50 facts about Kevin James

Learn 50 things about actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer, Kevin James.

1. Kevin George Knipfing is better known by his stage name, Kevin James.

2. He is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.

3. Kevin James is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the hit CBS sitcom The King of Queens.

4. Kevin James is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, Zookeeper, Here Comes the Boom, and Hitch.

5. Kevin James was born Kevin George Knipfing in Mineola, New York.

6. He was raised from a young age in nearby Stony Brook, both on Long Island.

7. Kevin James is the second son of Janet, a homemaker who also worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing Jr.

8. His father owned an insurance agency.

9. Kevin James is of German descent.

10. Kevin James has a brother, Gary Joseph Knipfing.

11. His brother Gary is known as Gary Valentine, who is also a comedian and actor.,

12. James has also a sister Leslie Knipfing.

13. Kevin James was raised Catholic, and stated in 2012 that he is involved in his faith.

14. Kevin James graduated from Ward Melville High School.

15. While in high school he reached the number one spot on the wrestling team, just ahead of friend and WWE star Mick Foley.

16. A season ending back injury resulted in Foley taking over the first string position.

17. Kevin James went on to study at the State University of New York at Cortland, where he played halfback on the varsity football team until another back injury permanently ended his sporting hopes.

18. Kevin James began doing stand-up comedy in 1989, making his debut at the East Side Comedy Club on Long Island, managed by Richie Minervini.

19. 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 Kathie Lee.

20. Kevin James was listed at #89 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians.

21. Kevin James has also done his stand-up routine on Just for Laughs, an annual comedy festival in Montreal, Quebec.

22. Later he was on commercials for Mazzio's Italian Eatery.

23. In 2001, James did his own stand-up special called Kevin James: Sweat the Small Stuff.

24. Kevin James has also appeared as a musical guest on Just for Laughs.

25. James' first television job was in 1991 on The New Candid Camera, where he used his comedy timing & improv skills playing the actor that pulled the practical jokes on unsuspecting people.

26. Kevin James appeared on television as the announcer for the MTV sports game show SandBlast from 1994 to 1996.

27. Kevin James later moved to Los Angeles and befriended Ray Romano, and later guest-starred on a few episodes of Romano's hit CBS sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond.

28. 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.

29. Kevin James played the lead as content working class parcel delivery man Doug Heffernan, whose appeal is somewhat of the warm hearted-hijinxing buffoon type, who works for a company known as IPS and is married to Carrie (Leah Remini); a secretary at a Manhattan law firm who is less content with working class life in Queens as she desires the upper middle class lifestyle of an upton via Central Park in Manhattan. They live with his father-in-law, Arthur (Jerry Stiller).

30. 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.

31. In 2007, he was the grand marshal for the "Pepsi 400", saying "Gentlemen, start your engines".

32. Kevin James did it again in June 2010 with friend and fellow actor Adam Sandler to promote Grown Ups, in 2012 at the fall Talladega race to promote Here Comes the Boom and in July 2013 at the Coke-Zero 400 with co-stars Adam Sandler and Shaquille O'Neal .

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33. Kevin James made his film debut in the 2005 romantic comedy, Hitch, alongside Will Smith and Eva Mendes.

34. 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.

35. Kevin James co-starred with Adam Sandler in the comedies I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009).

36. In the latter film, his character patrolled the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall, filmed at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts, on a Segway PT.

37. The film opened as the #1 film in North America with a weekend gross of $39 million, despite overwhelmingly negative reviews, and eventually grossed $219 million from ticket and home video sales.

38. More recently, James appeared in Grown Ups, which co-starred numerous Saturday Night Live alumni and was even more universally panned, yet was highly successful at the box office.

39. In 2011, he had a lead role with Vince Vaughn in the comedy-drama, The Dilemma, and in Zookeeper, which he wrote and produced.

40. In 2012, James had the lead role in the mixed martial arts comedy film Here Comes the Boom.

41. A web series titled Dusty Peacock produced by James and starring his brother Gary Valentine began streaming on Crackle in July 2009.

42. Kevin James hosted the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 27, 2010.

43. He was a nominee into the Arm Fart Hall of Fames of the next year's show as Kevin "Not-Quite-As-Good-As-Me" James; but lost to Josh Duhamel.

44. In 2004, James married actress Steffiana de la Cruz in California.

45. They have four children: daughters Sienna-Marie, Shea Joelle, son Kannon Valentine, and daughter Sistine Sabella.

46. Kevin James is the younger brother of comedian Gary Valentine (born Gary Knipfing), who played Doug's cousin Danny Heffernan on King of Queens.

47. He is a close friend of retired MMA fighter Bas Rutten, and trains with him at his school in Thousand Oaks, California.

48. Kevin James is also known for being a big sports fan, particularly of the New York Knicks, New York Jets, New York Mets, and New York Islanders, as well as the UFC.

49. Kevin James is also known for being a big sports fan, particularly of the New York Knicks, New York Jets, New York Mets, and New York Islanders, as well as the UFC.

50. Kevin James was varsity, while Foley was JV. James, a Catholic, appeared on Catholic-themed channel EWTN's The World Over Live in 2012.

Source: Wikipedia.org