Bob Saget

Bob seems to live on TV. He was the dad of the Olsen Twins on Full House ten years ago. Then he was the host of America's Funniest Home Videos for the years since then. Then he was on Raising Dad… and now he does the narrations for the new hit show How I Met Your Mother with Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, and Alyson Hannigan.

His other TV acting runs from the new Friends spin-off, Joey, all the way back to Bosom Buddies, the show that made Tom Hanks a star in 1980! (No, Tom's not Jewish. You can't have everything!)

Bob has done a movie or two, also, including Meet Wally Sparks, with late Jewish comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield, and Dumb and Dumberer, with Jim Carrey.

But he also has a serious side. When his sister was battling a deadly disease, he directed and produced a movie called For Hope that dramatizes the struggle of a seriously ill person and her family.

Bob has done so much TV work, he has even been on game shows! He was a regular on Make Me Laugh-- you won if you could not laugh at the stand-up comics and clowns they brought on the show.

And on The Dating Game, he was the mystery bachelor chosen by the woman looking for a date because he answered her questions the way she liked. Awww…

Bonus:

With all his TV credits, you’d think they would call Bob “Mr. Television”… but they can’t, because that nickname is already taken! By whom? By Milton Berle, whose other nickname is “Uncle Miltie.” His real first name is Milton, but his last name was Berlinger.

He was a stand-up comic who became what is considered to be the first TV star of all. Back when TV shows were sponsored by one company, he was the host of a variety show called Texaco Star Theater (Texaco was an oil company based in Texas whose logo was a star, so that was a pun). The show started on the radio (Neil Simon was one of the writers!), then ran for seven years on TV.

Milton was born in New York and started acting when he was only 5. In his first movie, he was supposed to be a kid thrown from a moving train! But in the key shot, they used a bag of rags as a stunt double. Even as a kid, he was in movies with America’s sweetheart, Mary Pickford, the original action hero, Douglas Fairbanks (see this Bonus), and king of the clowns, Charlie Chaplin.

When he was only 12, Milton was in his first Broadway show. Then he went into stand-up, which was to be his main thing from then on. Over 80 years of performing, Milton amassed what must be one of the largest collections of jokes in the world, with more than 5 million! He put out two books, with 10,000 jokes each.

He wrote a song or two, too! Then he was a hit in radio variety and game shows, including one in which the audience would send in jokes, but the guests came up with the punch lines!

Then came the Texaco show, which was moved to TV, and Milton with it. Milton’s show was huge! He sometimes gathered 80% of the audience, and movie theaters and restaurants would close for an hour, since everyone was home watching his show! And sales of TV sets doubled! Milton and the show won an Emmy. Milton then had enough clout to get some of the first African-American performers on his show. On another show, Milton had Elvis on twice. When Milton’s show finally ended, at least he knew that the TV crown had passed to a friend, Phil Silvers (see the Bonus here).

His TV career done, Milton went back to stand-up and acting, selling out theaters in Las Vegas and Broadway. He also started showing up in movies with Marilyn Monroe, Jewish actor Bert “The Cowardly Lion” Lahr, Sid Caesar and other comics of his generation in It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as a used-car salesman in The Muppet Movie, as himself in Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose. And he popped back on TV, guest-starring in sitcoms from Lucy to The Nanny, dramas like Beverly Hills, 90210, variety shows, and even as a Batman bad guy!

Milton was so generous with his time, he set a Guinness record for the number of charity performances. He entertained troops in World War I, WWII, and Viet Nam. He even hosted the first-ever charity telethon. And Milton was one of the founding members of the Friars Club, which we explain in the Bonus here.

Uncle Miltie was the first person inducted into the International Comedy Hall of Fame, but also one of the first to be in the TV Hall of Fame. Much like the YouTube stars of today, Milton is credited with creating an audience for what was once a brand new technology: TV. Like he said, “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door!”