Bob Saget

Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), 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).

Saget was also known for his adult-oriented stand-up comedy, and his 2014 album ''That's What I'm Talkin' About'' was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Early life

Saget was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1956, to a Jewish family. His father, Benjamin, was a supermarket executive, and his mother, Rosalyn "Dolly", was a hospital administrator. 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. Due to a lack of family in Virginia, Saget had his bar mitzvah in Philadelphia when he turned 13. 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.Bob Saget, a dirty daddy: Appreciating the darker elements of the talented comedian's work
Salon.com The family would then move back to Philadelphia prior to his senior yearBob Saget was a Philly ‘kid with a dream’
The Philadelphia Inquirer with Saget graduating from Abington Senior High School.Bob Saget's Net Worth Reveals How Much He Made From ‘Full House’ & ‘AFV’ Before His Death
Yahoo! News 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.

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. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1978. 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.""Bob Saget"
. Biography.com. 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.

Career

1987–2001

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.

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.

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 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.

In 1998, Saget made a cameo appearance as a cocaine addict in the stoner comedy ''Half Baked''.

2001–2022

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. 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. He was host of the NBC game show '' 1 vs. 100'' from 2006 to 2008. 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. From 2005 to 2010, Saget had a recurring role in four episodes of the HBO TV series '' Entourage'' playing a parody version of himself. He would later appear in the 2015 feature film based on the series. 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.

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. 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. In April 2009, he debuted in a new sitcom along with his co-star Cynthia Stevenson on ABC called '' Surviving Suburbia''. The series, which was originally slated to air on The CW, ended after a single abbreviated season. 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.

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. In 2015 and 2016, he guest-starred in two episodes of '' Grandfathered'', starring and produced by his ''Full House'' co-star John Stamos. From 2016 to 2020, Saget reprised his role as Danny Tanner for fifteen episodes of ''Full House'' sequel series, '' Fuller House'', including the series premiere and finale. In 2017, he released another stand-up special, ''Bob Saget: Zero to Sixty''. In 2019, he was announced as host of ABC's '' Videos After Dark''. Saget also hosted the game show ''Nashville Squares'' on CMT, and made his first of three appearances as a panelist on '' To Tell the Truth''. In 2020, Saget competed in season four of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Squiggly Monster". Saget also launched a podcast titled ''Bob Saget's Here for You'' with Studio71. Its 130th and final episode, with comedian Dane Cook, was released posthumously on January 31, 2022. He would also make an appearance on Nikki Glaser's E! series ''Welcome Home Nikki Glaser'' in an episode that aired in June 2022.

Personal life

Saget married Sherri Kramer in 1982. They had three daughters. The couple divorced in 1997.

In 2018, Saget married Kelly Rizzo, host of ''Eat Travel Rock TV.''

Saget was a board member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation. His scleroderma efforts benefited celebrities like ''Scary Movie'' star Regina Hall. 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.

Despite his television work gaining a reputation for being wholesome, Saget's stand-up act was more known for delivering raunchier, adult-oriented comedy.

Death

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. 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. At the time of his death, Saget was on a stand-up tour, and had performed in Ponte Vedra Beach the previous evening.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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, and included footage from a private memorial held at Jeff Franklin's home.

Comedy

Filmography

Film

Television

Book

Saget, Bob. ''Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian.'' 2014: It Books. .

References

External links

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"Regina Hall Interview"
''Ability Magazine''. "Regina Hall Issue", April/May 2010
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saget, Bob
1956 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American writers
1 vs. 100
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in Florida
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male screenwriters
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American parodists
American stand-up comedians
Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Comedians from Pennsylvania
Comedy film directors
Parody film directors
Deaths from subdural hematoma
Deaths from subarachnoid hemorrhage
Film directors from Pennsylvania
Jewish American comedians
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American writers
Jewish male comedians
Male actors from Philadelphia
Participants in American reality television series
People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Student Academy Award winners
Temple University alumni
Writers from Philadelphia
Deaths from head injury