Gary Valentine

Gary Joseph Knipfing was born 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 Greek descent.^[4] Valentine has two siblings: Kevin George Knipfing, known as Kevin James, an actor and comedian; and Leslie Knipfing.^[5] Valentine and his siblings were raised in the Catholic faith.^[6]

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Valentine got his start in show business on the standup comedy stage. After an appearance at the Montreal Comedy Festival, he left 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. Valentine appeared on the television show Men of a Certain Age, which was written and directed by Ray Romano; the program received critical acclaim. Prior to Valentine's 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. 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 played Maury in the 2009 comedy The Deported.

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