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). He has since 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).
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). In 2015, Time magazine named him on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[1] In 2017, he launched the Laugh Out Loud Network, a subscription video streaming service in partnership with Lionsgate.
Early life
Kevin Darnell Hart[2] was born in Philadelphia on July 6, 1979,[3] the son of Nancy Hart (died 2007)[4] and Henry Robert Witherspoon (died 2022).[3][5] He has an older brother named Robert.[2] 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.[2] 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.[3] His relationship with his father improved after his father recovered from his addiction.[4] He would also later talk about his mother in his stand-up routine, portraying her as a loving yet intimidating woman.[6]
As a teenager, Hart had aspirations of becoming a basketball player. He was a participant at the La Salle basketball camp with future NBA hall of famer Kobe Bryant and future political commentator and activist Marc Lamont Hill. [7] [8][9]
After graduating from George Washington High School, Hart briefly attended the Community College of Philadelphia before dropping out and moving to New York City.[10][11][12] While some sources claimed that Hart spent time living in Brockton, Massachusetts,[12] Hart later clarified that he had never lived in Massachusetts.[13] He spent some time working as a shoe salesman.