Gary Valentine Biography

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, to Janet, who had worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., who owned an insurance agency. He is of German descent. Valentine has two siblings: Kevin George Knipfing, known as Kevin James, an actor, and Leslie Knipfing.

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 heavier traffic in 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. He appeared in Paul Blart Mall Cop, its sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and in the comedy web series Dusty Peacock on Crackle. 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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Velocity Rules	Stunner	Short film
2003	Stuck on You	Wes
2007	Alive N' Kickin'	Gary	TV film
2007	I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry	Karl Eisendorf
2009	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	Karaoke Machine
2009	The Deported	Maury
2009	The Dog Who Saved Christmas	George Bannister	TV film
2010	Hosed	Smitty	Short film
2010	The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation	George Bannister	TV film
2011	Zookeeper	Pizza Guy
2011	Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury	Officer Murdock
2011	The Dog Who Saved Halloween	George Bannister	Direct-to-home-video
2011	Jack and Jill	Dallas
2012	Wrong	EMT
2012	Here Comes the Boom	Eric Voss
2012	The Dog Who Saved the Holidays	George Bannister	Direct-to-home-video
2015	The Dog Who Saved Summer	George Bannister	Direct-to-home-video
2015	Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2	Saul Gundermutt

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999-2007	The King of Queens	Danny Heffernan	81 episodes
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	Kevin Can Wait	Kyle Gable	4 episodes