The Show “The King of Queens” Cast, Pictures, and Trivia!
This is a comedy about an average working-class couple that live in Queens, New York, named Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini).
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Carrie works as a secretary in a Manhattan law firm, while Doug works as a delivery man for a fictional company called, “IPS or International Parcel Service”. With them, lives Carrie’s annoying, demanding and very eccentric father, Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller). Arthur is almost like a child in that he needs someone with him most of the time, which is why they eventually hire dog walker, Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), who is able to spend time with him, while at the same time walking her dogs in the park.
Some of the other main characters on the show consist of Doug and Carrie’s best friends, Deacon (Victor Williams) and Kelly (Merrin Dungey) Palmer, Richie Iannucchi (Larry Romano), Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt) and Danny Heffernan (Gary Valentine).
Doug Heffernan (Kevin James)-Doug is a funny and kind man, but with a somewhat smart-aleck attitude. He has a great love for food and is slightly overweight due to this problem and he is always thinking up schemes and plans to try and get the things that he wants. Unfortunately, most of the time they do not work out. This of course tends to cause fights with his wife, Carrie, not to mention that he has great difficulty not giving in to the many temptations that he is so often faced with, which even if he has promised her he will not give in, he tends to do anyway, being somewhat of a pushover. And like so many men, he also enjoys playing poker, watching sports and just lying around or playing with his friends. He does, however, truly love his wife, despite their many squabbles.
Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini)-Carrie is the smart-mouthed, sassy wife of Doug. A woman who is hard-working and intelligent but who is also tough and at times classified as “scary” by other people, especially Holly and Doug. She is constantly pushing her husband to become something more and improve himself, when all he wants to do is live a life with as few restrictions as he can possible get away with. She also wants their relationship to be more romantic, which Doug simply wants no part of much of the time, as well as not wanting to improve his morals, which is also something that is often pushed upon him by his often aggressive wife. On the other hand, Carrie is quite often unscrupulous herself, although she rarely can bring herself to admit this. But through it all, she does have a true and lasting love for her husband, no matter how many things he does to annoy her.
Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller)-Arthur is the eccentric, annoying and slightly erratic father of Carrie and her half-sister, Sara Spooner (Lisa Rieffel). Now living in the basement of his daughter and son-in-law’s home thanks to his accidental “torching” of his own house, which was uninsured, Arthur is a man of many sides, although most of them tend to lean toward crazy or annoying. He is well known for telling stories that have a questionable validity to them, not to mention his many angry and surly outbursts which are so often completely and totally incomprehensible. He does, however, have his endearing moments, which is how Doug and Carrie are able to stand him the rest of the time.
Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams)-Deacon is the best friend of Doug, definitely the more responsible of the two, tall, good-looking, athletic and the classic “family man”. Married to Carrie’s best friend, Kelly, the couple has two sons, Kirby and Major as well as a rather constant flow of relationship issues also. Deacon is a graduate of St. John’s University in Queens, volunteers for both the National Guard and also as a “big brother” and yet still manages to spend plenty of time with his best friend.
Kelly Palmer (Merrin Dungey)-Kelly is the wife of Deacon and the best friend of Carrie. Attractive and bright, Kelly is very similar to her former high school classmate and close friend. Unfortunately, the relationship issues that occur between Kelly and her husband are not just a fight or squabble here and there but become more serious over time.
Richie Iannucci (Larry Romano)-Richie is Doug’s former roommate before his marriage to Carrie, as well as a former school classmate. A slight con-artist, he is also an FDNY firefighter and a true ladies’ man. Also a very close friend of Doug’s, Richie likes to call him “Moose” as a regular nickname.
Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt)-Spence is another close friend of Doug’s but is definitely considered to be the nerd of the group, as well as the most fragile. He is asthmatic for one, has an allergy to peanuts, and is constantly thinking that he has numerous other health issues also. Unable to really assert himself due to his many supposed health problems and his very overbearing and also rather unstable mother, he spends much of his time doing things such as reading comic books, watching fantasy movies and taking great interest in the world of science fiction. He is originally from rural West Virginia, is of Albanian descent and works as a subway toll booth clerk.
