Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. From 1987 to 1995, Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House, and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel Fuller House (2016–2020). He additionally was the original host of America's Funniest Home Videos (1989–1997), and the voice of narrator Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014).
Bob Saget | |
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Birth name | Robert Lane Saget |
Born | (1956-05-17)May 17, 1956 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | January 9, 2022(2022-01-09) (aged 65) Orange County, Florida, U.S. |
Resting place | Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Medium |
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Education | Abington Senior High School |
Alma mater | Temple University (BA) |
Years active | 1977–2022 |
Genres |
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Spouse |
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Children | 3 |
Website | bobsaget |
Saget was also known for his adult-oriented stand-up comedy,[1] and his 2014 album That's What I'm Talkin' About was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.[2]
Saget was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1956,[3] to a Jewish family. His father, Benjamin, was a supermarket executive,[4] and his mother, Rosalyn "Dolly", was a hospital administrator.[5] Early in his life, Saget's family moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he briefly attended Lake Taylor High. Saget would later attribute the start of his developing sense of humor to being a rebellious student at Norfolk's Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue.[6][7] Due to a lack of family in Virginia, Saget had his bar mitzvah in Philadelphia when he turned 13.[8] Saget's family moved from Virginia to the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, where he met Larry Fine of The Three Stooges and heard various stories from Fine.[9] The family would then move back to Philadelphia prior to his senior year[8][10][11] with Saget graduating from Abington Senior High School.[12][13][14] Saget originally intended to become a doctor, but his Honors English teacher, Elaine Zimmerman, saw his creative potential and urged him to seek a career in films.[1][15]
Saget attended Temple University's film school, where he created Through Adam's Eyes, a black-and-white film about a boy who received reconstructive facial surgery, and was honored with an award of merit in the Student Academy Awards. While attending Temple, Saget made trips via train to The Improv and to Catch a Rising Star in New York City where he would play "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" while using a water bottle to make the guitar appear to weep.[11][9] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1978.[16] Saget intended to take graduate courses at the University of Southern California but quit after only a few days. Saget described himself at that time in an article by Glenn Esterly in the 1990 Saturday Evening Post: "I was a cocky, overweight twenty-two-year-old. Then I had a gangrenous appendix taken out, almost died, and I got over being cocky or overweight."[17] Saget talked about his burst appendix on Anytime with Bob Kushell and said that it happened on the Fourth of July, at the UCLA Medical Center, and that they iced the area for seven hours before taking it out and finding that it had become gangrenous.[18]
Following a short stint as a member of CBS' The Morning Program in early 1987, Saget was cast as Danny Tanner in Full House, which became a success with family viewers, and landed in the Nielsen ratings' Top 30 beginning with season three. In 1989, Saget began as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos, a role he held until 1997. During the early 1990s, Saget worked on both Full House and AFV simultaneously. In 2009, he returned to AFV for the 20th-anniversary one-hour special co-hosted with Tom Bergeron.[19]
Saget directed the 1996 ABC television movie For Hope, which was inspired by the life story of his sister, Gay Saget, who had died from scleroderma three years earlier.[1]
In 1998, he directed his first feature film, Dirty Work, starring Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange. Released one year after he left his long-running role as host of America's Funniest Home Videos, the film received broadly negative reviews from critics and earned low box office returns [20][21] However, it has since become a cult favorite, due partially to Artie Lange's later popularity on The Howard Stern Show where the film is sometimes mentioned, often in unflattering terms.[22]
In 1998, Saget made a cameo appearance as a cocaine addict in the stoner comedy Half Baked.[8]
