a few episodes of Romano's hit CBS sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. These appearances led to the development of his own sitcom, The King of Queens, which ran on the same network from September 21, 1998 to May 14, 2007. James played the lead as an overweight delivery man, Doug, who worked for a company known as IPS and was married to Carrie (Leah Remini). For his work on the eighth season, James was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, in 2006.
In 2007 he did the most famous line in auto racing "Gentlemen start your engines" for NASCAR racing. He did it again in June 2010 with actor Adam Sandler.
[edit]Film


James in November 2007
James made his film debut in the 2005 romantic comedy, Hitch, alongside Will Smith and Eva Mendes. In 2006, he co-starred with his Everybody Loves Raymond colleague Ray Romano in the comedy Grilled and provided voice work in the animated films Monster House and Barnyard. In 2007, James co-starred opposite Adam Sandler in the widely scorned[6] comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and also made a cameo in Sandler's 2008 film You Don't Mess with the Zohan. James' 2009 comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, opened as the #1 film in North America with a weekend gross of $39 million, despite overwhelmingly negative reviews,[7] and eventually grossed $219 million from ticket and home video sales. More recently, James appeared in Grown Ups, which co-starred numerous Saturday Night Live alumni and was even more universally panned.[8]
[edit]Radio
James voiced the on-hold program for western-Canadian company Visions Electronics' telephone hold system. He recites several corny jokes, such as "Why does your nose run, but your feet smell?". This, and other such jokes, cycle through a five minute skit.
[edit]Web
A web series titled Dusty Peacock produced by James and starring his brother Gary Valentine began streaming on Crackle in July 2009.[9]
[edit]Award shows
James hosted the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 27, 2010 on Nick. He also was a nominee into the Arm Fart Hall of Fame of the next year's show as Kevin "Not-Quite-As-Good-As-Me" James, but lost to Josh Duhamel.
[edit]Personal life

On June 19, 2004, James married actress Steffiana de la Cruz.[10] He has two daughters, Sienna-Marie (born September 30, 2005)[11] and Shea Joelle (born June 14, 2007), who was named after the ballpark Shea Stadium.[12] They welcomed their first son and third child, Kannon Valentine, on April 24, 2011.[13] James is the younger brother of comedian Gary Valentine (born Gary Knipfing), who played Doug's cousin Danny Heffernan on King of Queens.
He is a close friend of retired MMA fighter Bas Rutten, and trains with Bas at his school in Thousand Oaks, California.
[edit]Filmography



James on the set of Paul Blart: Mall Cop: Burlington Mall, Burlington, Massachusetts
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Everybody Loves Raymond Kevin 6 episodes; 1996–98
1998–99 Everybody Loves Raymond Doug Heffernan
"The Lone Barone" (Season 3, Episode 9)
"Ray Home Alone" (Season 3, Episode 18)
"Be Nice" (Season 3, Episode 23)
1998–2007 The King of Queens Doug Heffernan Main role
1999 Becker Doug Effernan
1999 Martial Law Dallas Hampton
2001 Arli$$ Kevin
2002 Pinocchio Mangiafuoco Voice: English version
2004 50 First Dates Fireman Cameo
2005 Hitch Albert Brennaman Co-star
2006 Monster House Officer Landers Voice
2006 Grilled Dave
2006 Barnyard Otis Voice
2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry Larry Valentine Co-star
2007 Elmo's Christmas Countdown Santa Claus
2008 You Don't Mess With The Zohan Himself
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Paul Blart Lead role, writer and producer
2010 2010 Kids' Choice Awards Himself Host
2010 Grown Ups Eric Lamonsoff
2011 2011 Kids' Choice Awards Himself Nominated for Arm Fart Hall Of Fame
2011 The Dilemma Nick Co-star
2011 Zookeeper Griffin Keyes Lead role, writer and producer
2012 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Pepper Voice
2012 Here Comes the Boom Scott Voss
References from Wikipedia.com