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Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan)-Holly is the overdrinking, insecure but cheerful woman who is both a family friend of the Heffernans as well as an employee. Hired by Doug and Carrie to “walk” Arthur when she walks her dogs, Holly’s personality is gentle and easygoing which allows her to deal with Arthur and his constant tomfoolery and also makes it possible for her to be nice to Carrie, despite the mistreatment she sometimes receives from her.
Danny Heffernan (Gary Valentine)-Danny is Doug’s cousin and after some time passes becomes good friends with him as well. He hangs out with Doug, Spence and Deacon, owns a pizza place and is also divorced from a woman by the name of Eva. He, like Spence, also suffers from asthma.
My Opinion
This series is funny and has very talented actors in the roles. It keeps things fairly light-hearted but is also very enjoyable to watch. I give this series 7 out of 10.
The Cast
Doug Heffernan-Kevin James
Carrie Heffernan-Leah Remini
Arthur Spooner-Jerry Stiller
Deacon Palmer-Victor Williams
Kelly Palmer-Merrin Dungey
Richie Iannucci-Larry Romano
Holly Shumpert-Nicole Sullivan
Spence Olchin-Patton Oswalt
Danny Heffernan-Gary Valentine
Recurring Cast
Lou Ferrigno-Lou Ferrigno
Phil-Mookie Barker
Supervisor Patrick O’Boyle-Sam McMurray
Janet Heffernan-Jenny O’Hara
Joe Heffernan-Dakin Matthews
Doug Pruzan Esq.-Alex Skuby
Jimmy-Jimmy Shubert
Lisa-Nikki Tyler-Flynn
Kaplan-Victor Raider-Wexler
Gus-Nick Bakay
George Barksdale-Gerry Black
Veronica-Anne Meara and Grace Zabriskie
Bald Man-Richie Minervini
Eddie-Bobby DiVito
Mickey-Ford Rainey
Amy-Christine Gonzales
Flora-Pamela Kosh
Gloria-Amy Stiller
Young Doug-Tyler Hendrickson
Cashier-Peggy Lane
Kirby Palmer-Marshaun Daniel
Sara Spooner-Lisa Rieffel
Trivia
Kevin James’ (Doug Heffernan) wife, Steffiana De La Cruz, played in four different episodes of the show’s nine year run. She played different characters every time.
Leah Remini auditioned for the part of Monica Geller on the wildly popular series, “Friends”, but the role went instead to actress, Courtney Cox.
Gary Valentine (Danny Heffernan) and Kevin James are actually brothers in real life.
Patton Oswalt’s (Spence Olchin) father was a U.S. Marine Corps officer and named his son after General George S. Patton.
The character Kevin James plays on The King of Queens, Doug Heffernan, was also played by him on three other series, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “Cosby” and “Becker”.
Nicole Sullivan’s (Holly Shumpert) father was a New York State assemblyman from 1977 to 2002.
Victor Williams (Deacon Palmer) is 6′ 6″ and played power forward on his high school basketball team.
The King of Queens was the very last American live action sitcom to have begun in the 1990’s and have ended its run.
Jerry Stiller (Arthur Spooner) and Anne Meara (Veronica) are married to each other in real life and have been for sixty years.
Larry Romano is not related to actor Ray Romano.
Kevin James real name is Kevin Knipfing, but both he and his brother Gary Valentine changed their names for show business.
Merrin Dungey (Kelly Palmer) appeared in the pilot episode of the television series. “Private Practice” as Dr. Naomi Bennett, but was replaced for the rest of the series by actress Audra McDonald.
Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller are the parents of actor Ben Stiller.
On the series, Doug’s parent’s first names are Janet and Joe. Kevin James’ parents are also named Janet and Joe.
