List of Full House characters
This is a list of characters from the American television sitcom Full House.
Main characters
Danny Tanner
Daniel "Danny" Ernest Tanner (born 1957, portrayed by Bob Saget), one of the show's four main protagonists, is left with three young daughters to raise after his wife, Pam, dies from a car accident by a drunk driver. At the beginning of the series, he works as a sportscaster for Channel 8 News. He is chosen (in the season two) to be a co-host for the station's new morning talk show, Wake Up, San Francisco, with Rebecca Donaldson. While Rebecca is on maternity leave, Danny ends up falling in love with her co-host replacement, Vicky Larson. The two of them begin dating and later become engaged. However, Vicky ended up getting her dream job of anchoring in New York, but a long distance relationship didn't work for either of them, so they break up. Much of the humor surrounding Danny's character comes from his obsession with cleaning and cleanliness. Danny can often be found cleaning for cleaning's sake, sometimes even cleaning his cleaning products. As a matter of fact, "spring cleaning" is his Christmas. His dorkiness and generally "unhip dad" personality are also targets for humor. He generally cannot stand Kimmy Gibbler.
The seemingly incongruous fact that Saget, who is known outside television for his vulgar comedic style, played the overly family-friendly character of Danny Tanner has been a source of material for Saget's stand-up routines.
Jesse Katsopolis
Hermes "Jesse" Katsopolis (born 1963, portrayed by John Stamos) (last name in season one was Cochran, but was changed reportedly due to John Stamos wanting his character to better reflect his Greek heritage) is one of the show's four protagonists. He is Danny's brother-in-law, Pam's younger brother; as well as husband to Rebecca Donaldson and father to twins Nicky and Alex. He did not like his birth name 'Hermes', so when he was young he changed his name to Jesse, thinking that one had to have a 'cool name' to be in the in-crowd. With that experience, he had to rethink his twins' names so they wouldn't have to go through what he did. However, in later episodes of the series, it seems as though "Jesse" was always his real name. Jesse first moves into the house with virtually no experience in taking care of young children or babies, but starts to learn the ropes. In the first season, Jesse works for his father Nick's exterminating business before leaving to pursue work in advertising, frequently working with Joey. He later works with Joey as co-hosts of an afternoon radio show called The Rush Hour Renegades. Further along in the series, Jesse became the new owner of The Smash Club. Although he was shown to be a sports fan as well as a good player in the earlier seasons, it is revealed in later seasons that Jesse hated all sports (especially basketball) and was a poor player. Like Danny and Stephanie, he seems to the be the one who despises Kimmy the most. Jesse's main passion is music, and struggles to "hit it big" with his band, Jesse and the Rippers (in the earlier part of the series); Jesse's increasing responsibilities to his family and radio job however, lead his band members to evict him as lead singer (in season eight's premiere "Comet's Excellent Adventure"), and Jesse subsequently after starts a new band, Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets. He is also obsessed with his hair and Elvis.
Joey Gladstone
Joseph "Joey" Alvin Gladstone (born 1958, portrayed by Dave Coulier) is one of the show's four protagonists, and Joey is mainly known for his love of cartoons and other childlike things. He is also a stand-up comedian albeit a hilariously terrible one. He has a pilot's license and can fly a two-seater, out of which Jesse skydives the day of his wedding. Once, while appearing as a guest on Wake Up, San Francisco, he answers a question about waffles with professorial mastery. It is also later revealed that he has a teaching license; he substitutes for Michelle's class a few times but it doesn't go well when he punishes Michelle for yammering during class. He can give quite good advice at times. He is the show's tritagonist. Though he doesn't like Kimmy, he holds his tongue when she is around, unlike Danny, Stephanie, or Jesse. It is also said that he and Danny have been friends since elementary school.
