Pamela Tanner

Pamela Katsopolis Tanner (March 5, 1958 – May 12, 1987 [pre-series]), was the wife of Danny Tanner, and mother of D.J., Stephanie and Michelle Tanner. She was also the daughter of Nick and Irene Katsopolis, and the older sister of Jesse Katsopolis.

Biography

Pam met her future husband, Danny, in tenth grade when she sat next to him in geometry class. In the season two finale "Luck Be a Lady (Part 2)", it is revealed that they eloped at a young age, which upset both of their families, and even caused Jesse to get so mad that he beat Danny up, causing Danny to fracture one of his ribs, despite the fact Jesse was a mere thirteen years old and Danny was twenty.

She was always smiling (Michelle), overly excited (Stephanie), and did her best at everything (D.J.). Each of her personality traits could also be seen in her three daughters. Six and a half months after giving birth to her third child, Michelle, she was killed by a drunk driver. Her cause of death was stated by D.J. in the episode "Under the Influence".

After her death, Pam's younger brother, Jesse, moved into the house to help his brother-in-law, Danny, raise his three nieces. He is the one who seems to miss her the most, which is one of the reasons why living with the Tanner family means so much to him. It was he who pulled everyone together after his sister’s death, according to his father in the episode "It's Not My Job".

She was seen only once in the series, portrayed by actress Christine Houser in the episode "Goodbye Mr. Bear" in a home video depicting her and Danny bringing newborn Michelle home from the hospital, which reminded the girls and Jesse about their lovely mother and older sister. One favorite memory was singing "On Top of Spaghetti" with her. Joey talked about how her laugh was contagious, and by putting her in the front row during his new comedy sets, her laughter was sure to make the whole place crack up, and her brother, Jesse, shared memories of them dancing to "Disco Inferno".

According to Jesse in the season three episode "Lust in the Dust", Pam had her flaws: "She was always late. She spent way too much time in the bathroom. And when I was little, she used to hold me down and stick carrots up my nose."

In the season one episode "The Miracle of Thanksgiving", D.J. mentions that Pam always used to say, "Smiles are free, so give them away".

In the season eight episode "Under the Influence", D.J. reveals that Pam got killed by a drunk driver.

In the Fuller House, she is briefly mentioned by D.J. in "Secrets, Lies and Firetrucks", where she asked from Danny how he knew he was ready for dating after she had died.