He rose to prominence for his portrayal of 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.

James graduated from Ward Melville High School,[6] where he reached the top position on the wrestling team, one spot above his friend and future professional wrestler Mick Foley.

[7] Both men went on to study at the State University of New York at Cortland, where James played halfback on the varsity football team until another back injury permanently ended his sporting ambitions.

[6] He also started performing comedy with a troupe at the club, during which time he adopted "James" as his stage surname in honor of his favorite school teacher.

[10] James' first television job was in 1991 on The New Candid Camera, where he used his comedy timing and improvisation skills playing the actor that pulled practical jokes on unsuspecting people.

He is married to Carrie (Leah Remini), a sharp-tongued, ambitious secretary at a Manhattan law firm who is far less content with working-class life in Queens.

For his work on the eighth season, James was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006.

He was nominated to be the inaugural member of the "Arm Fart Hall of Fame" in the following year's show, with host Jack Black calling him Kevin "Not-Quite-As-Good-As-Me" James.

After a cameo in 50 First Dates in 2004, James made his starring film debut in the 2005 romantic comedy Hitch, alongside Will Smith and Eva Mendes.

In 2006, he co-starred with his Everybody Loves Raymond colleague Ray Romano in the straight-to-video comedy Grilled, and provided voice work in the animated films Monster House and Barnyard, released on July 21 and August 4, respectively, of that year.

James also appeared in Grown Ups (2010), which co-starred numerous Saturday Night Live alumni and was even more universally panned, yet was highly successful at the box office[21] and led to a sequel in 2013.

[22] He starred as well in the movie Pixels in 2015 and the following year in True Memoirs of an International Assassin, directed by Jeff Wadlow and released by Netflix on November 11, 2016.

A web series titled Dusty Peacock produced by James and starring his brother Gary Valentine began streaming on Crackle in July 2009.