Bob Saget, the actor-comedian known for his role as beloved single dad Danny Tanner on the sitcom âFull Houseâ and as the wisecracking host of âAmericaâs Funniest Home Videos,â died while on a stand-up tour. He was 65.
Deputies in Orange County, Florida, were called Sunday about an âunresponsive manâ in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando and found Saget dead, according to a sheriffâs statement on Twitter. Detectives found âno signs of foul play or drug use in this case.â
Saget was in Florida as part of his âI Don't Do Negative Comedy Tour.â After warm audience receptions to his gigs Friday in Orlando and Saturday in the Ponte Vedra Beach resort area, he celebrated online.
âIâm back in comedy like I was when I was 26. I guess Iâm finding my new voice and loving every moment of it,â he posted Saturday on Instagram.
Fellow comedians and friends praised Saget not only for his wit, but his kindness.
âI am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock. I will never ever have another friend like him,â wrote John Stamos, who co-starred with Saget on âFull House.â âI love you so much Bobby.â
âI have no words. Bob was one of the best humans beings Iâve ever known in my life. I loved him so much,â said Candace Cameron Bure, who played Sagetâs daughter on âFull House.â
âIn often a ruthless business he was historically not just hilarious but more importantly one of the kindest human beings I ever met in my career,â actor Richard Lewis wrote on Twitter.
In a statement Sunday, Saget's family members said they are âdevastated to confirm that our beloved Bob passed away today.... Though we ask for privacy at this time, we invite you to join us in remembering the love and laughter that Bob brought to the world.â
Saget the stand-up showed his flip side with what become a much-talked-about cameo in the 2005 documentary âThe Aristocratsâ â in which 100 comics riffed on the worldâs dirtiest joke â that revealed his notoriously filthy sense of humor.
It stayed undercover on network TV, both as the longtime host of âAmericaâs Funniest Home Videosâ and as the squeaky clean widower and father to three young girls on âFull House,â the ABC sitcom that also brought fame to Olsen twins Mary-Kate and Ashley when it debuted in 1987.
âBob was the most loving, compassionate and generous man. We are deeply saddened that he is no longer with us but know that he will continue to be by our side to guide us as gracefully as he always has,â the Olsens said in a joint statement.
The show's popularity didn't deter critics, some calling it cheesy and others deeming it unreal. Saget, as amiable and droll in an interview as he was on TV screens, took the brickbats in stride.
"âFull Houseâ was a loving kind of show but obviously over the top. It had its heightened reality, a glossy Willy Wonka quality to it," he told The Associated Pres in a 2001 interview.
That year, Saget took another pass at playing a widowed dad with winsome kids on the short-lived sitcom âRaising Dad.â
He said he found himself repeatedly fielding questions about his habit of playing sitcom widowers, and had a ready response: â(Kevin) Costner does three, four baseball movies and thatâs OK. Thereâs my rationale.â
Saget was born in Philadelphia on May 17, 1956, to Benjamin, a supermarket executive, and Rosalyn, who worked in hospital administration. He graduated Temple University and enrolled briefly in the University of Southern California to study film.
He left the college but stayed in Los Angeles and shifted to stand-up comedy, which led to small roles in TV and film before he found success with âFull House.â He also appeared in some episodes of the sitcom's âFuller Houseâ 2016-20 sequel and was heard as the narrator on âHow I Met Your Mother,â which ran for nine seasons on CBS.
âBob Saget was the older wiser âmeâ for nine years on How I Met Your Mother,â tweeted cast member Josh Radnor. âHe was the kindest, loveliest, funniest, most supportive man. The easiest person to be around. A mensch among mensches.â
In guest appearances on the Hollywood-set dark comedy âEntourage,â Saget played a warped character named Bob Saget who was foul-mouthed but, unlike the man himself, was also misogynist and worse.
In early 2020, Saget was preparing for the start of his comedy tour when the pandemic put it on hold. He turned his energies to a podcast, âBob Sagetâs Here For You,â which gave fans an open mic to comment and ask him questions.
He focused occasionally on directing over the years, including on HBO's âThe Mind of the Married Man,â and the Norm Macdonald film âDirty Work," and appeared on Broadway in âHand to Godâ and in âThe Drowsy Chaperone.â
He drew praise as producer-director of the 1996 TV film âFor Hope,â loosely based on the battle of his late sister, Gay, with the tissue disease scleroderma, and appealed for increased federal support for research funds.
He remembered his sister in a January 2020 post, noting that she died when she was 47 and would have been 73 that month.
Saget had daughters Aubrey, Lara and Jennifer with first wife Sherri Kramer before divorcing in 1997. He married Kelly Rizzo in 2018.