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

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.

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

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

The three help each other raise Danny's three young daughters DJ (Candace Cameron), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and Michelle Tanner (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen).

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.

[11] On June 8, 2010, it was announced that Stamos would portray Carl Howell, a new love interest for Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), in season two of the television show Glee.

[12][13] In 2011, Stamos guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit[14] and was featured in a CollegeHumor video with Bob Saget.

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.

He played Connor McClane, the head of a sports and entertainment management company that is interested in hiring Dani Santino (Callie Thorne).

[18] Stamos was to play the lead role in ABC's soap opera Members Only,[19] but the network decided not to air the show.

[21] In September, he began leading the cast of the Fox sitcom Grandfathered, also starring Josh Peck, Christina Milian, and Paget Brewster.

[24] On June 24, 2019, it was confirmed that Stamos would reprise his role as Dr. Nicky in the second season,[25] by which point the series had been announced to move to Netflix.

[28] Stamos performed on an independently released 1994 album entitled Shades of Blue along with Lanny Cordola, Gary Griffin, Sandra Stephens, Tony Guerrero, and David Enos.

In August 2011, Stamos performed in Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl as Corny Collins, alongside an all-star cast.

[32] On July 10, 2012, Stamos began performances on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best Man as Senator Joseph Cantwell.

Stamos 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.

[35] Stamos has occasionally performed in concert with the Beach Boys, dating back to 1985, typically playing drums and various other percussion instruments.

However, three of The Beach Boys members are briefly shown singing harmonies with Stamos: Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, and Mike Love.

Other performances include: Stamos is a big fan of Elvis Presley and has often referenced or paid homage to him in the show Full House.