Becky Donaldson Katsopolis
Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson Katsopolis (portrayed by Lori Loughlin), is the sarcastic, practical, but very loving and well educated wife of Jesse, and becomes the fourth protagonist. Becky was born in Valentine, Nebraska and she found the man of her dreams in Jesse. She was reluctant to admit this at first, but she found herself liking Jesse more and more. They almost elope in Lake Tahoe (at the end of season two), but backed out when Becky realized that she and Jesse weren't really ready to get married just yet. They eventually get married in season four. Becky, along with living with the Tanners, helped to transform Jesse, although she still teased him about his obsession with his hair and love of Elvis. Becky also was a mother figure to the girls at times, and as she became closer with the Tanners, the girls confided in her about life, puberty, and other topics. Becky gives birth to Nicky and Alex on Michelle's fifth birthday. Becky's family does not approve of Jesse because they pictured Becky with someone "better". Becky is the co-host of Wake Up, San Francisco and is offered the role of producer of that show (in the season eight).
D.J. Tanner
Donna Jo Margaret "D.J." Tanner (born February 1977, portrayed by Candace Cameron) is Danny and Pam's oldest child. D.J. attends Frasier Street Elementary, Van Atta Junior High and Bayview High Schools (through the show's whole run). She shares a room with Stephanie at the beginning, later to switch with Michelle (in season five) for privacy reasons. Even though she's seen bickering with her sisters from time to time (especially Stephanie), she deeply cares for them. D.J. has her first serious relationship with Steve (first introduced in season five), who later becomes a real fixture in her life (and an official cast member beginning in the season six) when their characters return from a summer abroad in Spain. Their relationship lasts until they break up (midway through season seven) after realizing the passion in the relationship is gone, but they remain friends. D.J. has on-and-off relationships (during the show's final season) with guitarist Viper (a new addition to Jesse's band) and rich-kid Nelson. In the series finale, Steve shows up at the Tanner house to take D.J. to her senior prom.
Stephanie Tanner
Stephanie Judith Tanner (born January 1982, portrayed by Jodie Sweetin) is the sarcastic middle child of Danny and Pam, and the younger sister of D.J. and the older sister of Michelle. Her mother died when she was five. Her catchphrases, include: "How rude!," "Well, pin a rose on your nose!," and "Hot dog," (in the early years). She was a big tomboy (in the seasons four and five). She is probably the most athletic of all three of the girls. Stephanie loves spying on D.J.'s life by reading her diary and eavesdropping on her telephone calls, and is generally the nosiest, most precocious, and bossiest of the Tanner girls. Her best friends in junior high are Gia Mahan and Mickey. Of all three of the Tanner children, Stephanie has dealt with the hardest issues, such as smoking, "make-out" parties, joy riding, and witnessing child abuse, also having witnessed her mother's death as a little girl as young as five. Stephanie is also a good dancer. She is very sentimental about Mr. Bear, a stuffed animal that her mother gave her after Michelle was born. She and Jesse are the most abrasive when it comes to how they feel about Kimmy Gibbler.
Michelle Tanner
Michelle Elizabeth Tanner (born November 1986, played by twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), is Danny and Pam's youngest daughter. Danny is more overprotective of Michelle and tends to spoil and pamper her more than the other girls. Michelle was three months old when Pam died (as a result she does not remember her mom). Jesse and Joey's misadventures in taking care of her when she was a baby provided much of the humor. As a toddler, some of her catchphrases are: "You got it, dude!" and "No way, José!" Once Michelle started to grow up, she became the focus of more storylines, as well as the majority of the show's publicity, thanks to the popularity of the Olsen twins. In some episodes, such as "The Devil Made Me Do it" and "The Seven Month Itch", both Olsen twins appear usually with one of them portraying Michelle. Her best friends, Teddy and Denise, appear frequently in later seasons, as well as other friends Derek S. Boyd and Lisa Leeper. Her bully was Aaron Bailey ever since preschool. Besides her father, Michelle is closer to Jesse than she is to anyone else in the series. Jesse gives her multiple nicknames such as "munchkin", "shorty" and "rugrat." Michelle became an important role in the two-part series finale, in which Michelle and newfound friend Elizabeth slip out of a horse-jumping competition to do some horse jumps on their own. They decide to jump a big log, and Elizabeth succeeds. However, when Michelle tries to jump her horse over the log, the horse gets scared, and knocks her off. Danny, Joey, and Jesse arrive to find Michelle unconscious and she's taken to the hospital and gets temporary amnesia and can't remember who she is or who her family is. By the end, Michelle gets her memory back and Danny, Jesse, and Joey tell her that no matter what problems the family comes across, they will always get through them.