Patton Oswalt teamed up with the group, PETA in 2013, to speak out against the practice of chaining up pet dogs. He sent a letter to both the mayor as well as members of the city council of Newport News, Virginia, in order to persuade them to ban the practice.
Leah Remini (Carrie Heffernan) is described by co-star Kevin James as having “”the mouth of a construction worker in the body of a model.”
On the show, Doug occasionally will yell out the word, “Yuspa!” if something causes him pain or he is shocked. Yuspa, is actually the last name of one of his co-executive producers, Cathy Yuspa.
Nicole Sullivan has two sons with her husband, actor Jason Packham.
During season one, Carrie’s half-sister, Sara Spooner (Lisa Rieffel) appears several times. But after season one, she is never referred to again.
Kevin James is listed on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians at #89.
In one episode of the show called, “Dougie Houser”, Doug wears a rocket-pack. This is the same rocket-pack used in the film, “The Rocketeer”.
Leah Remini’s husband, Angelo Pagan, guest-starred on the series six times.
All the outside shots of Doug and Carrie’s house were stock footage that was originally filmed for the short-lived series, “Sibs” in 1991. The real life address of the house is 519 Longview Avenue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
Jerry Stiller and his wife Anne Meara, were a comedy team that was very popular in the 1960’s and 70’s, including a number of appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show”.
Larry Romano (Richie Iannucci) left the show part way through, in order to work on the series, “Kristin”.
Kevin James and his wife have three children and are pregnant with their fourth, due in 2015.
Actor Ray Romano, who played Raymond Barone on the popular series, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, also played his character several times on The King of Queens as well. His presence on the show was popular enough to also bring about the additional appearances of the other lead members of Everybody Loves Raymond, Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton), Robert Barone (Brad Garrett), Marie Barone (Doris Roberts) and Frank Barone (Peter Boyle).
Nicole Sullivan won the first edition of the series, “Celebrity Poker Showdown”. Her charity, “Alley Cat Allies” received $100,000, thanks to her victory.
The part of Arthur Spooner was actually developed with actor Jerry Stiller in mind, however, Stiller originally turned the role down, so it was cast with comedian Jack Carter instead. After the pilot was shot, Stiller decided to change his mind, so Carter was let go and the pilot episode re-shot.
The characters of Doug and Carrie are actually based on Ralph (Jackie Gleason) and Alice (Audrey Meadows) Kramden from the short-lived series, “The Honeymooners” from 1955.
Kevin James went to high school and was the wrestling teammate of future WWE star, Mick Foley, also known as “Mankind”.
Leah Remini is married to Angelo Pagan and they have one child together, a daughter named Sofia.
Jerry Stiller had a popular recurring role on the incredibly popular television series, “Seinfeld” as Frank Costanza,
Victor Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York.
The opening sequence of the show for the first season was simply an 8 second sequence with a subway train window moving and quickly stopping at the show’s original logo. The rest of the series shows Doug getting onto an IPS truck and driving under a bridge where the show’s logo is placed digitally, as if it is a street sign, then suddenly cuts to shots of Carrie, Doug and Arthur in different places in Queens, while all the while hearing the song, “All My Life I Will Be Driving Home To You”. There was, however, one exception, and that was in the second season where Kevin James’ starring credit was placed over top of the Brooklyn Bridge with a shot of the Manhattan skyline. This of course was changed and re-edited after the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Patton Oswalt’s favorite movie is “Six Pack”.
Kevin James and Ray Romano are very close friends and met during their time on the comedy circuit, doing stand-up comedy.
Nicole Sullivan played the “Vancome Lady” on MADtv.
Merrin Dungey graduated from UCLA and is the youngest recipient of the UCLA Acting Award.
The two main series that Jerry Stiller appeared on with regularity, Seinfeld and The King of Queens, both aired their season finales on the same day, May 14th (1998 and 2007).
