John Stamos

John Phillip Stamos (born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician.

He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera General Hospital, for which he was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

He is known for his work in television, especially in his starring role as Jesse Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House.

Stamos was born on August 19, 1963, in Cypress, California, to William "Bill" Stamos, a second-generation Greek-American restaurateur, and Loretta (née Phillips).

His original family surname is Stamatopoulos (Σταματόπουλος).

In his youth, Stamos worked for his father's restaurants, and as a teenager, had a job flipping burgers in the Orange County area.

He attended John F. Kennedy High School and played in the marching band there.

At 15, he attended his first Beach Boys concert; a huge fan, he would later tour with the band.

In the late 1980s, ABC's Full House gradually became a hit, and the show solidified Stamos's career.

He asked that the character's last name be Katsopolis to highlight his Greek heritage, according to show creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin.

He played one of the show's protagonists, Jesse, who lives with his brother-in-law, Danny, whose deceased wife was Jesse's older sister.

Danny's best friend, Joey, also lives in the house with them.

The three help each other raise Danny's three young daughters.

Jesse is known to be the "bad boy" at first until he falls in love with and marries Rebecca Donaldson and has twin boys, Nicky and Alex.

His parents were supportive of his aspiration to be an actor, and although he planned to enroll at Cypress College for the 1981 term, he skipped his first semester to focus on launching a career as an actor—with his father's blessing.

After just three weeks, he landed his first role on General Hospital.

Stamos began his acting career with the role of Blackie Parrish on the soap opera General Hospital in late January 1982, for which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1984.

That April, he went on to the lead role in the short-lived CBS sitcom Dreams, in which he played an aspiring musician in a band of the same name.

He also starred in Never Too Young to Die (1986), Born to Ride (1991) and as Dr. Nicky in the Lifetime/Netflix psychological thriller You.

Later, he played a cast role in the sitcom You Again? (1986) with Jack Klugman.

In 1986, Stamos starred in his first film Never Too Young to Die, an action spy film also starring Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.

Though intended to be a "young James Bond" film (and even starred former Bond actor George Lazenby as the father of Stamos' character), the movie was a critical and commercial flop.

Since the show's finale in 1995, Stamos has appeared in numerous TV films and series.

In 1995, after eight seasons, the series came to an end.

Stamos has since maintained close relationships with co-stars Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Andrea Barber, and Candace Cameron Bure.

Stamos has appeared in numerous made-for-television films, stage productions, television series, and commercials.

He had starring roles in the television series Thieves (2001) and Jake in Progress (2005).

Both shows ran for several episodes before cancellation.

In 2003, Stamos guest-starred on Friends, appearing in the season nine episode, "The One with the Donor", playing a man who went to Chandler and Monica's apartment for dinner, not knowing he was actually being interviewed to be a sperm donor.

From 2005 to 2009, Stamos had a starring role on the NBC medical drama ER as Dr. Tony Gates.

Stamos was a guest star in a first-season episode of MTV's The Andy Milonakis Show (2005), playing himself.

He took part in only one skit, which featured him in a tree, having rabies, and being put down by another character.

In 2005, Stamos guest-starred in two episodes in season 12 of ER as paramedic-turned-intern Tony Gates.

In the A&E television movie Wedding Wars (2006), he starred as Shel, a gay wedding planner.

He stated that his performance reflected his support for same-sex marriages.

He has made several voice acting appearances such as in the MTV animated series Clone High in the episode, "Changes: The Big Prom: The Sex Romp: The Season Finale", where he played himself, and as the What's Global Warming Penguin in Bob Saget's parody film Farce of the Penguins.

In October 2009, he began playing the role of Albert in the Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie, which he played until January 2010.

He then played Senator Cantwell in a Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's play The Best Man from July to September 2012, replacing Eric McCormack.

From September 2015 to 2016, Stamos starred as the lead character in the Fox sitcom Grandfathered.

He executive produced the Netflix series Fuller House, in which he reprised the role of Jesse Katsopolis.