Bob Saget, the actor and comedian known for his role as beloved single father Danny Tanner on the sitcom “Full House” and as the prankster host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” has died, according to Florida authorities. He was 65 years old.
Orange County, Florida, deputies were called Sunday by an “unconscious man” in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando and found Saget dead, according to a sheriff’s statement on Twitter. Detectives “found no signs of foul play or drug use in this case.”
Saget was in Florida as part of his “I Don’t Do Negative Comedy Tour”. After warm audience receptions at his concerts on Friday in Orlando and Saturday in the tourist area of Ponte Vedra Beach, he celebrated online.
“I’m back in comedy like I was 26 years old. I think I’m finding my new voice and I’m loving every moment,” he posted on Instagram Saturday.
Fellow comedians and friends praised Saget not only for his wit, but also for his kindness.
“I’m broken. I’m gutted. I’m in complete and utter shock. I’ll never have another friend like him again,” wrote John Stamos, who co-starred with Saget in “Full House.” “I love you so much Bobby.”
Norman Lear, who called Saget a close friend, wrote that the comedian “was both a charming and funny human. And in my opinion, it was very funny. “
“In an often ruthless business, historically he was not only hilarious but more importantly one of the kindest human beings I have ever met in my career,” wrote actor Richard Lewis on Twitter.
Saget’s publicist did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As a stand-up comedian, Saget showed his other side with what became a much talked about cameo in the 2005 documentary “The Aristocrats,” in which 100 comics were based on the world’s dirtiest joke, revealing his notoriously dirty sense of humor. .
Longtime host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” Saget played an impeccably clean widower and father of three girls in “Full House,” the ABC sitcom that also brought twins Olsen Mary-Kate and Ashley to fame when it debuted. in 1987.
The popularity of the show did not deter critics, with some calling it cheesy and others calling it unreal. Saget, as gracious and humorous in an interview as he is on television screens, took it easy.
“‘Full House’ was a loving kind of show, but obviously over the top. It had its reality heightened, a brilliant ‘Willy Wonka’ quality,” he said in 2001.
That year, Saget took another step by playing a widowed father with charming children in the short-lived sitcom “Raising Dad.”
He found himself repeatedly answering questions about his habit of playing sitcom widowers, and he had a ready answer: “(Kevin) Costner makes three, four baseball movies and that’s fine. That is my foundation. “
Saget also focused on directing, including on HBO’s “The Mind of the Married Man” and the Norm Macdonald film “Dirty Work.”
He received accolades as producer and director of the 1996 television movie “For Hope,” loosely based on his late sister Gay’s battle with scleroderma, a tissue disease, and called for increased federal support for research funding. .
He recalled 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 his first wife Sherri Kramer before divorcing in 1997. He married Kelly Rizzo in 2018.
AP writers Lindsey Bahr and Beth Harris contributed to this report.
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