Kimmy Gibbler
Kimberly Louise "Kimmy" Gibbler (born 1976, portrayed by Andrea Barber, a recurring character since season one and added to the main credits in season five) is D.J.'s best friend and the Tanners' annoying next-door neighbor. She is known for her particularly smelly feet, and also known to be addicted to shopping. Most of the Tanner family cannot stand her (Danny, Stephanie and Jesse are especially annoyed by her, with Stephanie often making jabs at her lack of intelligence and other unusual quirks), but D.J. doesn't mind her a bit. She is often known to not be a very good student in school, and is often copying D.J.'s homework. Kimmy's only serious relationship is with a boy named Duane (introduced in season eight), who "doesn't have a personality," because all he says is "whatever." Kimmy and D.J. have multiple times temporarily ended their friendship over arguments, but always end up making up before the episode ends.
Nicky and Alex Katsopolis
Nicholas "Nicky" and Alexander "Alex" Katsopolis (b. November 1991, from season six on, played by Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit) are the twin sons of Jesse and Rebecca "Becky" Katsopolis. They share a birthday with Michelle as shown in "Happy Birthday, Babies". They have blond hair and are fun-loving toddlers, with no distinctions between them. They often repeat each other, as regular twins usually do. When the twins are born in "Happy Birthday, Babies", both Jesse and Becky get to pick a name for the twins so Alex is named after Becky's high school teacher who inspired her to go into journalism while Jesse chooses to name Nicky after his father for giving him great hair. Jesse and Becky sometimes found it difficult to discipline the boys, and during one of their periods of "acting out", they destroyed Michelle's homework.
Steve Hale
Steven "Steve" Hale (originally introduced as Steve Peters) is D.J.'s first steady boyfriend (portrayed by Scott Weinger). He joins the cast as an official member in season six, though he made an appearance in a season five episode. Steve is two years older than D.J. and a star member of the high school wrestling team. He and D.J. break up toward the end of season seven after they realize their relationship was not as passionate as it used to be, but stay friends. His last appearance as a regular character is in the season seven finale "A House Divided", in which he makes a brief appearance. He disappears from the show and is never seen or mentioned again until he makes a brief cameo at the end of the series finale the following year to take D.J. to her senior prom.
Recurring characters
- Pamela "Pam" Katsopolis Tanner (1958-1987, portrayed by Christie Houser in the home video), the girls' mother, Jesse's big sister and Danny's wife, who was never actually seen in the series, except in the form of a home video when she and Danny brought Michelle home from the hospital. The video was shown in the episode "Goodbye Mr. Bear". She was killed by a drunk driver before the series began. She has been described as always smiling, overexcitable, and awful at punctuality.
- Vicky Larson (born 1957, played by Gail Edwards) is Danny's girlfriend and (briefly) fiancée. Vicky is very focused on her career, which proves to be the undoing in her long-distance relationship with Danny. They meet, and start dating while Vicky is filling in for Becky (who is on maternity leave) on Wake Up, San Francisco. Later, Danny insists that she take a job in Chicago doing the news that she was offered once Becky returns ("Play It Again, Jesse"), and that starts a long-distance relationship (that goes from early season six to mid-season seven. Danny eventually proposes to her while the family is at Disney World. However, Vicky gets her dream job — anchoring the network news in New York — so she cannot come to live with Danny and his family in San Francisco, nor is Danny able to uproot his family in California. Therefore, to the dismay of themselves and Danny's family, they break up and she is not heard from again. Vicky often gives advice, such as helping D.J. with her relationship with Steve, and helping Danny to deal with it. She also acts like a mother to Michelle on at least one occasion. When Michelle is being quite bossy during her day as "Princess" at Disney World, Vicky reminds her that a good princess is always fair and kind, and that’s why people love her.
