Gary Valentine

Gary Joseph Knipfing (born November 22, 1961), better known by his stage name Gary Valentine, is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is the older brother of actor Kevin James. He starred as Danny Heffernan in The King of Queens (1998–2007) as Kevin James' (Doug Heffernan's) cousin.

For original Blondie songwriter/bass player with the same stage name, see Gary Lachman.
Gary Valentine
Birth nameGary Joseph Knipfing
Born (1961-11-22) November 22, 1961
Mineola, New York, U.S.
Years active1993–present
SpouseJackyline Knipfing
Relative(s)Kevin James (brother)

Early life

Valentine was born Gary Joseph Knipfing in Mineola, New York,[1][2] to Janet, who worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., who owned an insurance agency.[2][3] His family is of German and Jewish descent.[4] Valentine has two siblings: Kevin George Knipfing, known as Kevin James, an actor and comedian, and Leslie Knipfing.[5] Gary and his siblings were raised in the Catholic faith.[6]

Career

Valentine got his start in show business on the standup 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. He 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 and hosted 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 roundtable comedian on the 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! show Chelsea Lately.[7]

He appeared in Paul Blart Mall Cop, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and in the comedy web series Dusty Peacock on Crackle.[8] 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.

From 2016-2018, Valentine co-starred in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait.[9]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Velocity Rules Stunner Short film
2003 Stuck on You Wes
2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Karl Eisendorf
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Karaoke Singer
2009 The Deported Maury
2010 Hosed Smitty Short film
2011 Zookeeper Pizza Guy
2011 Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury Officer Murdock
2011 The Dog Who Saved Halloween George Bannister
2011 Jack and Jill Dallas
2012 Wrong EMT
2012 Here Comes the Boom Eric Voss
2012 The Dog Who Saved the Holidays George Bannister
2015 The Dog Who Saved Summer George Bannister
2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Saul Gundermutt
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1999–2007 The King of Queens Danny Heffernan 81 episodes
2007 Alive N' Kickin' Gary Television film
2009 The Dog Who Saved Christmas George Bannister Television film
2010 The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation George Bannister Television film
2011 Men of a Certain Age Gambler at Craps Table "Let the Sunshine In" (season 2: episode 6)
2014 Fargo Deputy Knudsen 5 episodes
2016–2018 Kevin Can Wait Kyle Gable Main cast

References
  1. "Kevin George Knipfing". Ancestry.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  2. "Kevin James Biography". FilmReference.com.
  3. "NewsLibrary Search Results". Nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  4. "Kevin James: "Bleib dir treu"". Showbiz.de. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  5. "Kevin James Biography". Yahoo! Movies.
  6. Mark Pattison (October 9, 2012). "Comic actor Kevin James wants to 'glorify God in every way'". TheCatholicSpirit.com. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  7. "Gary Valentine". Entertainment Studios. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010.
  8. "Kevin James, Gary Valentine Get Reckless on 'Dusty Peacock'". Tilzy.tv. July 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  9. Petski, Denise (March 22, 2016). "Lenny Venito & Gary Valentine Join Kevin James' CBS Comedy Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
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