Kevin James - Actor

Funnyman Kevin James has parlayed a successful run as a stand-up comedian and talk show guest into a career as a popular actor in Hollywood films. Most folks know James from his starring role on the hit sitcom King of Queens portraying Doug Heffernan, parcel deliveryman and husband of Carrie Heffernan played by Leah Remini.

Public domain photo courtesy Kingsays

Kevin James grew up on Long Island, New York and began performing stand-up comedy after dropping out of college in his early twenties. During his years on touring clubs doing his stand-up, Kevin met a then mostly unknown Ray Romano and the two became friends. After gaining popularity through countless guest appearances on late night and talk shows, James' big break came when Romano asked him to have a recurring role on Romano's wildly popular Everybody Loves Raymond. These guest spots led to the making of James' own sitcom, The King of Queens, which aired CBS from 1998 to 2007. James starred as an overweight and somewhat wacky parcel delivery man, Doug, and was married to Carrie (Leah Remini). James was nominated for an Emmy for this role in the popular program.

In 2005, Kevin debuted in his first movie, Hitch a romantic comedy. James received a good deal of praise for the role, and in 2006, again paired with Ray Romano in the comedy film Grilled and also did voice work in the animated movies Barnyard, and Monster House. The next year, Kevin teamed up with another buddy, Adam Sandler and appeared in two of his films. James had success with his 2009 comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which opened as the #1 film in North America and eventually made almost $220 million from ticket and home video purchases. James has several film projects in the works for 2011 and beyond, in addition to his occasional stand-up gigs that he still enjoys.

James has been married to Steffiana de la Cruz since 2004. She is an actress who appeared in several episodes of King of Queens. The couple have two children, one of which is named Shea, after the New York Mets ballpark.

Public domain photo courtesy Wikipedia/Angela George

The King of Queens is an American sitcom that ran for nine seasons, from 1998 to 2007, on CBS.

The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions (1998-2006), CBS Paramount Television (2007) in association with Columbia TriStar Television (1998-2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002-2007). It was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, USA.

After the series finale broadcast on May 14, 2007, The King of Queens became the last American live action sitcom that premiered in the 1990s to end its run on....(read more on Wikipedia)

Photos here courtesy Wikipedia or PicApp.