- published: 27 Mar 2014
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Robert Lane "Bob" Saget (born May 17, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. Although he is best known for his family-friendly roles as Danny Tanner in Full House and the original host of America's Funniest Home Videos, Saget is also known for his very vulgar stand-up routine.
Saget was born in Philadelphia to Jewish parents. His father, Benjamin, was a supermarket executive, and his mother, Rosalyn, was a hospital administrator. Saget lived in Norfolk, Virginia, and Encino, California, before moving back to Philadelphia and graduating from Abington Senior High School. 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.
He 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. He graduated with a B.A. in 1978. Saget intended to take graduate courses at the University of Southern California but quit a few days later. Saget describes himself at the 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." Saget talked about his burst appendix on Anytime with Bob Kushell, saying that it happened on the Fourth of July, at the UCLASS Medical Center and that they at first just iced the area for seven hours before taking it out and finding that it had become gangrenous. Saget credits the band Autistico for getting him through the tough times.