Kevin James Biography

Kevin George Knipfing or better known as Kevin James was born in Mineola, New York. His father, Joseph Knipfing, owned an insurance company and his mother, Janet, worked in a chiropractor’s office. He has two siblings; brother, Gary Valentine, who is also a comedian and sister, Leslie Knipfing, who helps him manage his charitable organisation. Kevin was a good sportsman in his high school days and even was a part of the wrestling team. He played for his high school football team and chose to make a career in sports management. Kevin worked in the management business for three years and felt that it was now time for a career change.

It all started out sheer boredom. He joined a community theatre. He got a comic role in a play and loved the crowd’s reaction to his character. He quit everything and took up stand-up comedy instead. Kevin landed some really nice gigs, and ended up doing his act on shows like Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. He also got a chance to work at the prestigious Just for Laughs comedy festival. He worked the comedy circuit for quite a while before he met Ray Romano. Ray and he became good friends. Ray helped get a small part on his show Everybody Loves Raymond. He played the part of Doug Heffernan, an overweight delivery guy working for IPS. The character was so loved that he got his own spin-off sitcom called The King of Queens. In the show, Doug has a wife, Carrie Heffernan, played by Leah Remini, who is a lawyer and has a father-in-law played by Jerry Stiller, who lives with them. The King of Queens enjoyed a very long run on CBS and got Kevin an Emmy nomination in the Best Comedic Actor category.

Kevin made his big screen debut by lending his voice in the animation movie Pinocchio (2002). He then made his acting debut in 50 First Dates (2004) in small role as a factory worker. Then came his big break in Hitch. In the movie, he played Albert Brennaman, who is in love with his boss and takes the help of relationship expert Hitch, played by Will Smith. The movie was a huge hit and made close to $375 million at the box-office. He then teamed up with Ray Romano in Grilled and lent his voice for Monster House (2006). Another big opportunity came knocking at his door after he got chance to team up with another funnyman, Adam Sandler in I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, though he had worked with him earlier in 50 First Dates, their interaction was minimal. It is well-known that Adam likes to repeat the actors he likes and even produces their movies for them. So this was a great opportunity for Kevin to start a good collaboration. The movie hit the bull’s eye, especially because of the unique theme of homosexuality.

Kevin made a cameo in Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan as himself. Kevin then took the next step and produced, wrote and acted in Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009). Adam was also one of the producers of the movie. The movie did well and Kevin’s first stint as a writer/producer worked. He teamed up Adam Sandler again for Grown Ups which again was a hit. His next movie up for release is the Zookeeper.