Over the course of his career, Bob Saget offered viewers an arrangement of personas to choose from. He became a household name through his work in family-friendly comedies like Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos — but he could also venture into much bleaker territory, as shown by his work as the director of Dirty Work and his appearance in The Aristocrats. Add appearances on Entourage and narration for How I Met Your Mother into the mix and you have sense of the breadth of his career.
Sadly, that career is now at an end. Saget died at the age of 65 on Sunday, January 9. TMZ reported that he was found dead in his hotel room in Orlando, after a stand-up set the previous night in Jacksonville. Saget was in the midst of a long cross-country tour which was scheduled to last until May. Early Sunday morning, he took to Twitter with an update about the show which had concluded hours earlier. “I had no idea I did a 2 hr set tonight,” he wrote, alongside a a self-portrait with a beatific look on his face.
Saget’s career also included a comedy special — That’s What I’m Talkin’ About, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2014 — and a critically acclaimed memoir titled Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian. He directed several films in addition to Dirty Work, most recently the 2019 film Benjamin.
Over the course of Saget’s life, he revealed different facets of his life and approach to comedy. That he could balance them all — and do so with grace and wit — speaks volumes about his holistic approach to humor. It also made for one of the most interesting and enduring onscreen careers imaginable.
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