Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Kevin Hart

Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. After winning several stand-up comedy competitions, Hart had his first breakthrough when Judd Apatow cast him in a recurring role on the TV series Undeclared (2001). Hart's comedic reputation continued to grow with the release of his first stand-up album I'm a Grown Little Man (2009). He has since released four more comedy albums: Seriously Funny (2010), Laugh at My Pain (2011), Let Me Explain (2013), and What Now? (2016).

This profile of Kevin Hart covers Early Life and Family Background, Stand-up, Film and television roles, Laugh Out Loud Productions and Hosting.

As an actor, Hart has had roles in films such as Paper Soldiers (2002), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Soul Plane (2004), In the Mix (2005), Little Fockers (2010), Think Like a Man (2012), Grudge Match (2013), Ride Along (2014), About Last Night (2014), Get Hard (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016–2019), Ride Along 2 (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), the Jumanji film franchise (2017–present), and Night School (2018). He also created and starred as a fictionalized version of himself in Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013–2016). In 2017, he launched the Laugh Out Loud Network, a subscription video streaming service in partnership with Lionsgate.

Hart has received numerous accolades including the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2024, and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2015, Time magazine named him on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Early Life and Family Background of Kevin Hart

Kevin Darnell Hart was born in Philadelphia on July 6, 1979, to Nancy Hart (died 2007) and Henry Robert Witherspoon (died 2022). He has an older brother named Robert. He was raised in a single-parent household by his mother, who worked as a systems analyst for the Office of Student Registration and Financial Services at the University of Pennsylvania. His father was a cocaine addict who was in and out of jail throughout most of Hart's childhood, prompting Hart to use humor as a way to cope with his troubled family life. His relationship with his father improved after his father recovered from his addiction. He would also later talk about his mother in his stand-up routine, portraying her as a loving yet intimidating woman.

As a teenager, Hart had aspirations of becoming a basketball player. He was a participant at the La Salle basketball camp with future National Basketball Association hall of famer Kobe Bryant and future political commentator and activist Marc Lamont Hill.

After graduating from George Washington High School, Hart briefly attended the Community College of Philadelphia before dropping out and moving to New York City. He spent some time working as a shoe salesman.

Stand-up of Kevin Hart

Hart's first stand-up performance took place at The Laff House in his native Philadelphia under the name of Lil Kev, which did not go well. His career suffered a slow start and he was booed offstage several times, once even having a piece of chicken thrown at him. After those initial unsuccessful shows, he began entering comedy competitions throughout Massachusetts, with audience receptions eventually improving. It took time for Hart to develop a unique comedic style. After an early period of attempting to imitate comedians like Chris Tucker, he found his own rhythm by delving into his insecurities and life experiences. He said, "Because of what I do, it has to be an open book. But right now, this is a book that is being written."

Hart's comedy tours began in 2009 with his act titled I'm a Grown Little Man, followed by Seriously Funny in 2010, Laugh at My Pain in 2011, and Let Me Explain in 2013, the last two of which were also released as features in theaters. Hart grossed over $15 million from "Laugh at My Pain", making it one of the year's top-selling comedy tours. Hart also has a game app available through iTunes called "Little Jumpman". His Facebook page, Twitter account, and YouTube channel are all connected to and accessible through this app. Most overseas fans of Hart discovered him on YouTube, as well.

On April 9, 2015, Hart embarked on a comedy world tour titled the What Now? Tour at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, which concluded on August 7, 2016, at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia. On July 16, 2015, Universal Pictures announced that Kevin Hart: What Now?, a stand-up comedy film featuring a performance of Hart's What Now? Tour, would be theatrically released in the United States on October 14, 2016. The show was filmed live on August 30, 2015, in front of 53,000 people, at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

In 2025, Hart performed as a headliner in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival, an event taking place from September 26 to October 9. The comedy festival overlaps with the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, prompting Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, to say in a statement that the Saudi government is using the comedy festival to whitewash its human rights abuses. Hart has performed in the region before, the first time taking place in January, 2023.

Film and television roles

Hart had a guest appearance in the 2002 sitcom, Undeclared. He made his film debut in the 2002 film Paper Soldiers. Hart then had other film roles such as the Scary Movie franchise, Soul Plane, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Death at a Funeral and Little Fockers. He turned down a role in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder because the character is gay, citing his own "insecurities".

He played Doug in the film The Five-Year Engagement (2012) and appeared in Think Like a Man which was a box office success. He also appeared in the sequel. He had a cameo as himself in This Is the End. In 2013, Hart played a boxing promoter in Grudge Match and appeared in Exit Strategy as Mannequin Head Man. He also appeared in 35 and Ticking. In 2013, Hart co-created Real Husbands of Hollywood with Chris Spencer. The show follows Hart along with other married celebrities (each playing a comical fictionalized version of themselves) within the series including: Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J. B. Smoove, Nick Cannon and Robin Thicke. Thicke did not return for the second season due to his music career, though Hart has stated that the door is open for him to return. The series is filmed in a style similar to Bravo's The Real Housewives. Episodes often hinge on the "real" Hart's desperately unsuccessful attempts to climb Hollywood's celebrity social ladder (which always backfire in humiliating ways), and the character's barely-hidden envy of his more successful celebrity friends. A sneak peek was shown as a segment during the 2012 BET Awards and the official promo was released in October 2012.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Hart), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.