Kevin George Knipfing was born on the 26th of April, 1965 in Mineola, New York City, United States of America. His parents Janet and Joseph Valentine Knipfing brought him up in Stony Brook in Long Island, New York. Kevin has also sibling, a brother, Gary Valentine, and a sister, Leslie Knipfing. During the formative years, he attended Ward Melville High School. Kevin took part in various sport competitions and was interested in wrestling. He was kind of a fanatic and talented athlete for his school.
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Later, he entered the State University of New York at Cortland, where he was involved in football team. Due to some injuries, he had to end all his sport affairs. Except for the physical exercises, Kevin participated in some stand-up shows. He even decided to drop out of college, after he was selected for a comedic part in a Shoreham-Wading River Community Theater production. His first debut as a comedian happened in 1989, at the East Side Comedy Club on Long Island, managed by Richie Minervini.
For almost 10 years, he has been improving his acting skills on the scene. He was shown on various talk shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and others. James also appeared on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians.
In 2001, he created his own stand-up special show called Kevin James: Sweat the Small Stuff. As to his television career, one of his most notable works was his own sitcom “The King of Queens”, where he played an average parcel deliveryman Doug Heffernan. For this role, James was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006.
His next success occurred when he played in a romantic comedy “Hitch”. Soon after, he became one of the most wanted actors and he was invited to act in many Hollywood films. There were such movies like “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”, “You Don't Mess with the Zohan”, “Grown Ups”, “The Dilemma”, “Zookeeper”, “Here Comes the Boom”, “Pixels” and others. In 2016, he got the main role for the Netflix Original “True Memoirs of an International Assassin”. Due to his persistent work as a comedian, actor, writer, and producer, he has a net worth of $80 million.
As to the personal life in his biography, he is married to the actress Steffiana de la Cruz. James and his wife have four children: daughters Sienna-Marie, Shea Joelle, Sistine Sabella and a son Kannon Valentine. As to his religion, he is Catholic and he is completely involved in his faith. He is still the sport fan; his favorite teams are New York Knicks and New York jets. Besides, Kevin has a close friend Bas Rutten, who was the MMA fighter in the past.
Last Modified: Jul 4, 2020
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