Kevin George Knipfing, known professionally as Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. James began his career by performing stand-up comedy at clubs on Long Island in the 1980s. He rose to prominence in the 2000s for playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007), for which he received the nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006.