Burly funnyman Kevin James -- born April 26, 1965, in Stony Brook, N.Y. -- played college football before becoming a professional comedian, a move aided by his friendship with comic Ray Romano, who had a television show.
After portraying a recurring character on "Everybody Loves Raymond," in 1998 James was cast in a spinoff that turned into the hit series "The King of Queens." Starring as Doug Heffernan, a beer-loving, working-class everyman, James copped a 2006 Emmy nomination as Best Actor in a Comedy for his work on the show's eighth (and final) season.
James made his feature-film debut in 2004 with a small part opposite Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in 50 First Dates. Landing a high-profile big-screen role with 2005's Hitch (starring Will Smith), James proved that he's as deft at the romance genre as he is at making people laugh.