In 2001, Saget took on another widowed-dad role, starring on Raising Dad on The WB. It co-starred Kat Dennings, Brie Larson, and Jerry Adler and lasted only one season, from October 5, 2001, to May 10, 2002.[23] He served as the voice of the future Ted Mosby, who narrated the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which ran for nine seasons from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014.[24] He was host of the NBC game show 1 vs. 100 from 2006 to 2008.[25] His HBO comedy special, That Ain't Right, came out on DVD on August 28, 2007. It is dedicated to his father, Ben Saget, who died at age 89 on January 30, 2007, due to complications from congestive heart failure.[26] From 2005 to 2010, Saget had a recurring role in four episodes of the HBO TV series Entourage playing a parody version of himself.[27] He would later appear in the 2015 feature film based on the series.[28] 2005 also saw him be part of "Rollin' with Saget", a song by Jamie Kennedy and Stuart Stone, about a night out with him that shows off his raunchier behaviors. Saget even does vocals on the track. The video appeared on the MTV series Blowin' Up, and he would come to use it as a pseudo-theme song on his stand-up tours and website.[29]
Saget wrote, directed, and starred in Farce of the Penguins, a parody of 2005's March of the Penguins, which was released direct-to-DVD, in January 2007.[30] Saget appeared in the Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone for a limited four-month engagement. He played "Man in Chair" while Jonathan Crombie, who normally played the character on Broadway, was with the national tour of the musical. On January 4, 2008, Saget's caricature was unveiled at Sardi's Restaurant.[31] In April 2009, he debuted in a new sitcom along with his co-star Cynthia Stevenson on ABC called Surviving Suburbia.[32] The series, which was originally slated to air on The CW, ended after a single abbreviated season.[33] In 2010, Saget starred in the A&E series Strange Days, in which he followed others in different activities and lifestyles, documenting their adventures in unusual ways.[34]
In 2014, his book Dirty Daddy was released, in which he writes about his career, comedy influences, and experiences with life and death. He embarked on a small tour in support of the book, including the Pemberton Music Festival, where he introduced Snoop Dogg prior to performing his own set. In the same year, he toured Australia for the first time, with a stand-up show called Bob Saget Live: The Dirty Daddy Tour. The show was performed in the major cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.[35] In 2015 and 2016, he guest-starred in two episodes of Grandfathered, starring and produced by his Full House co-star John Stamos.[36][37] From 2016 to 2020, Saget reprised his role as Danny Tanner for fifteen episodes of Full House's sequel series, Fuller House, including the series premiere and finale.[38] In 2017, he released another stand-up special, Bob Saget: Zero to Sixty.[39] In 2019, he was announced as host of ABC's Videos After Dark.[40] Saget also hosted the game show Nashville Squares on CMT,[41] and made his first of three appearances[42] as a panelist on To Tell the Truth.[43] In 2020, Saget competed in season four of The Masked Singer as "Squiggly Monster".[44] Saget also launched a podcast titled Bob Saget's Here for You with Studio71.[45] Its 130th and final episode, with comedian Dane Cook, was released posthumously on January 31, 2022.[46] He would also make an appearance on Nikki Glaser's E! series Welcome Home Nikki Glaser in an episode that aired in June 2022.[47]
Saget married Sherri Kramer in 1982. They had three daughters. The couple divorced in 1997.[48][49]
In 2018, Saget married Kelly Rizzo, host of Eat Travel Rock TV.[50][51][52]
Saget was a board member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation. His scleroderma efforts benefited celebrities like Scary Movie star Regina Hall.[53] In an interview with Ability Magazine, Saget discussed how his sister was diagnosed with scleroderma at 43 and died at 47. She had previously been misdiagnosed numerous times.[54]
Despite his television work gaining a reputation for being wholesome, Saget's stand-up act was more known for delivering raunchier, adult-oriented comedy.[55]
On January 9, 2022, at about 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), Saget was found unresponsive in his room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, south of Orlando, Florida, near Williamsburg. He had missed his scheduled checkout time, and family members became concerned after being unable to contact him.[56] Emergency responders pronounced Saget dead at the scene; he was 65 years old. No cause of death was immediately announced, though foul play and drug use were ruled out by the sheriff and the medical examiner.[57][58] At the time of his death, Saget was on a stand-up tour, and had performed in Ponte Vedra Beach the previous evening.[59]
An autopsy report was released on February 9, 2022, and found that Saget had blunt head trauma from an accidental blow to the back of his head, likely from a fall, and subsequently died from the resulting injuries (subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage) in his sleep. At the time of his death, he was COVID-19 positive, though there were no signs of inflammation.[60][61][62][63] On February 15, 2022, Saget's family sued to prevent county officials from releasing additional documents from the investigation of his death, arguing that their graphic content would present privacy violations; a permanent injunction was issued against their release on March 14.[64]
News of Saget's death broke during a broadcast of America's Funniest Home Videos in the Eastern and Central time zones, and ABC interrupted the program to announce it.[65] A tribute video was posted on the show's official YouTube channel, and a dedication to Saget was added before the credits of the following episode.
