Martin Mull attends The Cool Kids panel during the Fox Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. Mull, whose funny, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms such as Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said Friday . (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP file)
LOS ANGELES Martin Mull, whose humor and acting skills made him a sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms like Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said Friday. He was 80 years old.
Mull's daughter, Maggie Mull, a television writer and comic book artist, said her father died at home Thursday after a courageous battle with a long illness.
Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, rose to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and the lead role in its spin-off, Fernwood Tonight.
“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing commercials for Red Roof Inn,” Maggie Mull said in an Instagram post. “He thought the joke was funny. He never failed to laugh. My father will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and colleagues, his fellow artists, comedians and musicians, and many, many dogs, a sign of a truly exceptional person.”
Known for his blond hair and neatly trimmed mustache, Mull was born in Chicago, raised in Ohio and Connecticut, and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome.
His first foray into show business was as a songwriter, writing the 1970 semi-hit A Girl Named Johnny Cash for singer Jane Morgan.
He combined music and comedy in an act he performed in trendy Hollywood clubs in the 1970s.
In 1976, I was a guitarist and sitting comedian at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear came in and heard me, Mull told the Associated Press in 1980. He cast me as the wife beater in Mary Hartman , Mary Hartman. . Four months later, I started creating my own show.
His time on the Strip was immortalized in the 1973 country rock classic Lonesome LA Cowboy, where the Riders of the Purple Sage pay tribute to him alongside music luminaries Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge.
I know Kris, Rita and Marty Mull hang out at the Troubadour, the song says.
On Fernwood Tonight (sometimes called Fernwood 2 Night), he played Barth Gimble, the host of a local talk show in a Midwestern town and twin of his character Mary Hartman. Fred Willard, a frequent collaborator with very similar comedic sensibilities, played his sidekick. It was later revamped as America 2 Night and takes place in Southern California.
He would become a real talk show host replacing Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.”
Mull often played slightly sleazy, somewhat slimy, and often mischievous characters, as he did as Teri Garr's boss and Michael Keaton's nemesis in 1983's Mr. Mom. He played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film adaptation of the board game Clue, which, like many things Mull has appeared in, has become a cult classic.
The 1980s also brought what many considered his best work, A History of White People in America, a mockumentary that first aired on Cinemax. Mull co-created the show and starred as a 60 Minutes-style investigative reporter investigating all things ugly and mundane. Willard was again a co-star.
He wrote and starred in 1988's Rented Lips alongside Robert Downey Jr., which his father, Robert Sr., directed.
His co-star Jennifer Tilly said in a post on X on Friday that Mull was a very witty, charismatic and kind person.
In the 1990s, he was best known for his recurring role over several seasons on Roseanne, in which he played a warmer, less sleazy boss of the title character, an openly gay man whose partner was played by Willard, who died in 2020.
Mull would later play private investigator Gene Parmesan on Arrested Development, a cult character on a cult series, and would be nominated for an Emmy, his first, in 2016 for a guest appearance on Veep.
What I did on Veep I'm very proud of, but I'd like to think it's probably more collective, at my age it's more collective, Mull told the AP after his appointment. It could go all the way back to Fernwood.
Other comedians and actors were often his biggest fans.
Martin was the best, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig said of X. So funny, so talented, so kind. I had the chance to perform with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and enjoyed every moment spent with a legend. Fernwood Tonight has been such an influence in my life.
Mull is survived by his daughter and musician Wendy Haas, his wife since 1982.
