A native of New York Gary Valentine made his name as a stand up comedian, performing in comedy festivals nationwide and headlining at the Montreal Comedy Festival. He then moved to Los Angeles, and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He went on to have his own half hour comedy special on Comedy Central Presents & co-hosted The X Show. In 2001 he was recruited to play Danny Heffernan, cousin of main character Doug Heffernan. He went on to become a regular member of the show and has co-written several episodes.