John Stamos

**John Phillip Stamos** (born August 19, 1963) is a Greek-American actor, producer, musician, comedian and singer. He portrays Dr. Nicky on *You*.

## Early life

He was born on August 19, 1963 in Cypress, California to William "Bill" Stamos, a restaurateur, and Loretta (née Phillips). His father was of Greek descent, and his mother was of English, Irish, and German ancestry. He has two sisters, Alaina and Janeen.

His paternal grandmother, Adeline Psaras, was born in the United States to Greek immigrants; his paternal grandfather, Ioannis Stamatopoulos, came from the village of Kakouri in the Peloponnese region of Greece and changed the family surname from "Stamatopoulos" to "Stamos" upon arriving in the United States.

In his youth, he 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. 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*.

## Career

### 1982–1986: Early career

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

### 1987–1995: Full House

In the late 1980s, ABC's *Full House* gradually became a hit, and the show solidified his 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, 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 three young girls. 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. In 1995, after eight seasons, the series came to an end. He 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.

### 1996–2009: Later career

He 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, he 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. He 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 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 2005, he guest-starred in two episodes in season 12 of *ER* as paramedic-turned-intern Tony Gates. In 2006, at the start of the show's thirteenth season, he joined the cast of *ER* as a series regular. In February 2008, he appeared in the television adaptation of *A Raisin in the Sun*. In August 2008, he was the roast master for Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget.

### 2010–present: Grandfathered, Fuller House, and other ventures

On June 8, 2010, it was announced that he would portray Carl Howell, a new love interest for Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), in season two of the television show *Glee*. In 2011, he guest-starred on *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* and was featured in a *CollegeHumor* video with Bob Saget. He also guest-starred as himself on *Two and a Half Men* as Charlie's old friend, who was interested in buying the house until he found out that the place was Charlie's.

Since 2011, he has appeared in a series of commercials for Dannon's Greek yogurt brand Oikos; including his first Super Bowl commercial which was aired during Super Bowl 2012. In February 2012, it was reported that he would take on one of the lead roles on the new Fox drama *Little Brother*. The series was created by *Everybody Loves Raymond* writer Mike Royce, and centers around a man who finds out that he has a long-lost half-brother.

In March 2013, he signed on in a recurring role on the USA Network drama *Necessary Roughness*, during season three. He played Connor McClane, the head of a sports and entertainment management company that is interested in hiring Dani. He was to play the lead role in ABC's soap opera *Members Only*, but the network decided not to air the show.

In April 2015, he announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that the streaming service Netflix would be picking up *Full House* for a 13-episode sequel, titled *Fuller House*, to start airing on February 26, 2016. In September, he began leading the cast of the Fox sitcom *Grandfathered*, also starring Josh Peck, Christina Milian, and Paget Brewster. In 2016, he appeared in the film *My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2*. In late 2016, he joined the Fox black comedy series *Scream Queens* in its season two premiere as series regular Dr. Brock Holt.

In 2018, he starred in Lifetime's former television adaptation of *You* as Dr. Nicky, which premiered on September 9, 2018. On December 3, 2018, it was announced that *You* would move to Netflix as a "Netflix Original" title, ahead of the premiere of the second season.

## Music and theatre

He started learning drums when he was four, then began to take up playing the guitar, and started his own band called Destiny. The band had played concerts at some amusement parks and parties.

### Independently

He performed on an independently released 1994 album entitled "Shades of Blue" along with Lanny Cordola, Gary Griffin, Sandra Stephens, Tony Guerrero, and David Enos. "Shades of Blue" was re-released digitally through iTunes and other channels in 2010 after being long out-of-print. He appeared on Broadway as The Emcee in *Cabaret*, and also in *Nine* and *How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying*. He performed the Billy Joel song "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" on the 2006 charity album "Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars".

On March 30, 2009, he announced that he would participate in the Broadway revival of *Bye Bye Birdie*. He won the 2009–10 Golden Icon Award for best actor in a musical for his performance in that production. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 16, 2009. The star is located at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

He performed with John Fogerty on April 24, 2010, during one of the Tampa Bay Rays post-game concerts. He rotated between the tambourine, drums, and bass guitar throughout the concert. In August 2011, he performed in *Hairspray* at the Hollywood Bowl as Corny Collins, alongside an all-star cast.

On July 10, 2012, he began performances on Broadway in Gore Vidal's *The Best Man* as Senator Joseph Cantwell. He reprised his role as Jesse Katsopolis for a "Jesse and the Rippers" reunion on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 19, 2013. Played straight by host Fallon (who introduced the band as being from San Francisco and having a number one song in Japan), he performed a medley of songs featured on *Full House* including "Forever" and the series' theme song "Everywhere You Look". Bob Saget and Lori Loughlin also made cameos.

In 2014, he directed the music video "Let Yourself be Loved" for the Nashville-based band Diamond Carter, featuring the band's front-man Tyler Tuohy alongside actress Nicky Whelan. He was also noted as a co-writer for the song, along with Michael Gigante, and the video was released on Yahoo Music on May 21, 2014.

### The Beach Boys

He has occasionally performed in concert with The Beach Boys, dating back to 1985, typically playing drums and various other percussion instruments. In 1988, he appeared in their video for "Kokomo", in which he played both the conga drums and the steel drums. In 1990, he played drums for them on the title track of the comedy *Problem Child* and also appeared in the song's music video.

In 1992, he sang lead vocals on a new version of "Forever" for their album "Summer in Paradise". The song was originally written and sung by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and released in 1970. The song was also featured twice on *Full House*. The first was a recording sung at his character's wedding, while the second was a recording sung for his character's twin sons. The 1992 music video, titled "Forever by Jesse and the Rippers", featured him predominantly. Three of The Beach Boys members are however briefly shown singing harmonies with him: Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, and Mike Love.

Since the 1990s, he has occasionally performed with The Beach Boys, such as during their summer tours, playing drums and guitar, and singing along on some of their hit songs, like "Forever", including:

* March 30, 2010, episode of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, playing drums, congas, and guitar, also touring with them that spring, including an appearance at Fort Myers, Florida.
* June 2011 at a benefit concert for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.
* Several appearances on their 50th Reunion Tour (April – September 2012).
* May 26, 2013, performed during a post-game concert at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.
* July 4, 2017, performed during the A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C..
* July 4, 2018, John hosted the A Capitol Fourth special on PBS and performed with the Beach Boys in front of the White House in Washington, D.C..

## Personal life

He is a big fan of Elvis Presley and has often referenced or paid homage to him in the show *Full House*.

He began dating model/actress Rebecca Romijn in 1994 after they met at a Victoria's Secret fashion show in which she was modeling. He and Romijn became engaged on Christmas Eve 1997, and they married on September 19, 1998, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They announced their separation in April 2004. He filed for divorce in August 2004, and it became final on March 1, 2005.

On October 23, 2017, he announced his engagement to model and actress Caitlin McHugh after a year of dating. In December 2017, the couple announced they are expecting their first child, due in the spring of 2018. They married in February 2018.

On April 15, 2018, he announced the birth of his first child, a son Billy, named after his father.

On May 19, 2018, John and Caitlin Stamos announced their new jewelry line, "St. Amos Jewelry" with 100% of the proceeds going to the Childhelp foundation.