Martin Mull, whose biting, esoteric comedy and acting made him a cool hit in the 1970s and subsequently a cherished guest star on sitcoms such as “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” died Friday, his daughter announced.
Martin Mull’s daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, reported that her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness.”
Martin Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, rose to national prominence with a regular part on the Norman Lear-created comedic soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and the lead in its spinoff, Fernwood Tonight.
“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,” Maggie Mull wrote on Instagram. “He’d find that joke amusing. He was always funny. My father will be greatly missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and coworkers, fellow artists, comedians, and musicians, and—as befits a truly extraordinary person—many, many pets.”
Martin Mull, known for his blonde hair and neatly maintained mustache, was born in Chicago, raised in Ohio and Connecticut, and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome.
His first effort into the entertainment industry was as a songwriter, writing the 1970 semi-hit “A Girl Named Johnny Cash” for vocalist Jane Morgan.
He would combine music and comedy in an act he introduced to hip Hollywood bars in the 1970s.
“In 1976, I was a guitar player and sit-down comic appearing at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear walked 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 got my show.”
His time on the Strip was immortalized in the 1973 country rock classic “Lonesome L.A. Cowboy,” in which the Riders of the Purple Sage, together with music legends Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, pay tribute to him.
“I know Kris, Rita, and Marty Mull are hangin’ at the Troubadour,” the tune says.
On “Fernwood Tonight” (also known as “Fernwood 2 Night”), he portrayed Barth Gimble, the host of a local talk show in a midwestern town and the twin of his “Mary Hartman” character. Fred Willard, a frequent collaborator with similar comedic instincts, played his sidekick. It was eventually renamed “America 2 Night” and set in Southern California.
As Johnny Carson’s replacement on “The Tonight Show,” he’d become a true talk show host.
Mull frequently played slightly sleazy, slimy, and smarmy characters, such as Teri Garr’s boss and Michael Keaton’s antagonist in 1983’s Mr. Mom. He also played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film adaptation of the board game Clue, which has become a cult classic, as have many of Mull’s other roles.
The 1980s also saw the release of “A History of White People in America,” a mockumentary that premiered on Cinemax and was widely regarded as his best work. Mull co-created the show and appeared as a “60 Minutes”-style investigative reporter looking into everything boring. Willard appeared again as a co-star.
He authored and starred in “Rented Lips” (1988), directed by his father, Robert Downey Jr.
Martin Mull’s co-star Jennifer Tilly said in an X post-Friday that he was “such a witty charismatic and kind person.”
In the 1990s, he was most known for his recurrent role on numerous seasons of “Roseanne,” in which he played a friendlier, less shady boss to the main character, an openly homosexual man whose partner was played by Willard, who passed away in 2020.
Martin Mull would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development,” a cult-classic character on a cult-classic comedy, and received his first Emmy nomination in 2016 for a cameo 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,” Martin Mull told the Associated Press upon his nomination. “It might go all the way back to ‘Fernwood.'”
Other comedians and actresses were frequently his biggest supporters.
“Martin was the greatest,” “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig stated on X. “He’s very humorous, talented, and a good man. I was fortunate enough to appear with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and loved every moment spent with a legend. Fernwood Tonight was incredibly crucial in my life.”
Martin Mull is survived by his daughter and singer Wendy Haas, who has been his wife since 1982.
