Many of us will forever remember Bob Saget as the iconic father Danny Tanner from Full House . Or, maybe you recognized him from his work in America’s Funniest Home Videos , Entourage , Dumb And Dumber , or How I Met Your Mother .
Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that Bob was a major player in comedy before his shocking death in 2022.
RELATED STORIES
Here are a few interesting facts about him that fans probably didn’t know.
1. He originally wanted to become a doctor.
Going from wanting to be a doctor to wanting to be a comedian and an actor is quite the contrast!
Nonetheless, before being encouraged by one of his English professors in college to pursue a career in performing arts, Bob wanted to be a physician .
2. He wrote a book called “Dirty Daddy”.
“I definitely pay homage to ‘Full House’, there’s a lot of references,” he told Argus Leader .
“I cover everything. It’s a cultural thing … there’s a certain kind of cultural iconic thing with it.”
3. His mother’s death partially inspired the book.
“My mother passed away … this book, Dirty Daddy … explores how death and comedy are related and how comedy got us through a lot of difficult stuff ,” he said in an interview when the book was published.
4. He credited “Full House” for changing his entire life.
In an interview with Argus Leader , he explained that he felt like Full House gave him an iconic reputation — similar to any of the cast members from Friends or Seinfeld , and for that he was forever grateful!
5. He started doing comedy when he was 17-years-old.
“I started my comedy when I was 17, and I had wild jokes from the start. In fact, my first joke was, ‘I have the brain of a German shepherd and the body of a 16-year-old boy. They are in my car. Do you want to see them?'” he said in an interview.
“But the show “Full House” changed me,” he went on.
“I felt like my voice was tainted because I had to serve that audience. If I cursed, it would have been a big deal in my stand-up back then. Everything I do now is R-rated,” he told Daily Northwestern in a 2006 interview.
6. His pre-show ritual was to spend a full 30 minutes in complete solitude.
“Before the show, I have no one around me for half an hour. I learned that being on Broadway. That half hour is a sacred hour; everyone focuses. The whole idea is to have kind of a meditated attitude before the show … as a comedian, you pace around and you look up your material and you try to remember it all,” he told Argus Leader in 2016.
7. There was a point where he had regrets about being part of “Full House”.
“I was working 80 hours a week between Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos . I was going nuts. I felt like I was funny but didn’t feel funny on the shows. But then I just went, ‘Shut up. It’s like the giving tree. You’re lucky, and this is a good job,'” he told Daily Northwestern in 2006.
8. While many fans think that his first big break was on “Full House”, it was actually on CBS’s “The Morning Show”.
Before landing the gig that changed his life, Full House , Bob spent a brief period of time on CBS’s The Morning Show .
Thankfully, not long after, he was offered a spot on the classic sitcom that we all now know and love.
9. His sister passed away when she was 34-years-old.
Bob’s sister, Andie, passed away of a brain aneurysm at the young age of 34, after developing a critical skin condition known as Scleroderma.
After losing his sister, he started a foundation to raise awareness called “For Hope.”
10. He was the father of three daughters.
Many of you probably know Bob Saget as a father on Full House , but it turns out he had a full house of his own off-screen.
He was the father of Aubrey, Lara, and Jennifer Saget, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Sherri Kramer. The pair got married in 1982 and divorced in 1997.
Bob Saget was a proud girl-dad!
“They are the light of my life. I am a fortunate man in that all three of my daughters are exceptional. Very high beings, very smart people, very wonderful and very brilliant, very beautiful. They’re all artists,” he told People in 2016.
11. He never tried the Greek yogurt that John Stamos advertised.
“I’ve never tasted Stamos’ yogurt before in my life, but I bet it’s delicious, ’cause he’s really very proud of it. It’s always dripping out of his mouth,” he once told Maxim in an interview.
12. He had great advice for up-and-coming comedians.
The key to success in show business according to Bob Saget was to not make fame the number one goal.
He urged aspiring comedians and actors to stick to their craft, and believed the fame will come naturally.
13. He was still in close contact with his “Full House” castmates in years leading up to his death.
When asked in 2006 if he was still friends with the Full House alumni and if he sees them often, Bob replied :
“All the time. – We went to dinner in Malibu. There were fourteen of us and people were just looking at us. They were probably thinking, ‘What is with these people?'”
14. He almost died in his early 20s.
Bob revealed in an interview with Saturday Evening Post that when he was 22, he was smug and overweight. It caught up to him when he had to have his appendix removed and nearly died from it.
15. He credited his former high school teacher for his comedic success.
In a testimonial shared by his former Philadelphia high school, Bob said : “I can say that she is one of the greatest influences in my life so far.”
He explained that the teacher was the first person to suggest that instead of going to medical school, he take up comedy instead.
“I used to show her Super 8mm movies I’d made and bore her with my ‘creative’ writing, and she wound up suggesting I not go to college as a pre-med student, but study to become a comedy filmmaker,” he said .
16. In 2018, he married Kelly Rizzo.
Bob met his second wife, Kelly Rizzo, in 2015, and by 2018, the pair tied the knot.
“Okay, so we went and did it. And damn are we happy,” he penned on Instagram alongside a photo from their wedding day.
17. He admitted that after his first wife, he didn’t think he would find love again.
After his first marriage to Sherri Kramer, Bob was ready to cut his losses when it came to love.
“I didn’t think I’d have a relationship again,” he told Closer Weekly .
“I was kind of in that ‘just work, make people happy and take care of your kids until they’re 90’ mindset,” he continued.
He added that his second wife had earned a warm welcome from his three daughters.
“My daughters love her!” he said in a 2018 interview.
18. He almost wasn’t cast for the role of Danny Tanner in “Full House”.
While it’s hard to imagine anyone but Bob Saget playing the beloved television father Danny Tanner, producers nearly cast John Posey for the role instead — they even filmed the pilot episode with him before recasting .
19. He was once nominated for a Grammy.
While he did have a small musical debut on NBC’s The Masked Singer in 2020, that wasn’t what lead to Bob’s Grammy nomination https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/first-time-grammy-nominee-bob-saget.
Back in 2014, he released a comedy album called That’s What I’m Talking About that earned him a spot on the list of Grammy nominees.
20. He took on some iconic narration roles and cameos.
You may recognize his voice as the narrator in How I Met Your Mother and Farce of the Penguins .
He also made a cameo as himself in the Entourage , Free Radio , and The Naked Truth .
