After falling and hitting his head in his Ritz-Carlton Orlando hotel room, Bob Saget tragically died at age 65 on January 9, 2022.
Best known for portraying Danny Tanner on the sitcom Full House, Bob Saget became a household name in the late 1980s. A talented actor and comedian, he also made a name for himself as the beloved host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Incredibly, Saget didn’t stop there — and he remained active as an entertainer well into his 60s. So naturally, many were shocked and saddened to hear about Bob Saget’s death.
On January 9, 2022, Bob Saget was found dead in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando. At the time, the 65-year-old was in the middle of his “I Don’t Do Negative” comedy tour and had performed a show just hours beforehand.
It was later revealed that Bob Saget’s death was caused by head trauma, believed to have occurred after he suffered an accidental fall.
Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoThe death of Bob Saget shocked many fans who’d been following him for decades.
Since no one actually saw Saget fall, it’s believed that the accident happened in his hotel room. However, much remains unknown about how the fall happened — and why Saget’s injuries were so deadly. One doctor said, “This is significant trauma. This is something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head, or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet.”
Read more about the incredible life and tragic death of Bob Saget below.
Bob Saget’s Early Life
Album/Alamy Stock PhotoBob Saget later said he was “rebellious” in his youth.
Robert Lane Saget was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1956 to Rosalyn and Benjamin Saget. When Bob Saget was young, the family moved from Philadelphia to Norfolk, Virginia, where he would attend Lake Taylor High School, as well as the Conservative synagogue Temple Israel.
The family moved once again from Norfolk to Encino in Los Angeles, California, though only for a brief time. During that time, Saget met The Three Stooges’ Larry Fine, which made an impression on the future comedian.
After living for a short time in Los Angeles, the Sagets once again moved back to Philadelphia, while Saget was still in high school.
He ultimately graduated from Abington Senior High School in 1974, with the intent to go off to college and study to become a doctor. But according to Salon, his English teacher recognized a more creative potential in Saget, and encouraged him instead to pursue a career as a performer.
Bob Saget went on to study film at Temple University. During his time as a student, he created a black-and-white film called Through Adam’s Eyes about his nephew, who was undergoing facial reconstructive surgery. The film earned Saget a Student Academy Award in 1978. Saget also began performing stand-up comedy shows around Philadelphia and New York.
After graduating, Saget moved back to Los Angeles to get a master’s degree in film at the University of Southern California. But he quit just a few days in, and decided to start doing more stand-up comedy shows instead.
How The Comedian Became A Household Name
Wikimedia CommonsBob Saget with his fellow hosts of The Morning Program on CBS.
Bob Saget became a regular performer at comedy clubs around Los Angeles and befriended many in the entertainment industry, including his future Full House costar Dave Coulier. In 1983, Saget married his long-term girlfriend, Sherri Kramer, and the two would go on to have three children together.
Around this time, Saget also met his future manager, Brad Grey, who helped Saget land some small film and television roles — including what would prove to be Saget’s big break: CBS’s The Morning Program.
Though he only remained with The Morning Program for six months, the gig did the trick in making Saget’s name known. And it was this newfound prominence that paved the way for his best-known role in Full House.
MediaPunch Inc/Alamy Stock PhotoBob Saget with his Full House costars Dave Coulier and John Stamos.
Indeed, the Full House producers were immediately interested in Bob Saget for the show’s starring character Danny Tanner, a widowed father of three girls. When they were producing the pilot, however, Saget was unavailable due to his commitment with The Morning Program. So, in the un-aired pilot, the role of Danny Tanner was played by actor John Posey.
But once the producers had been given the green light to put a full season together, Saget was no longer with The Morning Program. He agreed to take on the role of Danny Tanner, with the show debuting in 1987. Incredibly, Saget also decided to become the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos in 1989, despite how busy he was with Full House at the time.
Full House ultimately ran for eight seasons, garnering a loyal fanbase that grew to regard the characters as if they were their own family. Full House aired its final season in 1995, but the show continued to attract new audiences for years after, thanks to syndicated reruns.
