Gary Valentine

Gary Joseph Knipfing (born November 22, 1961), known professionally by his stage name Gary Valentine, is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is the older brother of actor Kevin James.

Personal life

Valentine was born Gary Joseph Knipfing in Mineola, New York,^[1][2] to Janet, who had worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., who owned an insurance agency.^[2][3] He is of German descent.^[4] Valentine has two siblings: Kevin George Knipfing, known as Kevin James, an actor, and Leslie Knipfing.^[5]

Career

Valentine got his start in show business on the stand up comedy stage. After an appearance at the Montreal Comedy Festival, he left his native New York for Los Angeles. There, he quickly landed spots on various talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has been headlining comedy clubs and theaters for the past fifteen years.

He is best known for his role as Danny Heffernan on The King of Queens, playing the cousin of principal character Doug Heffernan (performed by his real life brother Kevin James) for nine seasons. Elsewhere on the small screen, he notably appeared on the television show Men of a Certain Age, which was written and directed by Ray Romano, and met with critical acclaim. Prior to his run on the series, he starred in his own half-hour special on Comedy Central along with hosting The X Show on FX.

On the big screen, Valentine has appeared in Stuck on You and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He also had a cameo in Jerry Seinfeld's documentary, Comedian. More recently, he makes occasional appearances as a round table comedian on the popular E! Network late-night talk show Chelsea Lately, and also takes part in the Dusty Peacock web series on Crackle.

Valentine performs comedy tours in clubs across the country. He's been a frequent guest comedian on shows such as Comics Unleashed and the E!'s show Chelsea Lately.^[6] He appeared in Paul Blart Mall Cop, its sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and in the comedy web series Dusty Peacock on Crackle.^[7] Valentine also appeared as George Bannister in the movies The Dog Who Saved Christmas (2009), The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation (2010) and The Dog Who Saved Halloween (2011). He also played "Maury" in the 2009 comedy The Deported. He co-hosted The X Show. Most recently, Valentine was executive producer of an upcoming new TV series, The Bachelor Chronicles.

In 2016, Valentine began starring in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait.^[8]

Filmography

References

External links

• Gary Valentine on IMDb