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Kevin Hart is an American comedian, actor, screen writer, television and film producer known for his famous “Laugh at My Pain” – a 2011 stand-up comedy documentary film. Here are 50 interesting facts about Kevin Hart -
- His full name is Kevin Darnell Hart.
- He was born on July 6, 1979 in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- His father Henry Robert Witherspoon, was in and out of jail due to cocaine addiction, during most of Kevin’s childhood.
- His mother Nancy Hart, raised him along with his older brother – Robert Hart, while his father was in jail. Kevin portrays his mother as a loving yet intimidating woman.
- His relationship with his father has likely improved as his father has successfully recovered from the addiction. “My dad said I was supposed to be on drugs. I was like, ‘Dad, shut up,’ but then I thought about it, and it was stupid, but it made sense. He was saying that basically he was my example to never go down that road,” Kevin said.
- Kevin studied in George Washington High School in Northeast Philadelphia, and went to Temple University for two years. He later moved to New York City for graduation in Community College.
- Calling Philadelphia as the city of brotherly love, he recently made a big donation of $250,000 to the school district, of which he is an alumnus. According to the video he posted on Instagram, the money will be used to buy new computers.
- “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city,” Kevin said in an interview.
- For a small period of time, after his graduation, Kevin hoped for a future as successful shoe salesman in Brockton, Massachusetts. “I was a successful shoe salesman, one of the best in the business. I could break down anything about a sneaker: Polyurethane, etc., those are the things that I’m educated on,” Kevin said.
- Even as a little boy, Kevin had an obsession for stand-up comedy and comedians in general. Explaining about how he discovered his comic side, he once said “I was probably around eleven. My mom was about to whup me, whup me with a belt. I said something she couldn’t help but laugh at, and I thought I might be funny. Cause if I could stop a whupping with comedy, I’m doing the right thing.”
- He claimed “Sesame Street On Ice” to be the first concert he attended in life. He listed Chris Tucker and J.B. Smoove as some important influences in his life.
- He began pursuing a career in stand-up comedy while working as a salesman in Philadelphia. “I was going to work for Nike but then said I don’t wanna do it, let me start doing comedy,” he added.
- Kevin’s first show was at The Laff House in Philadelphia under the stage name of Lil’ Kev the Bastard which apparently was a failure, due to his attempt to imitate other comedians like Chris Tucker. Chicken Wings were reportedly thrown at him, during the show.
- “I was trying to be everybody,” he once said. “I was so confused. I didn’t know what to do.” But later, using his life experiences, he developed his unique style, which was a huge success, with the help of his mentor - veteran comedian, Keith Robinson.
- He took inspiration for his unique style from other black comedians such as Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Eddie Murphy.
- After improving through several competitions and shows, in Massachusetts, Kevin started performing regularly at clubs including - The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, Stand-Up NY, Carolines and The Boston Comedy Club.
- On 22 May 2003, Kevin married comedian Torrei Hart, a comedic and dramatic actress, producer, screen writer, and rising reality star. He met her attending community college and the duo fell in love, more like love at first sight and married soon after.
- The Harts have two children - daughter Heaven Leigh Hart born on 14 March 2005, and son Hendrix Hart, born on February 18, 2008.
- Heaven Leigh Hart is the father’s lucky kid as his career started to blossom after her birth.
- Kevin’s mother died in the year 2007, from cancer, a year before his son’s birth. She taught him a valuable lesson of faith, by saving the money he would require in a bible.
- As a coping mechanism to overcome the pain of losing his mother, Kevin used his unique style of comedy to make people laugh.
- Kevin and Torrei filed for divorce in February 2010, citing irreconcilable differences, which was finalized in November 2011. He requested joint custody of their two children.
- Kevin got his big break in the Judd Apatow’s TV series “Undeclared” in 2001, with his co-star Jason Segel, with whom he again acted in another Judd Apatow’s series – “North Hollywood.” In fact, he moved in with Jason during the series and is still good friends with the actor.
- Anthony Anderson is another close friend of Kevin, with whom he worked together in Scary Movie 3, the sequel of Scary Movie 2, released in the year 2003.
- With the takeoff of his stand-up comedy career in 2004, Kevin was given his own sitcom by ABC, The Big House, which was cancelled after just five episodes, due to very less reception.
- But still, with his stand-up album in 2006, “I’m a Little Grown Man,” Kevin cemented his status as one of best young comedy performers. His diminutive stature is one of the most common themes of his stand-up.
- Nearly 4 years after “I’m a Little Grown Man,” he released his second comedy album Seriously Funny which was more successful in comparison.
- His 2011’s Laugh at My Pain tour was notably the biggest success in his career, making him a star. The tour encompassed over 90 cities, with a gross exceeding $15 million – the most successful comedy tour of 2011. It was later made into a concert documentary.
