Bob Saget, the actor and comedian best known for his roles as Danny Tanner on “Full House” and as the wisecracking presenter of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” died while on tour. He was 65 years old at the time.
According to a sheriff’s statement on Twitter, deputies in Orange County, Florida, were alerted about a “unresponsive guy” in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando on Sunday and discovered Saget dead. “There were no evidence of foul play or drug usage in this instance,” detectives said.
The “I Don’t Do Negative Comedy Tour” brought Saget to Florida. He rejoiced online after receiving enthusiastic applause at his performances in Orlando on Friday and the Ponte Vedra Beach vacation area on Saturday.
“I’m back in comedy, just like when I was 26.” “I think I’m discovering my new voice and loving every minute of it,” he said on Instagram on Saturday.
Saget was recognized not only for his humor, but also for his generosity, by other comedians and friends.
“I’m shattered. I’m devastated. I’m in a state of complete and total disbelief. John Stamos, who co-starred with Saget on “Full House,” tweeted, “I will never have another buddy like him.” “I adore you, Bobby,” I say.
“I’m at a loss for words.” Bob was one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever known. Candace Cameron Bure, who played Saget’s daughter on “Full House,” remarked, “I loved him so much.”
“He was historically not only hilarious but more importantly one of the finest human beings I have met in my career,” actor Richard Lewis remarked on Twitter.
Saget’s family wrote in a statement Sunday that they are “devastated to confirm that our dear Bob died away tonight…. Though we respectfully want solitude at this time, we encourage you to join us in remembering Bob’s love and humor.”
With a much-talked-about cameo in the 2005 documentary “The Aristocrats” — in which 100 comedians riffed on the world’s dirtiest joke — Saget the stand-up displayed his notoriously filthy sense of humor.
His long-running network TV series didn’t feature raunchy humour. He hosted the family-friendly “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and starred as the squeaky-clean widower and father of three young daughters on “Full House,” the ABC comedy that also made Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen famous when it premiered in 1987.
“Bob was the kindest, most caring, and most generous man I’ve ever met. “We are profoundly grieved that he is no longer with us, but we know that he will always be at our side, graciously guiding us,” the Olsens wrote in a joint statement.
The show’s success didn’t dissuade detractors, who labeled it as corny and unrealistic. In an interview, Saget was as affable and witty as he was on TV screens, and he took the jabs in stride.
“‘Full House’ was a warm and fuzzy program, but it was clearly over the top. In a 2001 interview with The Associated Press, he said, “It had its heightened reality, a shiny Willy Wonka aspect about it.”
Saget tried again the following year in the short-lived sitcom “Raising Dad,” portraying a widower father with endearing children.
He stated he was asked about his tendency of portraying sitcom widowers on a regular basis and had a ready response: “(Kevin) Costner makes three, four baseball movies and that’s OK.” That’s my justification.”
Saget was born on May 17, 1956, in Philadelphia, to Benjamin, a supermarket executive, and Rosalyn, a hospital administrator. He graduated from Temple University and briefly studied cinema at the University of Southern California.
He dropped out of college but remained in Los Angeles, where he pursued stand-up comedy, which led to minor jobs in TV and cinema until achieving fame with “Full House.” He also voiced the narrator on CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother” for nine seasons and appeared in select episodes of the sitcom’s “Fuller House” 2016-20 sequel.
“For nine years on How I Met Your Mother, Bob Saget was the older wiser’me,'” cast member Josh Radnor tweeted. “He was the sweetest, nicest, funniest, and most encouraging man I’d ever met. The most enjoyable person to be around. “Among mensches, a mensch.”
Saget played a deranged character named Bob Saget in guest appearances on the Hollywood-set dark comedy “Entourage,” who was foul-mouthed but, unlike the man himself, was a sexist and worse.
Saget was set to begin his comedy tour in early 2020 until the epidemic forced him to postpone it. He focused his efforts on a podcast called “Bob Saget’s Here For You,” which allowed listeners to comment and ask him questions.
Over the years, he worked as a director on HBO’s “The Mind of the Married Man” and the Norm Macdonald feature “Dirty Work,” as well as appearing on Broadway in “Hand to God” and “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
He received accolades as the producer-director of the 1996 television film “For Hope,” which was partially based on his late sister Gay’s fight with the tissue disease scleroderma, and he advocated for additional federal research funding.
In a January 2020 post, he honored his sister, noting that she died when she was 47 and would have turned 73 that month.
Before divorcing in 1997, Saget had three children with his first wife Sherri Kramer: Aubrey, Lara, and Jennifer. In 2018, he married Kelly Rizzo.
