We have compiled the details of the life of actor Kevin James, who started his career with stand-up and continued by adding acting, as well as known as a comedian and voice actor.
His real name, Kevin George Knipfing, was born on April 26, 1965, in Mineola, New York. He was born to an American mother, office worker Janet, and a German-American father, insurance agent owner Joseph Valentine Knipfing Jr. Growing up in Stony Brook, New York, James has a sister named Leslie and an older brother named Gary, a comedian and actor. James was raised Catholic with his siblings. James graduated from Ward Melville High School, where he reached the top position on the wrestling team. He went on to study at the State University of New York in Cortland with future professional wrestler Mick Foley, with whom he competed in wrestling and befriended.
Having started doing stand-up comedy in 1989, James made his debut in Richie Minervini's "East Side Comedy Club" on Long Island. Also at the club, who started doing comedy with an ensemble, James took "James" as his stage surname in honor of his favorite school teacher at this time. Appearing in countless ways on many talk show shows, James gained popularity because of this. At the beginning of these; he has appeared on 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 .
He used James' first television job as an actor in "The New Candid Camera" in 1991, where he played practical jokes on unsuspecting people with his comedic timing and improvisational skills. He continued with a role in A&E's "An Evening at the Improv" in 1994. James continued to appear in television as the announcer of the MTV sports game show "SandBlast" from 1994 to 1996.
After moving to Los Angeles, James befriended comedian Ray Romano. He subsequently made guest appearances in several episodes of Romano's hit CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond". This appearance led to her appearing as Doug Heffernan, a sharp-tongued, ambitious secretary at a Manhattan law firm, in the TV sitcom "The King of Queens", which aired on the same network from September 21, 1998 to May 14, 2007. He appeared in the series with Leah Remini and Jerry Stiller. For his work on the eighth season, he received a 2006 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
James proved himself by being ranked #76 on Comedy Central's "100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians" list. In addition, James performed his stand-up routine at "Just for Laughs", an annual comedy festival in Montreal. In 2001, James started his own stand-up show called "Kevin James: Sweat the Small Stuff". Meanwhile, he also guest-starred in the musical "Just for Laughs".
Meanwhile, he appeared in the romantic comedy-drama film "50 First Dates" (2004), directed by Peter Segal. Receiving mixed or average reviews, the film was a successful commercial win at the box office. The following year, he had her first lead role in the romantic comedy film "Hitch" with Will Smith and Eva Mendes, directed by Andy Tennant. The movie broke a box office record with its box office revenue.
In 2006, he followed up with the black comedy "Grilled" in which he co-starred with Ray Romano. In the same years, he voiced himself in the computer-animated haunted house movie "Monster House" and the computer-animated adventure comedy "Barnyard." Both films resulted in great success at the box office. In 2007, he co-starred with Adam Sandler in the comedy film "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" directed by Dennis Dugan. The movie was successful at the box office and received generally negative reviews.
In 2008, he also co-starred with Adam Sandler in the satirical action comedy film "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" directed by Dennis Dugan and the action comedy film "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" (2009) directed by Steve Carr. Both films were successful at the box office. The web series "Dusty Peacock", produced by James and starring his brother Gary Valentine, began airing on the Crackle video streaming service in July 2009.
On March 27, 2010, James hosted the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. That same year, he appeared in the comedy film "Grown Ups," directed by Dennis Dugan and starring numerous Saturday Night Live alumni. The film, which received negative reviews from the critics, made people smile with its revenue at the box office. In 2011, he co-starred with Vince Vaughn in the black comedy film "The Dilemma" directed by Ron Howard. The film resulted in both poor reviews and poor box office performance.
Later that year, he starred opposite Rosario Dawson in Frank Coraci's fantasy comedy "Zookeeper." The film, which received mostly negative reviews, grossed twice the production budget at the box office. He also played the lead role in the sports comedy "Here Comes the Boom" directed by Frank Coraci. The film, which received mixed or average reviews, also achieved a healthy box office success.
In 2015, he appeared in the sci-fi comedy movie "Pixels" directed by Chris Columbus. The film received both negative reviews and grossed $244 million at the box office. The following year, he starred in the Netflix action comedy "True Memoirs of an International Assassin" directed by Jeff Wadlow as one of the leading roles.
James starred in the tv sitcom "Kevin Can Wait," directed by Andy Fickman and aired on CBS. The series, which premiered on September 19, 2016, was canceled after the second season. In 2017, he reunited with Adam Sandler in another Netflix movie, the comedy "Sandy Wexler". In 2018, James released another stand-up show called "Kevin James: Never Don't Give Up" on Netflix. In 2021, James was cast as one of the leading roles in the comedy broadcast TV series "The Crew" on Netflix, which was canceled after one season.
In 2020, James co-starred with Lulu Wilson and Joel McHale in the action thriller "Becky." Released on June 5, 2020, the film received mixed reviews and was a huge success. In February 2020, James revived his YouTube channel, which he started on November 27, 2017, with short films. In 2022, he appeared as NFL head coach Sean Payton in the sports biopic "Home Team" directed by Charles and Daniel Kinnane. Released on January 28, 2022, the film received generally negative reviews.
Meeting actress Steffiana de la Cruz, James married on June 19, 2004. The couple has four children and lives with their family in California.