- His recurring line in Laugh at My Pain, “All right, all right, all right,” quickly became a favorite catchphrase among audiences.
- “The jokes,” Kevin said in one interview, “come from a real place.” He added that the idea was to “let them see what I see, but through my eyes.”
- His Twitter description also reads something along the lines - “I’m telling my story & It’s helping me make HISTORY.”
- Kevin made his debut in the film Paper Soldiers, but then came to prominence from his other movies including - the Scary Movie franchise, Soul Plane, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Death at a Funeral, and Little Fockers.
- His roles as Doug in “The Five-Year Engagement (2012)” and as Cedric in “Think Like a Man (2012)” were some of the most famous among the 60 roles he played as an actor.
- His role as Ben in Ride Along (2012) bought him huge success, even though the movie received negative reviews. However, Ride Along was a big box office success. In 2015, he starred in a film ‘Get Hard’ with Will Ferrel.
- As a producer, Kevin had his hands in Let Me Explain, Keep It Together, Back of the Bus Funny, Plastic Cup Boyz, and also co-created Real Husbands of Hollywood with Chris Spencer.
- In the “Let Me Explain” tour, Kevin dealt with the developments in his life, including how his love marriage with wife Torrie fell apart.
- Apart from acting and producing, he has hosted a number of ceremonies including the 2011 Bet Awards, the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, and two episodes of Saturday Night Live. Early this year, he hosted the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber.
- Kevin, as a writer, has worked on various series such has Comedy Central Presents (TV Series 2004), Def Comedy Jam (TV Series 2006), Just for Laughs (2009), Seriously Funny (2010), Chocolate Sundaes Comedy Show: Live on Sunset Strip(2010).
- He has made small appearance in Music video for Terror Squad: “Lean Back” in 2004, DJ Felli Fel’s music video, “Get Buck In Here” in the year 2008, TV commercial for New Ford Explorer in 2010.
- Kevin has an app game listed on the iTunes Store named “Little Jumpman,” available for 99 cents which is quite similar to the popular Doodle Jump game. The features a comical cartoon version of Hart, which has to be guided by the players through series of platforms, dodging obstacles to rack up the most points possible.
- In August 2014, Kevin popped the question to model Eniko Parrish – model and actress from Baltimore, Maryland who moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career – at her 30th birthday party – coincidentally the same night when his ex-wife Torrei’s new show Atlanta Exes premiered. He posted a video of the proposal and an image on Instagram with the caption “She said YEEEEESSSSS…… #Happy #MyRib #iFuckingLoveHer.”
- Parrish tweeted “I said YES!!!!! To the most amazing man in the world.. Thirty as been GREAT to me thus far, I wouldn’t trade it for anything..Thanks to my dearest friends, fam, and the LOVE of my life..for making this day a memorable one! You all hold a special place in my heart!”
- His ex-wife Torrie accused Parrish for being the reason for their divorce and said in an interview with the Entertainment Tonight that “It does hurt that my kids have to be around a woman who broke up a marriage. was with [Kevin] when he was selling sneakers for five dollars an hour. I was at every show. I was at his first show where he ever did standup … I was his muse. I was there from the beginning.” Immediately Kevin, in Parrish’s defense tweeted that Parrish has nothing to do with the divorce.
- However, it seems that the ladies have finally made peace, as they even hang out together at the kids’ hoops games. Torrie has also stated that Kevin was being so supportive and has he even let her pick out ANY vehicle she wanted.
- Kevin, as a comedian, has won a number of awards including the Bet Award for Best Actor for Laugh at My Pain in the year 2012. The year 2014 has probably been his one of the best times with nearly 7 awards – NAACP Image Award – Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (Real Husbands of Hollywood, which also received the Outstanding Comedy Series Award), – Entertainer of the Year, – Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award – Favorite Funny Star, – Acalpulco Black Film Festival – Artist of the Year (Let Me Explain, This Is the End, Grudge Match), – Teen Choice Award – Choice Movie Actor: Comedy (role in Ride Along) and Choice Comedian award.
- He was also honored as the Comedic Genius by MTV Movie Award this year. He brought his kids Heaven and Hendrix to the stage to accept the award.
- He has received a number of nominations starting with his The Big House work till the most recent The Wedding Ringer.
- Kevin also has a number of movies in the pipeline such as Ride Along 2 – sequel of Ride Along, Central Intelligence, Captain Underpants, What’s Now? and The Secret Life of Pets.
- His style of stand-up comedy is said to have incorporated elements from the four “Kings of Comedy” - Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac.
- ABC is reportedly in the process of producing a 30-Minute Pilot based on Kevin’s style of stand-up comedy, with him featuring on a recurring role as time goes on.
