I never expected to live this long.
– Bob Saget
Did you ever laugh at ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos?’ The era of 1990s TV was dominated by sitcoms and theme shows. The modern era of TV just doesn’t have that 90s touch to it that was characteristic of shows like AFHV and Full House.
Bob Saget was one of the biggest names in American TV during the 1990s.
His tenure at Full House and AFHV shot him to superstardom, becoming a household name across the country and the western world. At the time of his passing on January 9, 2022, he had amassed a net worth of $50 million.
Bob Saget: The Facts
| Net Worth: | $50 Million |
|---|---|
| 📆 DOB: | May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2002 (65 years old) |
| 🌎 Country of Origin: | United States of America |
| 💲 Source of Wealth: | Actor, Comedian |
| ✅ Updated: | 2023 |
Saget built his net worth by starting his career as a standup comic in the 1980s before landing roles on TV shows in the 1990s. According to comedians like Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz, Bob was one of the legends of the early standup game, featuring alongside legends like Jerry Seinfeld at comedy clubs like ‘Dangerfield’s.’
However, his time in front of the camera on sitcom sets paid dividends for Bob. His role in wholesome family shows like Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos cemented his reputation and popularity in the industry, building his wealth.
His reputation as a wholesome TV father and host was very different from the early days of his standup career. His autobiography, ‘Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian,’ published in 2014, reached the New York Times’ bestseller list.
In the book, Bob recalls his life in a wonderful account of his time, following him from early childhood through to his time as a standup, and eventually as a Hollywood icon in TV series.
Bob Saget – The Early Years
Robert Lane Saget was born to Benjamin and Rosalyn Saget in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1956. His Jewish parents raised Bob in a secular household, and the family wasn’t very religious. His father was a supermarket executive, and his mom was a hospital administrator.
Bob stayed with his grandparents in California as a child before moving back to Philadelphia to start schooling. He attended Abington Senior High School and credits his English teacher for spotting his talent early in life, convincing him to pursue a career in show business.
After graduating high school in 1975, Saget decided to act on this advice, enrolling in a film class at Temple University. He graduated from school with a BA in 1978 and decided to continue his education at the University of Southern California. However, after attending only a few days of graduate classes, Bob quit with the intention of pursuing his dream of being a comedy legend.
Bob Saget – Career Overview
Bob Saget had an impressive career as a standup comedian and actor. Here are some of the most notable specials in his comedy career.
- 2007 Bob Saget: That Ain’t Right
- 2005 The Aristocrats
- 1997 Rodney Dangerfield’s 75th Birthday Toast
- 1995 Comic Relief VII
- 1994 Comic Relief VI
- 1990 Bob Saget: In the Dream State
- 1984 The 9th Annual Young Comedians Special
Bob started his career as a standup in the early eighties, experiencing good success on stage. He ended up working with some of the top comedians of his era, including the likes of the legendary Rodney Dangerfield, which Saget fondly remembered as a father figure during his time on stage.
While he had a successful comedy career, Bob would experience his biggest success in front of the camera. Saget landed his first TV role on ‘The Morning Program’ on the CBS network in 1987, hosting the show alongside Mariette Hartley, Mark McEwen, and Rolland Smith.
However, he got his big break after landing the role of Danny Tanner on the hit TV show Full House, running from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995. The show was a smashing success, airing 192 episodes during its tenure on screen.
During his time with the cast on Full House, Bob caught the attention of the producers of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ Bob appeared on Both Full House and AFHV between 1989 to 1997, where he ran through eight seasons of both shows.
In 1993, Bob landed a producer and director role in the TV movie ‘For Hope.’ He directed the movie, dedicating it to his late sister, Gay Saget, who died in 1993 after complications with the rare disorder, scleroderma. The film was released in 1996, three years after her passing, starring Dana Delany in the lead role.
Bob continued to follow his passion as a director in the late 1990s. His first feature film as a director was ‘Dirty Work,’ released in 1998, starring comedy legends Artie Lange and Norm McDonald. However, the film was a commercial disaster and a huge flop[ at the box office. Despite its failure, the film remains a cult classic nearly three decades after its release.
Saget went on to star in the sitcom ‘Raising Dad’ in the early 2000s. The show starred Brie Larson, Kat Dennings, and Jerry Adler but only managed three seasons before being canceled. One of Bob’s most memorable roles was as the voice of ‘Ted Mosby’ in a narration role for the hit TV series ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ starring Neal Patrick Harris.
The show was a huge success, running for nine seasons from September 2005 through to March 2014. Bob worked on several projects during the 2000s, including a role on the hit HBO show ‘Entourage.’ He played the role of himself in the show from 2005 to 2010.
He also featured on the show’ Surviving Suburbia,’ airing on ABC, starring alongside Cynthia Stevenson for a single season. Bob returned to his role as Danny Tanner in the reboot of Full House, ‘Fuller House,’ in 2016.