ABC StudiosBob Saget hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos.
By the time Full House ended its run, Bob Saget had become intrinsically tied to the show’s family-friendly brand of humor — an association that he hoped to break away from. Still, Saget remained with America’s Funniest Home Videos until 1997. That same year, he and his wife Sherri Kramer divorced, ending a marriage that had lasted nearly 15 years.
As the years went on, Saget began to reinvent himself in the public eye. In 2005, he appeared in the documentary The Aristocrats, which was one of the first times that audiences got to see the crasser, more raunchy side of the comedian. He also began doing the narration for the TV show How I Met Your Mother and made a guest appearance on Entourage, playing a fictional version of himself who smokes dope and enjoys the company of prostitutes.
Through it all, Saget never forgot his roots in stand-up comedy, and created his stand-up special Bob Saget: That Ain’t Right in 2007. Later on, his 2014 stand-up comedy album That’s What I’m Talking About was nominated for a Grammy. That same year, he also released his memoir Dirty Daddy.
One of his last roles brought him full circle, however, as he reprised Danny Tanner in the Full House sequel series, Fuller House, which ran from 2016 to 2020. Bob Saget still wasn’t done performing, though, and he continued doing stand-up shows until the day of his tragic death in 2022.
The Sudden Death Of Bob Saget
Kay Blake/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Stock PhotoBob Saget and his second wife Kelly Rizzo, who he married in 2018.
Bob Saget was in the middle of his “I Don’t Do Negative” comedy tour in January 2022, and he performed what would be his last show on January 8th. At the time, no one could’ve guessed that he would be dead in hours.
According to People, one employee at the hotel he was staying at, the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, remembered, “He was cracking jokes, waving to people in the lobby. When people asked for selfies, he would run over and grab their phones to take the pictures with them, joking the whole time.”
Soon afterward, Saget posted on Twitter about his “appreciative audience” at his last show and said he was “happily addicted again to this sh*t.”
But then, the next day, on January 9, 2022, Bob Saget failed to check out of the hotel when he was expected to, and housekeeping staff members went to his room to see what was going on. There, they found the 65-year-old unresponsive in his bed. The staff members called 911 and attempted to perform CPR on Saget, but it was unfortunately too late. The first responders pronounced Bob Saget dead at the scene shortly after they arrived.
Since he had been so full of life just hours earlier, his family, friends, and fans were shocked to hear the news of Bob Saget’s death. One month later, in February, Bob Saget’s cause of death was revealed. His family stated: “The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved.”
Francis Specker/Alamy Stock PhotoBob Saget and some of his Full House costars at the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget in 2008.
Indeed, Bob Saget’s autopsy didn’t show any signs of alcohol or illegal drugs in the actor’s system, according to The New York Times. (However, he had taken a benzodiazepine and an antidepressant, which could have possibly made him sleepy.) And the final police report ruled out foul play.
It’s believed that Saget suffered an unwitnessed, accidental fall in his hotel room before he got into bed. Since most of the room was carpeted, it’s been speculated that he fell backward in the bathroom and hit his head on the marble floor. It’s thought that after sustaining the injury, he stumbled into his bed, where he lost consciousness and died. However, others have suggested that he banged his head against the headboard of his bed.
Curiously, it remains unclear why Saget’s skull fractures were so severe. According to The New York Times, one doctor compared his head trauma to something one would usually see in a person who’d fallen from 30 feet or taken a baseball bat to the head. Another medical expert said that the head injuries were reminiscent of those sustained in a car crash.
Perhaps most perplexing, there were no other wounds found on Saget’s body. Unfortunately, many questions about his fall and the blunt head trauma that ended his life will likely remain unanswered.
One thing, however, is clear. Bob Saget will be deeply missed by his family members, friends, and fans — and remembered as a devoted performer. As his former Full House costar Jodie Sweetin put it in a touching Instagram tribute: “I would always say ‘You’re the best TV dad ever.’ And he was.”
After reading about Bob Saget’s tragic death, learn all about the deaths of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger.