- Gia Mahan (born 1980, played by Marla Sokoloff) is Stephanie's archenemy (in season seven), who later becomes her best friend (in season eight). She is considered Stephanie's Kimmy, for she also leads Stephanie into dangerous or unsmart situations. Stephanie got involved in a small number of wild, irresponsible things because of Gia such as make-out parties and (almost) smoking. Conversely, Stephanie was also a positive influence on Gia. During an unknown time when her parents had been through a divorce, Gia is shown as a cigarette-smoking, rebellious teen with horrible grades. She is two years older than Stephanie, as she was held back in school. We learn (as of early season eight) that because of Stephanie, Gia has stopped smoking, became more respectful, improved her grades, and lost her inclination to play pranks on other people.
- Teddy (played by Tahj Mowry) is Michelle’s best friend. He made his debut on his and Michelle's first day of kindergarten after Joey told Michelle that the best way to make new friends was by being funny, and doing a Bullwinkle impression. He accompanies her when she needs a "date" to sneak out and join Danny on a date with Vicky (mid-season five). He is also the one whose house Michelle runs away to (later that season). He moves to Amarillo, Texas in "The Long Goodbye", but when his father's job moves him back to San Francisco, he returns. He and Michelle even consider trying to be boyfriend and girlfriend in third grade in "Dateless in San Francisco", but find that it's no fun for children their age.
- Denise Frazer (played by Jurnee Smollett) is Michelle's later best friend. She replaces Teddy as Michelle's best friend after Teddy moves to Texas. Denise, like Teddy before her, often gets Michelle into trouble. Later (episode "Be Your Own Best Friend" in season seven), Teddy moves back to San Francisco, leaving Michelle to choose between him and Denise for whom to portray as her best friend. Danny makes her understand that it is possible to have more than one best friend. Michelle, Teddy, and Denise all become each others best friends. Also it is revealed that Denise's uncle is Little Richard (who guest starred in "Too Little Richard Too Late" in season seven).
- Aaron Bailey (played by Miko Hughes) is Michelle's recurring and longest running classmate. He is the typical class bully, who tends to be annoying and rude at times. He pinches Michelle in one episode when they are in preschool and Jesse tells Michelle to fight back. When the teacher punishes them, Jesse takes Michelle home. While that behavior does not continue, his obnoxious ways continue throughout the series. In other episodes, he treats Jesse as an equal or underlying rival. Plus he also creates trouble for D.J. and Kimmy when they have boys over while Kimmy is babysitting. Danny even remarks (in season seven) that they are watching Aaron for several days "until his regular babysitter stops twitching." He is sometimes seen being nice to Michelle.
- Derek S. Boyd (played by Blake McIver Ewing) is one of Michelle's friends (eight episodes throughout seasons 6-8). Michelle first meets Derek (in the episode "The Play's the Thing") when he gets the role of Yankee Doodle in their school play, America the Beautiful. Though Michelle is initially jealous of Derek for winning the part over her (due in no small part to the fact that both of her sisters played Yankee Doodle), she helps him recover from stage-fright, and they eventually become friends. Derek is very educated and well-spoken for a boy of his age, though also a bit on the wimpy side. He also shows signs of being a bit obsessive-compulsive. As shown in several episodes, he is also a very talented singer. He says he blends in with his surroundings.
- Lisa Leeper (played by Kathryn Zaremba) is one of Michelle's friends (featured in six episodes during the final season), and it is revealed that she is an extremely good singer when she sings the song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Derek.
- Nelson (played by Jason Marsden) is a recurring character (during season eight) who is very wealthy, and who dates D.J. on-and-off for some time. Not much is revealed about Nelson's background or family, aside from the fact that he is very rich, and often throws and attends big parties on yachts. Though (toward the end of season eight), he mentions that his cousin, Regina, is visiting America from England, and he sets Joey up with her on a date. Toward the latter stages of his "relationship" with D.J., he gets into a "tug-of-war" with Viper to be D.J.'s boyfriend.
