My heart is heavy as I share that my father passed away at home on June 27th after bravely battling a long illness," Mull's daughter wrote on Instagram.
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| Martin Mull in Los Angeles, 1985 |
Martin Mull, the comic musician and actor who began his career with the 1970s TV series “Fernwood 2 Night” and went on to appear as Colonel Mustard in “Clue” and on “Arrested Development” and “Roseanne,” died Thursday at the age of 80.
His daughter Maggie announced his death on Instagram, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and—the sign of a truly exceptional person—by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”
Mull was nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for his guest role as political aide Bob Bradley in “Veep.” Most recently, he made guest appearances on “The Afterparty,” “Not Dead Yet,” and “Grace and Frankie.”
In 2015, he guest-starred on NBC's comedy “Community” as George Perry, the father of Gillian Jacobs’ Britta Perry, and on CBS’ comedy “Life in Pieces.” From 2008 to 2013, Mull had a recurring role on “Two and a Half Men” as Russell, a pharmacist who uses and sells drugs illegally and attended Charlie’s funeral in the Season 9 premiere episode. He also recurred on “Arrested Development” as Gene Parmesan, a rather incompetent private investigator known for showing up in inane disguises.
Mull was a series regular on Seth MacFarlane’s single-season Fox comedy “Dads,” starring Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi, in 2013-14, playing the father of Ribisi’s character. In 2008, he guest-starred on “Law & Order: SVU” as Dr. Gideon Hutton, whose denial of the existence of AIDS leads to his conviction for willful negligence in the deaths of several people.
Mull’s film and television career began with his role as talk show host Barth Gimble on the satirical, Norman Lear-created TV series “Fernwood 2 Night,” which was later renamed “America Tonight,” in 1977 and 1978. The mock talk show also featured Fred Willard as Gimble’s dimwitted sidekick Jerry Hubbard. These shows were spin-offs from Lear’s soap opera sendup “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”
Mull and Willard teamed up again for the 1985 HBO mockumentary “The History of White People in America.” Mull played Roseanne’s gay boss Leon Carp on her ABC sitcom from 1991-97, and reunited with Willard for a 1995 episode featuring one of television’s first gay weddings.
On "The Ellen Show" (not to be confused with the earlier “Ellen”), which ran for 18 episodes on CBS in 2001-02, Mull was a series regular as Ed Munn. He also recurred on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” as Principal Willard Kraft from 1997-2000. From 1998-2004, Mull was a regular on the game show “Hollywood Squares” in a run of 425 episodes, many of them as the center square.
Martin Eugene Mull was born in Chicago to an actress/director mother and a carpenter father. The family moved to North Ridgeville, Ohio, when he was 2, and then to New Canaan, Connecticut when he was 15. He studied painting and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in painting.
Mull first broke into show business as a songwriter, penning Jane Morgan’s 1970 country single “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” which peaked at No. 61 on Billboard’s country charts. He began his own recording career shortly thereafter.
He composed the theme song for the 1970 series “The 51st State,” and was the music producer for the 1971 film “Jump.” Throughout the 1970s, Mull was best known as a musical comedian, performing satirical and humorous songs both live and in studio recordings. He opened for Randy Newman, Frank Zappa, and Bruce Springsteen at various live gigs in the early ’70s.
| Actors Martin Mull, left, and Roseanne Barr arrive at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a... |
Martin Mull's self-titled debut album, released in 1972, featured notable musicians including Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Levon Helm from The Band, Keith Spring of NRBQ, and Libby Titus. His other albums included “Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room” (1973), “Normal” (1974), “Days of Wine and Neuroses” (1975), “No Hits, Four Errors: The Best of Martin Mull” (1977), “Sex and Violins” (1978), and “I’m Everyone I’ve Ever Loved.” According to a profile on the A.V. Club website, Mull earned a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single “Dueling Tubas.” His early albums were recorded for Georgia-based Capricorn Records, which was closely associated with the Allman Brothers and other Southern rockers of the era.
In an interview with the A.V. Club, Mull was asked how a painter found his way into acting. He responded: “You know, every painter I know has a day job. They’re either teaching art at some college or driving a cab or whatever. And I just happened to luck into a day job that’s extraordinary and a lot of fun and buys a lot of paint.”
“As far as the acting thing goes, I had a musical career on the road for about 17 years or so, I had bands and so forth, and it boiled down to just my wife and I playing big rooms in Vegas, and you couldn’t ask for more than that. There were limousines and suites and the whole thing. But I got sick of it. So I thought I’d try my hand at writing for television. And I had an ‘in’ to have an interview with Norman Lear, and I was a huge fan of ‘Mary Hartman.’ I went in and talked to him for, oh, I would say a good hour. We had a great chat. And afterward he said, ‘We don’t need any writers. It’s been nice meeting you. I’ll see you.’ And then six months later I got a call to come in and read for a part.”
After gaining attention for playing Barth Gimble on the syndicated series “Fernwood 2 Night,” Mull played one of the few lead roles of his career in the 1980 feature comedy “Serial,” a satire of life in Marin County.
In 1980, Mull had a supporting role in Tony Bill’s “My Bodyguard” as the hotel-manager father of Chris Makepeace’s protagonist Clifford. In “Mr. Mom” (1983), he played the snaky president of an advertising agency with plans for promoting Teri Garr’s character into his own life, as described by Roger Ebert.
In 1984, Mull teamed with Steve Martin to create the sitcom “Domestic Life,” in which Mull starred as a Seattle TV commentator whose teenage son operates very successful businesses from his room and makes loans to his parents. However, the CBS series lasted only 10 episodes.
Mull was part of the ensemble in Robert Altman’s satirical take on the lives of high school boys, “O.C. and Stiggs” (1985). That same year, Mull played Colonel Mustard in “Clue,” an adaptation of the board game, which became one of his most remembered roles.
He starred in and wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film “Rented Lips,” directed by Robert Downey Sr. Mull attempted series-regular television again in NBC’s “His & Hers” (1990), which disappeared after 13 episodes, and on “The Jackie Thomas Show” (1992), starring Tom Arnold, which was canceled after 18 episodes.
Mull began his voiceover career with the 1993 series “Family Dog,” an early project from Brad Bird in which he provided the lead voice. He also appeared as himself in two episodes of Garry Shandling’s HBO series “The Larry Sanders Show” in 1992-93 and had a supporting role in Robin Williams’ 1993 hit “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
Trained as a painter, Mull had practiced his art since the 1970s, with his work appearing in both group and solo exhibits. One of his paintings, "After Dinner Drinks" (2008), owned by Steve Martin, was used for the cover of the album “Love Has Come for You” by Martin and Edie Brickell.
He is survived by his wife, Wendy Haas, an actor and composer whom he married in 1982, and his daughter Maggie, a TV writer and producer.