---
name: "Kevin James"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/kevin-james"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "26 April 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 30
updated: "2026-09-16T15:11:51.667018+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Kevin James

Actor. Born 26 April 1965 in Mineola, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 26 April 1965, Mineola, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2013–2015
- **Also known as:** Kevin George Knipfing
- **Works often with:** Tim Herlihy

## Fi1m on Kevin James

> Kevin James is an agile physical comic with an approachable, vulnerable presence. We wish his films made more demands of him: *Grown Ups 2* shows how little an agreeable performer can do with exhausted jokes.

Kevin James looks comfortable alongside Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and David Spade in *Grown Ups 2* (2013), sometimes agreeably so. He can make their company seem inviting even when the material is poor. That warmth matters, but his physical assurance and timing give us reason to expect more than a familiar face. We rate him as a comic actor; too many of his films ask too little of him.

The television years made good use of that approachable quality: in *The King of Queens* (1998–2007), his Doug Heffernan was a parcel delivery man. James's physical timing gave the familiar working-man role something more than a friendly face. In *Hitch* (2005), the lovelorn accountant Albert gave his vulnerability a place in a romantic comedy. In *Paul Blart: Mall Cop* (2009), physical comedy became the main attraction, with James taking the lead as a shopping-centre security guard.

His repeated collaborations with Sandler have also brought the danger of everyone looking too pleased to be there. In *Grown Ups 2*, the car wash supplies a little welcome silliness, but the bodily jokes keep returning and the family lessons arrive dutifully. We were bored by the cast's prolonged mugging because it kept scenes going after their comic possibilities had run out. James shares the blame; his ease with the others occasionally makes them pleasant to watch, yet nobody seems willing to let a weak gag finish. A performer with his timing ought to recognise when there is nothing left to play.

The dramatic thriller *Becky* (2020), in which he plays Dominick, takes him outside the ordinary-man comedies that have so often employed him. He need not abandon comedy to find something more demanding. We would be just as interested in a comedy that gave his vulnerability more to do and trusted him to stop when the joke was finished. Start with *Hitch* for that softer side; *Grown Ups 2* can safely wait.

## Biography

Kevin James, born Kevin George Knipfing, is an American actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian on Long Island in the late 1980s.

James rose to prominence playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom *The King of Queens* (1998–2007), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006. His film roles include *50 First Dates* (2004), *Hitch* (2005), *Grown Ups* (2010) and *Grown Ups 2* (2013) as Eric Lamonsoff, *Pixels* (2015) as Cooper, and voice work as Frankenstein in the *Hotel Transylvania* films (2012–2018). He later starred in the sitcom *Kevin Can Wait* (2016–2018).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Pixels* (2015), Fi1m 36, as Cooper — [page](https://film.one/film/pixels.md)
- *Grown Ups 2* (2013), Fi1m 24, as Eric Lamonsoff — [page](https://film.one/film/grown-ups-2.md)

## Also known for

- *Hotel Transylvania* (2012), Frankenstein (voice)
- *50 First Dates* (2004), Factory Worker
- *Grown Ups* (2010), Eric Lamonsoff
- *Hitch* (2005), Albert
- *Hotel Transylvania 2* (2015), Frankenstein (voice)
- *Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation* (2018), Frankenstein (voice)
- *Monster House* (2006), Officer Landers (voice)
- *You Don't Mess with the Zohan* (2008), Hacky Sack Tournament Celebrity Judge

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kevin-james