- Claire Tanner (born 1922, portrayed by Alice Hirson) is Danny's mother. She helped Danny with the girls in the first few months after the death of Danny's wife, Pam. She was in the episodes: "Our Very First Show" and "The Return of Grandma", and (by Doris Roberts) in "Granny Tanny".
- Wendy Tanner (played by Darlene Vogel) is Danny's sister, who is an avid animal enthusiast, and works at a zoo. She owns a chimpanzee named Ginger, and is known to have had somewhat of a rivalry with Joey in their childhood, but when she comes back to San Francisco, she and Joey have a brief relationship after they both revealed themselves to have "secret crushes" on each other. It is also revealed that she collects exotic souvenirs from around the world.
Other characters
- Nick Katsopolis (born 1940, played by John Aprea) is Jesse and Pam's father. He is an avid fan of Elvis Presley, just like Jesse. Also, like his son, he is very much interested in his hair and ladies (according to him in the season two episode "Our Very First Christmas Show", "there are two things Katsopolis men are known for: kissing and great hair"). He owns his own business, in which he is a bug exterminator. He met his wife, Irene, the day that Elvis was drafted. Nick was a strict but loving father. In the episode, "D.J.'s Day Off" it is mentioned that he would punish Jesse severely. This combination is also seen in the episode "It Is Not My Job", when Jesse quits the extermination business Nick responds with: "If you're out of the business, you're out of the family." Later on, he explains this by saying that he did not build up the business to sell it to a stranger. Also, his love for his family is shown by the fact that Irene bringing in Michelle curbed his anger. When Michelle was getting ready to do a TV commercial for marshmallows (the season two episode "El Problema Grande de D.J"), he remarked that Michelle looked like a little blonde version of the redhead he likes on the TV show Gilligan's Island, which was revealed to be Tina Louise by Irene.
- Irene Katsopolis (born 1936, played by Yvonne Wilder, and by Rhoda Gemignani in "The Return of Grandma") is Jesse and Pam's mother, and the wife of Nick Katsopolis. She often talked about diapering Jesse's "tushy", and touched his and other people's "tushies", which made Jesse mad. She also mentioned when Jesse was a kid. She was during the remainder of the show. She often mentioned how she is older than Nick, and her passion for younger men (which makes Nick feel inferior at times).
- Stavros (played by John Stamos in a dual role) is Jesse's swarthy, greasy, woman-crazed Greek look-alike. He tries to pick up on Becky, who at that time is Jesse's wife (in the episode "Kissing Cousins" in season seven).
- Mindy Gladstone (born 1932, played by Beverly Sanders) is Joey's mother. She appears only once in the entire series, (in season one's "The Return of Grandma") but Joey talks about her often. For example, when (in the episode "Viva Las Joey" in season four) Joey lands a gig opening for Wayne Newton in Las Vegas. When Joey was asked by Jesse why he couldn't invite his mother to come see the show, he claims she is working as Goofy at Disney World.
- Walter F. Berman (Whitby Hertford) is a school friend of Stephanie Tanner. At first, Stephanie disliked him, and went as far as teasing and imitating his resemblance to a duck. She—along with the rest of the class—even nicknamed him "Duckface". However, after following her Uncle Jesse's advice, she learned to appreciate Walter more, even if he was a nerd. This led to Walter briefly considering Stephanie as his "secret girlfriend".
- Harry Takayama (Nathan Nishiguchi) is the first on-screen friend of Stephanie's (appearing in season two). He usually calls her "Chief", and she refers to him as her boyfriend—without understanding that term's full meaning (as Stephanie put it in a season two episode, "You're a boy, and you're my friend. That makes you my boyfriend"). This leads to a pretend wedding (in the episode "Middle Age Crazy"). His last appearance is in "Nerd For a Day" (season three. In one episode, he becomes infatuated with D.J. after she teaches him math with oranges.