In 2020, following the series finale, Saget appeared on the Fox singing competition, ‘The Masked Singer,’ competing as ‘the Squiggly Monster’ during season four of the show.
Bob Saget – Full House
Bob’s most notable roles in TV were as Danny Tanner in ‘Full House’ and as the host of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ His role on Full House from 1987 to 1995 saw Bob appearing in all 192 episodes of the show.
Over the course of the show’s eight seasons on the air, Saget played the role of the widowed family man. He raised his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle, in a San Francisco home, with the help of his best friend, Joey Gladstone, and brother-in-law, Jesse Katsopolis.
The initial reviews of the show were harsh, but it gained popularity in the 1990s with syndication on several networks like TBS, Nick at Nite, NBC, the Hallmark Channel, and CMT. Saget enjoyed a long stint on screen with the show, and there is no official record of the salary he received for his role as Danny Tanner.
However, according to a report by the Washington Post, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen made $2,400 per episode at the start of the show, increasing to $25,000 per episode and then $80,000 per episode. By the end of the series, the twins were earning a combined $1.9 million.
We can expect that Saget earned substantially more than the twins for his role in the show.
Bob Saget – America’s Funniest Home Videos
After starting with Full House, Saget caught the attention of the producers of the upcoming comedy show, ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ Bob joined the show as the lead host in 1989, premiering as a special before moving to a weekly format in 1990.
Like Full House, Bob went on to complete his tenure of eight seasons with the show. John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes took over his hosting responsibilities in 1997 to wind out the remaining two seasons of the show.
There is no record of how much Saget earned for his time on AFHV. However, according to industry insiders, Bob supposedly earned $70,500 to $86,600 per episode during his time hosting the show between 1990 and 1997.
Considering each season of AFHV featured 25 episodes, we can assume Bob’s total earnings for his time with the show to be in the ballpark of $1.8 million to $2.1 million per season.
Bob Saget – Personal Life
Bob met his wife, Sherri Kramer, during the early days of his standup comedy career. The couple married in May 1982, raising three daughters until their divorce in November 1997. Bob remarried Kelly Rizzo in 2018, and the couple stayed together until his passing in January 2022.
At the time of his death, Bon was an avid board member of ‘the Scleroderma Research Foundation,’ a role he took seriously in the wake of his sister’s untimely demise from the dreaded disease. He actively participated in fundraising campaigns and sought to spread awareness of the disease and its treatment.
Bob Saget – Real Estate
Bob passed away with a real estate in LA. He and his first wife, Sherri, paid $2.5 million for a home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angles in September 1987. In June 2003, he spent $2.9 million on a recently-renovated house in Los Angeles. After his passing in 2022, Kelly Rizzo placed the home on the market for $7.675 million.
Who Inherited Bob Saget’s Estate?
Saget was performing in Florida on a leg of his standup comedy tour in January 2022 when he was found dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Orlando. According to the Orange County Sheriff’s department, no foul play or drug use led to his death.
However, the real reason for his death remains out of the public spotlight. Many of his close friends suspect Bob was involved with drugs at the time, but there is no proof of these claims. It’s a strange death because Bob was tweeting just a few hours earlier, talking about the excitement he experienced at being involved with standup comedy again.
The reason for the suspicion of drug use comes from the context of his tweet, where he says he was “happily addicted again” to standup and his time on the road touring the country. While there is no official reading of his estate publicly available, it’s assumed that his wife and three daughters inherited his $50 million estate.
Bob will be forever remembered as one of the greats of standup comedy and sitcom TV.
Bob Saget – Quotes
When you’ve seen a lot of bad stuff and just want to enjoy your life and be happy and have your kids happy and have your friends happy, you just have a value system where it raises the bar on what’s important.
What I have now are good problems of trying to decide and what I really want to do is good work next. My phone’s ringing a lot more, and I’ve got nine lines, so when it doesn’t ring, it’s very frustrating.
I’ve never not felt relevant.
I was so depressed for so many years over trying to become a working comedian that my sense of self-worth would plummet.
It was a JOB; the video show was a JOB; you don’t tell the Aristocrats joke at 8 o’clock at night on network tv. It would be funny, though. But those guys know I like dirty stuff. I like clean stuff too.
Yet there are some people – Steve Allen would dissect comedy forever; he’s a really funny guy, but he would love talking about comedy. I’m doing it right now, and you all seem bored.
I think Desperate Housewives is a pretty good show. I watch it, I like it, and I don’t love reality tv that much. I do watch some. I’ve got three daughters, so we’ll watch the good stuff, the fun stuff.
25, 30 years ago, that meant something. They were making some money. And they were doing all sorts of comedy, screaming at the audience, basically crowd control. And then there was the whole urban comedy scene.