Saget had been honored with donations and offers to help the charity Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF), whose board of directors Saget served on since 2003.[66] According to a statement made by the foundation's executive director on January 13, 2022, the foundation has received donations from more than 1,500 donors from all over the world, totaling more than $90,000. Additionally, a donation of $1.5 million was awarded to the charity by one of its board members in the form of a grant, which will match every donation made in memory of Saget.[67]
Saget's funeral took place on January 14, 2022. He was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery near the graves of his parents and sister.[68]
A tribute special was filmed at The Comedy Store by longtime friend Mike Binder on January 30. Titled Dirty Daddy: The Bob Saget Tribute, it was released on Netflix on June 10, 2022,[69] and included footage from a private memorial held at Jeff Franklin's home.
Year | Title | Notes |
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2007 | That Ain't Right | Special[36][37] |
2013 | That's What I'm Talking About |
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2017 | Zero to Sixty | Special |
Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1977 | Through Adam's Eyes | Documentary short, writer/director Student Academy Award – Documentary Merit (Temple University)[70] | |
1979 | Spaced Out | Wurlitzer | Uncredited voice role in US version[36] |
1980 | Devices | Therapy Patient | [71] |
1981 | Full Moon High | Sportscaster | [70][72] |
1987 | Critical Condition | Dr. Joffe | [73] |
1993 | For Goodness Sake | Surgeon | [74] |
1997 | Meet Wally Sparks | Reporter #4 | [70][72] |
1998 | Half Baked | Cocaine addict | Uncredited[75][8] |
1998 | Dirty Work | Director[73] | |
2003 | Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd | Walter Matthews | [70][72] |
2004 | New York Minute | Himself | Cameo (no lines)[70][72] |
2005 | The Aristocrats | Himself | Documentary[70][72] |
2005 | Madagascar | Zoo Animal (voice) | [36] |
2007 | Farce of the Penguins | Carl (voice) | Direct-to-video; also writer, director, and producer[72][37] |
2015 | I Am Chris Farley | Himself | Documentary[72][37] |
2016 | A Stand Up Guy | Mel | [72][37] |
2017 | Gilbert | Himself | Documentary[76] |
2018 | Benjamin | Ed | Also director and executive producer[36][37] |
TBA | Daniel's Gotta Die | Lawrence | Post-production; posthumous release[77] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1981 | Bosom Buddies | Bob the Comic | Episode: "The Show Must Go On"[36][37] |
1983 | The Greatest American Hero | Rook | Episode: "Wizards and Warlocks"[37] |
1985 | New Love, American Style[78] | Various | 4 episodes |
1986 | It's a Living | Dr. Bartlett | Episode: "The Doctor Danny Show"[37] |
1987–1995 | Full House | Danny Tanner | Main role; 192 episodes[36][37] |
1989–1997 | America's Funniest Home Videos | Himself/Host | 191 episodes,[79] guest-hosted 2 episode in 2009 and in 2019; cameo in 2015[65] |
1989 | The All-New Mickey Mouse Club[80] | Danny Tanner | Episode: "Guest Day"[81] |
1992 | Quantum Leap | Macklyn "Mack" MacKay | Episode: "Stand Up – April 30, 1959"[36][37] |
1992 | To Grandmother's House We Go | Win-O-Lotto Lottery Host | Movie; uncredited[82] |
1994 | Father and Scout | Spencer Paley | Movie; also executive producer[72][37] |
1995 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: "Bob Saget/TLC"[83] |
