Candace Cameron's first season title card.
Donna Jo "D. J." Margaret Tanner is a fictional character in the television sitcom Full House, portrayed by Candace Cameron. She is the oldest daughter of Danny Tanner.
Character[]
Biography[]
Donna Jo Tanner was born February 9, 1977 to Pamela and Danny Tanner. She is the oldest sister in the Tanner family. Her younger sisters were Stephanie and Michelle.
Personality[]
In the series, D.J. is shown handling many tough situations with general ease. Though she gets upset at times over her father prying into her affairs or otherwise embarrassing her, she is always quick to apologize when she has acted rudely. D.J. gets very mad about the limits her father places on her; usually, and in many episodes, she ignores these limits. Nonetheless, she does eventually learn her lesson (usually the hard way). This structure of one of the "Tanner sisters" learning a life-important lesson is shown in many episodes.
From the sixth episode ("Daddy’s Home"), when she wouldn’t talk about how much she wished Danny wasn’t working so much because Stephanie would cry about Danny missing her recital, D.J. shows great sensitivity toward her younger siblings. She also stays home from her first non-mother/daughter slumber party to take care of Michelle when Jesse, Joey, and Stephanie all have chicken pox, so Michelle won’t get it - even though Danny was perfectly willing to miss a chance to sit courtside at a Golden State Warriors basketball game. Stephanie got on her nerves quite often with her snooping, and this trend continued throughout the series.
Her interests include music (such as George Michael during season 2), movies, and hanging out with her friends. In early episodes, she was shown practicing karate and is mentioned that she's a green belt.
Education[]
D.J. attended Frasier Street Elementary School. In later seasons, she started attending Van Atta Junior High School (an inside joke referring to series producer Don Van Atta). In the last seasons, she attended Bayview High School. However, despite being a high-achieving student, she was not admitted to her first college choice, Stanford University.
Relationships[]
D.J.'s best friend is Kimmy Gibbler. In the first episode of the show, D.J. is seen talking on the phone with Kimmy. The two have occasional fights in the show, but rarely anything major. In one episode, Kimmy arranges for D.J. and Steve to go to the prom together. D.J. is also competitive with Kathy Santoni. In one episode, Kathy has the flu and is unable to fulfill the role of Juliet in the school play Romeo and Juliet. D.J. takes the role of Juliet.
During the series, D.J. has also had several boyfriends. Her first boyfriend, Michael Monfort (played by Jonathan Brandis), appeared on the second season ("A Little Romance"). They were both in 6th grade, but lasted only two days when he dumped her for Kathy Santoni.
In the third season ("13 Candles") she had her first kiss with Kevin Gwynn after her birthday party. Initially, Kimmy wanted to "force" the kiss to happen by playing Spin the Bottle, but Danny, Jesse, and Joey stormed in interrupting the moment. However, later at night, after the party ended, Kevin returned to bring D.J. her gift and they kissed alone in the backyard.
In the eighth season, she had a wealthy boyfriend, Nelson. In the episode "D.J.'s Choice", Nelson and another suitor (Viper) fight for her affection.
Her steadiest boyfriend was Steve Hale (played by Scott Weinger). Although he appeared in the fifth season (as Steve Peters), he officially joined the cast during the sixth season. Steve was two years older than D.J. During the seventh season ("Love on the Rocks"), he and D.J. break up due to having grown apart. However, he returned for a cameo appearance in the series finale to take D.J. to her prom. The two of them kiss and it's unknown whether or not the two of them got back together, but is assumed that they do.
References[]
- D.J. Tanner in Tanner Central