‘Full House’ Star Dave Coulier Reveals Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis

by Junna Base November 13, 2024

Metro Detroit native Dave Coulier announced Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show that he is being treated for cancer.

The 65-year-old television icon, best known for his role as Uncle Joey on “Full House,” told “Today” host Hoda Kotb that he has stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He learned about the blood cancer after he had a cold and noticed a swelling in his groin that quickly grew into a lump the size of a golf ball.

“Five weeks ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. And in that time, I had three surgeries, I had chemotherapy and I lost some hair,” he said on “Today.”

Coulier received good news when a bone marrow test came back negative, he told People magazine. “At that point, my chances of recovery dropped from a low to 90%. And that was a great day.”

The actor, comedian, director and writer grew up in St. Clair Shores and moved back to Michigan with his wife Melissa in 2019. He appeared at the Motor City Comic Con in Novi over the weekend.

Several members of his family had cancer. “I lost my mother to breast cancer. I lost my sister Sharon to breast cancer. She was 36 years old. I lost my niece, Shannon. She was 29 years old,” Coulier told People magazine, sharing that his older sister Karen also had cancer. “I saw what these women in my family were going through and thought to myself, ‘If I can be just a tenth of a percent as strong as them, then I’ll be fine.’

Coulier, who preventatively shaved his head, described to People how he keeps a positive attitude and does things like skate with friends in Detroit. “We were just running around shooting pucks and it was wonderful to just be out there doing something I love and just try to focus on all the great things that are in my life.” he said.

In August, Coulier presented the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation with a check for $125,000 that he won on ABC’s Celebrity edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” A graduate of Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods who attended the University of Michigan before leaving to concentrate on comedy, Coulier always maintained close ties to Detroit and was fond of the city’s sports teams, particularly the Red Wings. strongly connected.

In 2021, an honorary street sign for “Dave Coulier Way” was unveiled on Lange Street in St. Clair Shores, where he spent his childhood.

During his Comic-Con appearance at Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace, Coulier greeted fans and met “Succession” actor Alan Ruck, with whom he has a Motor City connection, WXYZ-TV (7 Action News) reported.

Both actors wore Red Wings jerseys for their best-known roles: Coulier as Uncle Joey in “Full House” and Ruck as the melancholy Cameron in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at [email protected].

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