Kevin James

Kevin James (born Kevin George Knipfing) is an actor and comedian. James was raised in Stony Brook, New York, and attended the State University of New York at Cortland, where he played football but left before earning a degree.

James began his career in stand-up comedy in the late ’80s and gained national attention after appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman. His big break came in 1998 when he landed the lead role on CBS’s The King of Queens. The show ran for nine seasons and earned James an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006.

Following his TV success, he transitioned to film with roles in Hitch (2005), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Zookeeper (2011), Here Comes the Boom (2012) and Home Team (2022). From 2016 to 2018, he played the titular role on CBS’s Kevin Can Wait, and he has appeared alongside Adam Sandler throughout the Grown Ups franchise.

In 2025, the actor played the role of Raymond Hayes in the action comedy film Guns Up.

James married actress Steffiana de la Cruz in 2004. The couple have four children: daughters Sienna-Marie (born in 2005) and Shea Joelle (born in 2007) and sons Kannon Valentine (born in 2011) and Sistine Sabella (born in 2015).