Gary Valentine

{{for-multi|the fictional aspiring actor named Gary Valentine|Licorice Pizza|the original Blondie songwriter/bass player with the same stage name|Gary Lachman}}

{{Infobox comedian

| name = Gary Valentine

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Gary Joseph Knipfing

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|11|22}}

| birth_place = Mineola, New York, U.S.

| years_active = 1993–present

| spouse = Jackyline Knipfing

| relatives = Kevin James (brother)

}}

Gary Joseph Knipfing (born November 22, 1961), known professionally as Gary Valentine, is an American actor and comedian. He is the older brother of actor Kevin James. Valentine starred as Kevin James' (Doug Heffernan's) cousin Danny Heffernan in The King of Queens (1998–2007) and as Kevin James' (Kevin Gable's) older brother Kyle Gable in Kevin Can Wait (2016-2018). Valentine has appeared in numerous Happy Madison Productions.

Early life

Gary Joseph Knipfing was born in Mineola, New York{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/kjames.htm|work=Ancestry.com|title=Kevin George Knipfing|access-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023034931/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/kjames.htm|archive-date=October 23, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/52/Kevin-James.html|title=Kevin James Biography|website=FilmReference.com}} to Janet, who worked in a chiropractor's office, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., who owned an insurance agency.{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10F905C07077FD50&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=NewsLibrary Search Results|website=Nl.newsbank.com|access-date=August 5, 2017}} His family is of German and Greek descent.{{cite web |url=http://www.showbiz.de/stars/kevin-james-bleib-dir-treu-57178.html |title=Kevin James: "Bleib dir treu" |website=Showbiz.de |access-date=October 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022213311/http://www.showbiz.de/stars/kevin-james-bleib-dir-treu-57178.html |archive-date=22 October 2014 |url-status=dead}} Valentine has two siblings: Kevin George Knipfing, known as Kevin James, an actor and comedian; and Leslie Knipfing.{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804503486/bio|work=Yahoo! Movies|title=Kevin James Biography}} Valentine and his siblings were raised in the Catholic faith.{{cite web|author=Mark Pattison|url=http://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/comic-actor-kevin-james-wants-to-glorify-god-in-every-way|title=Comic actor Kevin James wants to 'glorify God in every way'|publisher=TheCatholicSpirit.com|date=October 9, 2012|access-date=December 20, 2016}}

Career

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.es.tv/comics-unleashed/category/comedians/gary-valentine|title=Gary Valentine|publisher=Entertainment Studios|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103052330/http://www.es.tv/comics-unleashed/category/comedians/gary-valentine/|archive-date=November 3, 2010}}

He appeared in Paul Blart Mall Cop, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and in the comedy web series Dusty Peacock on Crackle.{{cite news|url=http://www.tilzy.tv/kevin-james-gary-valentine-get-reckless-on-dusty-peacock.htm|title=Kevin James, Gary Valentine Get Reckless on 'Dusty Peacock'|website=Tilzy.tv|date=July 17, 2009|access-date=July 23, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722140442/http://www.tilzy.tv/kevin-james-gary-valentine-get-reckless-on-dusty-peacock.htm|archive-date=July 22, 2009}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/03/lenny-venito-gary-valentine-kevin-james-cbs-comedy-series-1201724453/|title=Lenny Venito & Gary Valentine Join Kevin James' CBS Comedy Series|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Denise|last=Petski|date=March 22, 2016|access-date=June 8, 2017}}