1996 | For Hope | Movie; director and executive producer[72][37] | |
2000 | Becoming Dick | Bob | Movie (uncredited); also director[72][37] |
2000 | The Norm Show | Mr. Atkitson | Episode: "Norm vs. Schoolin'"; also director[37] |
2001–2002 | Raising Dad | Matt Stewart | 22 episodes[36][37] |
2004 | Joey | Himself | Episode: "Joey and the Road Trip"[84] |
2004 | Huff | Butch | Episode: "Flashpants"[36] |
2005 | Listen Up | Mitch | Episode: "Coach Potato"[36][37] |
2005–2010 | Entourage | Himself | 4 Episodes[36] |
2005–2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Ted Mosby (in 2030)[85] | 208 episodes;[85] Voice-over narration[9] |
2006–2008 | 1 vs. 100 | Himself/Host | Game show (28 episodes)[8][86] |
2006 | Casper's Scare School | Dash (voice) | Movie; voice role[36][37] |
2006 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Glenn Cheales | Episode: "Choreographed"[36][37] |
2008 | The Life & Times of Tim[87] | Party Marty | Episode: "Mugger/Cin City"; voice role |
2008 | The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget | Himself | Special[37] |
2009 | Surviving Suburbia | Steve Patterson | 13 episodes[36][37] |
2010 | Strange Days with Bob Saget | Himself/Host | 6 episodes[36][37] |
2011 | Law & Order: LA | Adam Brennan | Episode: "Van Nuys"[36][37] |
2011 | Louie | Himself | Episode: "Oh Louie/Tickets"[36][37] |
2014 | Super Fun Night | Mr. Porter Warner | Episode: "Cookie Prom"[36][37] |
2014 | Legit | Himself | Episode: "Licked"[88] |
2015, 2016 | Grandfathered | Himself Ronnie |
Episode: "Pilot" Episode: "The Sat Pack"[89] |
2016 | Robot Chicken | Mike O'Malley, Galactus, Cable Guy (voices) | Episode: "The Unnamed One"[36][37] |
2016–2020 | Fuller House | Danny Tanner | Recurring role;[65] 15 episodes |
2017 | Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special | Himself | Variety special[90] |
2017 | Nightcap | Himself | Episode: "Bringing Up Baby"[36][37] |
2018 | The Good Cop | Richie Knight | Episode: "Did the TV Star Do It?"[91] |
2018 | Shameless | Father D'Amico | Episode: "Face It, You're Gorgeous"[36] |
2019 | Videos After Dark | Himself/Host | 2 episodes[36][37] |
2019 | Historical Roasts | Abraham Lincoln | Episode: "Abraham Lincoln"[37] |
2019 | Nashville Squares | Himself/Host | 10 episodes[37] |
2019–2021 | To Tell the Truth | Himself | 3 episodes[42] |
2020 | The Masked Singer | Squiggly Monster | Eliminated after second appearance[14][44] |
2021 | Nickelodeon's Unfiltered[92] | Himself | Episode: "Dreaming of an Awful Waffle!" |
2022 | Phat Tuesdays: The Era Of Hip Hop Comedy | Himself | Documentary series; posthumous release |
2022 | Welcome Home Nikki Glaser? | Himself | Episode TBD; posthumous release |
Saget, Bob. Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian. 2014: It Books. ISBN 978-0-062-27478-6.
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(help)The Orange County Sheriff's Office tells us, 'We have no information on cause of death, and detectives have found no signs of foul play or drug use in this case.'
Media offices | ||
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First | Host of America's Funniest Home Videos 1989–1997 |
Succeeded by |
Host of 1 vs. 100 2006–2008 |
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Films directed by Bob Saget | |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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