David Alan Coulier was born on September 21, 1959, in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, and discovered early that making people laugh was something he could do particularly well. Growing up in suburban Detroit, Coulier developed an enthusiasm for comedy, impressions and voices, skills that would eventually become the foundation of his professional career. He attended Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods, where his ability to imitate teachers and authority figures reportedly provided an early audience for the talent that would later take him onto comedy stages and national television. Teachers have inspired many careers; relatively few probably intended to do so by being impersonated.

Coulier also developed a lifelong passion for ice hockey, a sport that remained an important part of his life even after entertainment became his profession. Michigan provided a suitable environment for that enthusiasm, and Coulier became a capable player. Hockey and comedy might appear unrelated, but both require timing, quick reactions and an ability to recover after being knocked flat in public, so perhaps the transition was not as dramatic as it first appears.

After high school, Coulier briefly attended the University of Michigan before deciding to pursue comedy professionally. Stand-up took him to Los Angeles, where he began performing in clubs and developing the combination of observational comedy, impressions and sound effects that became his specialty. Unlike comedians whose acts depended primarily upon stories or one-liners, Coulier could populate a routine with an entire collection of characters. Celebrities, cartoon figures and invented voices could appear without requiring anyone else to walk onto the stage.

One of the significant early connections in Coulier's career was fellow comedian Bob Saget. The two knew each other from the comedy circuit before either became associated with Full House. When Coulier first moved to Los Angeles and was struggling financially, Saget allowed him to stay at his home for a period. Years later, television would place Coulier's character in the basement of Saget's character's house. Sometimes television writers create elaborate fictional backstories. Sometimes real life has already done most of the paperwork.

Before Full House, Coulier began accumulating television and voice-acting work. His talent for impressions made animation a particularly natural fit because the audience never needed to see the remarkable facial contortions occurring behind the microphone. He performed voices for animated productions including Muppet Babies, where his vocal work included characters such as Baby Animal and Baby Bunsen. Voice acting became a continuing part of his career, allowing him to use the same skills that had distinguished his stand-up performances.

Coulier also became a regular on the television comedy series Out of Control, which aired on Nickelodeon during the 1980s. The show mixed sketches, recurring characters and deliberately chaotic comedy, making it an excellent environment for Coulier's energetic style. It also gave him valuable experience performing comedy specifically for younger audiences, something that would become particularly important when a family sitcom changed his career.

That sitcom was Full House.

Premiering on ABC in 1987, Full House began with a premise built around loss and an unconventional family arrangement. Danny Tanner, played by Bob Saget, is left to raise his three daughters following the death of his wife. His brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis, played by John Stamos, and best friend Joey Gladstone, played by Coulier, move into the Tanner home in San Francisco to help. Three adult men with very different personalities suddenly find themselves sharing responsibility for three young girls, creating the basic machinery for eight seasons of comedy, family lessons and an impressive quantity of hugging.

Joey Gladstone was the household comedian. He was warmhearted, playful and rarely far from an impression, puppet or ridiculous voice. Whereas Danny was the responsible, obsessively tidy father and Jesse was the leather-jacketed musician concerned about his hair, Joey occupied the territory of the enormous child who happened to be legally an adult. He could communicate with the Tanner girls on their level because there was always a reasonable possibility that he was already operating there.

Coulier's background in stand-up and voice work became central to the character. Joey frequently performed impressions and incorporated characters into everyday conversations. Popeye, Bullwinkle and assorted cartoon voices could suddenly emerge during a scene, while his woodchuck puppet Mr. Woodchuck became another recurring part of the character's comedy. A simple discussion in the Tanner kitchen could therefore become considerably more complicated if Joey decided that several imaginary participants needed to contribute.

Then there was the catchphrase.

"Cut. It. Out." accompanied by a sequence of hand gestures became Joey Gladstone's signature expression and one of the most recognizable catchphrases associated with Full House. Coulier had used the routine before the series, and it was incorporated into Joey's character. Like many successful television catchphrases, its appeal had less to do with the words themselves than with the delivery. Written on paper, "Cut it out" is merely an instruction. Add Coulier's gestures, rhythm and expression, and suddenly an entire generation is repeating it at school until teachers presumably begin reconsidering their career choices.

Full House initially received mixed critical responses but developed an enormous audience, particularly among families and younger viewers. The Tanner household became one of television's most recognizable homes, and the young actors playing D.J., Stephanie and Michelle Tanner — Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin and twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — grew up in front of the audience. Coulier, Saget and Stamos became closely associated with their fictional family roles.

The chemistry among the three adult leads was strengthened by genuine friendships away from the cameras. Coulier and Saget's connection predated the program, while the cast as a whole developed relationships that continued long after the original series ended. That familiarity helped sell the central idea of Full House: these people might not form a conventional household, but they functioned as a family.