- Cindy (played by Debra Sandlund) is a girlfriend of Danny's (in three episodes of season four). It is revealed that she works as a dry-cleaner (in the episode "Terror in Tanner Town"). She first meets Danny when he is a customer at her store. She also has a precocious 10-year-old son named Rusty.
- Rusty (born 1980, portrayed by Jordan Christopher Michael) is the son of Cindy, Danny's girlfriend (season four), whose mischievous antics and practical jokes wreak havoc on the family. He seems to have a crush on Stephanie. He also had a crush on D.J. but it was never heard of after that episode.
- Ricky (played by R.J. Williams in two season four episodes) is the neighborhood paperboy whom D.J. had a crush on.
- Brett Davis (played by Sean Fox in season four) is a classmate and friend of Stephanie's who plays Little League Baseball for the Cubs. He is supposedly Stephanie Tanner's first love.
- Viper (David Lipper) (when he was little, went by Little Heinze) played in Jesse's band (during season eight), and briefly dated D.J. Insecure about not going to college, and (during episode "Claire and Present Danger") he twisted everything D.J. said to where she put him down. They broke up soon after D.J. learned he was illiterate.
- Caroline (born 1958, portrayed by Dorothy Parke) is a friend of Danny's, who was seen in an early episode where Danny, Joey, and Jesse all went fishing on a boat. She also appeared in the episode that included Danny's 30th birthday.
- Adrianna (Fabiana Udenio) is Jesse's one-time girlfriend (in "Daddy's Home").
- Corinna Spicer (Elizabeth Keifer) is a student in Jesse's "private music class," whom Jesse liked (in "Jesse's Girl"). At the end of the episode, she winds up with Joey instead.
- Jill (Darcy DeMoss) is one of Jesse's early girlfriends. She and Jesse date when there is no one else to date, according to her.
- Duane (born 1972, played by Scott Menville) is Kimmy Gibbler's boyfriend (in season eight), whom she considered marrying in Reno.
- Mrs. Carruthers (born 1952, played by Marcia Wallace) has a massive crush on Joey (in seasons seven and eight), as evidenced by her constant "chasing" him down, and his subsequent "hiding" from her. She collaborates with Kimmy Gibbler to form a Neighborhood Watch program. She also is known to "dominate" the PTA elections at Michelle's school every year.
Guest stars
- Season one
- Season two
- The Beach Boys (as themselves) – Episode 16 ("Beach Boy Bingo") Also in season three, episode 24 ("Our Very First Telethon"), and season five's "Captain Video" (Parts 1&2) in the "Forever" music video. The first time they appeared, they were supposed to be guests on Wake Up, San Francisco, but had to cancel their appearance due to fog preventing their plane from landing. D.J. then wins a telephone contest and gets concert tickets, but she has trouble deciding whom to take with her. In the end, the whole family ends up going and even joins the band on stage.
- Jonathan Brandis – Episode 11 ("A Little Romance")
- Season three
- Season four
- Jaleel White appears as his character Steve Urkel, who happens to be a cousin of D.J.'s friend Julie, from the TV series Family Matters. During his visit, he helped and gave advice to Stephanie Tanner, because she had to get reading glasses. Stephanie is reluctant because of how reading glasses will make her look, but Steve tells her "the trick is to make them laugh with you before they laugh at you."
- Frankie Avalon – episode 23 ("Joey Goes Hollywood")
- Annette Funicello – episode 23 ("Joey Goes Hollywood")
- Season five
- Season six
- Danielle Fishel – Episode 10 and 17 ("I'm Not D.J." and "Silence is Not Golden")
- Season seven
- Little Richard appears as himself in "Too Little Richard Too Late". It is revealed that he is Denise's uncle. Because he was holding a concert in San Francisco, Michelle asks him to perform a concert to help Joey's campaign for PTA president. He accepts, and performs for Joey's campaign. Richard is quite late to the concert, but makes it up to them. He has a dislike to Jesse after Jesse's comment about him putting a punch bowl on his head at family gatherings.
- Suzanne Somers – Episode 19 ("Love on the Rocks")
- Vanna White – Episode 15 ("The Test")
- Season eight
References