Joey's role was particularly interesting because he was not biologically related to the Tanner children. He stayed because Danny was his friend and because he loved the family. As the series progressed, Joey became effectively another parent to the girls, demonstrating that family could be created through commitment and affection rather than simply blood relationships. Beneath the impressions and cartoon noises, that was the reason the character mattered.

The show also allowed Joey to pursue his own career ambitions. He worked as a stand-up comedian, appeared in advertising, performed on children's television and took various entertainment jobs. In other words, Coulier was playing a comedian and voice performer trying to establish himself in entertainment while Coulier himself was a comedian and voice performer who had successfully established himself in entertainment. Research for the role presumably did not require extensive travel.

Full House ended its original run in 1995 after eight seasons, but syndication gave the program an extraordinarily long second life. Children who had watched the Tanner family during its original ABC run grew into adults while reruns introduced the show to their own children. The series became part of a particular strain of late-1980s and 1990s television nostalgia: brightly lit kitchens, problems resolved before the closing credits and heartfelt conversations accompanied by exactly the right amount of gentle background music.

Coulier continued performing stand-up comedy after the series ended and remained active in television and voice work. His credits included additional animated projects and appearances on game shows, reality programs and comedy specials. His family-friendly style also allowed him to perform for audiences that might not necessarily attend a more adult-oriented comedy club show. Impressions remained central to his act, and the familiar voices that had helped create Joey Gladstone continued to travel with him.

His association with Full House never disappeared, and Coulier generally embraced it rather than spending decades attempting to convince everyone that Uncle Joey had been a collective hallucination. He appeared with former castmates at reunions and events, and the continuing friendship among several cast members became part of the show's enduring appeal.

That connection became particularly visible when Netflix revived the franchise as Fuller House in 2016. The sequel series shifted its primary focus to the now-adult D.J. Tanner-Fuller, Stephanie Tanner and their longtime friend Kimmy Gibbler, but familiar characters from the original series returned regularly. Coulier reprised Joey Gladstone, giving longtime viewers the peculiar experience of seeing a television character they had known for decades return older but still entirely capable of producing an inappropriate cartoon voice at short notice.

Fuller House ran for five seasons, ending in 2020. Its existence demonstrated just how deeply Full House had embedded itself in popular culture. Nostalgia alone can bring viewers through the door, but sustaining a revival requires affection for the characters. Joey's return worked because audiences did not simply remember Coulier's catchphrase; they remembered the warmth of the character behind it.

The death of Bob Saget in January 2022 was especially difficult for Coulier. Their friendship had stretched back more than four decades, long before television made them fictional family members. Coulier publicly shared memories of Saget and spoke movingly about their relationship, describing the loss not simply as the death of a former colleague but of one of his closest friends. For viewers who had watched Danny and Joey together for years, the reality behind that friendship gave those tributes particular emotional weight.

Coulier's career has also been accompanied by one of popular music's most persistent pieces of speculation. For years, fans have debated whether Alanis Morissette's 1995 song "You Oughta Know" was written about Coulier, whom Morissette had dated. Coulier has discussed the speculation at various times, sometimes pointing to details he thought might connect the song to their relationship, while Morissette has deliberately declined to identify the song's subject publicly. Consequently, despite decades of confident theories, the identity of the person addressed in the song remains unconfirmed.

Away from entertainment, Coulier's enthusiasm for hockey has remained strong. He has participated in celebrity hockey events and charitable games and has maintained connections with the sport throughout his career. Unlike Joey Gladstone's many temporary interests, hockey was never simply material for a sitcom episode. It was something Coulier had loved since childhood and continued long after Hollywood became his workplace.

In 2024, Coulier publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He underwent chemotherapy and subsequently announced in 2025 that he was in remission. Later that year, he disclosed a separate diagnosis of tongue cancer, for which he underwent radiation treatment. In early 2026, Coulier said testing showed that he was cancer-free. He used his experience to encourage people to obtain regular medical screenings and pay attention to their health, discussing the illnesses publicly with the same straightforward humor that had characterized much of his career.

For all the voices, catchphrases and broad physical comedy, Dave Coulier's enduring appeal has largely depended upon something much simpler. Joey Gladstone was funny, but he was also kind. He was the friend who moved in when his best friend needed help and stayed until he became part of the family. Coulier gave the character enough warmth that audiences accepted him not merely as comic relief but as Uncle Joey, even though technically nobody in the house had any reason to call him Uncle anything.

That affection followed Coulier long after Full House ended. He continued doing stand-up, voice acting and television appearances, returned for Fuller House and remained closely associated with the cast that had become a second family both on screen and away from it.

Dave Coulier therefore occupies a distinctive place in television history. He became famous by turning silly voices, impressions, puppets and a three-word catchphrase into the personality of one of family television's most recognizable characters. Millions of viewers watched Joey Gladstone help raise the Tanner children, pursue comedy and demonstrate that sometimes the best friend who sleeps in the basement eventually becomes family.

And if all else failed, there was always one reliable piece of advice.

Cut. It. Out.