Martin Mull – The actors of “Clue and Arrested Development” passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness
LOS ANGELES – Martin Mull passed away on Friday, according to his daughter. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a hipster because to his esoteric comedy and acting, and he went on to become a popular guest star on comedies like “Arrested Development” and “Roseanne.”
Maggie Mull, a comic artist and TV writer, said her father passed away at home on Thursday following “a valiant fight against a long illness.”
Mull, who was also a painter and a guitarist, rose to national prominence in the satirical soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” which was developed by Norman Lear, and in its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight.”
Martin Mull’s daughter Maggie posted on Instagram to notify his passing.
Mull received an Emmy nomination in 2016 for his guest performance on “Veep” as political assistant Bob Bradley. He had lately made cameo cameos in “Grace and Frankie” “Not Dead Yet” and “The Afterparty.”
In 2015 he appeared on the comedy shows “Community” on NBC (as George Perry, the father of Gillian Jacobs’ Britta Perry) and “Life in Pieces” on CBS.
From 2008 to 2013, Mull was a recurring character on “Two and a Half Men” as Russell, an illicit drug user and dealer who appeared at Charlie’s funeral in the first episode of Season 9. The actor also returned to “Arrested Development” in the role of Gene Parmesan, a fairly stupid private eye who frequently appears in absurd
“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.”
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,” Martin 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 own show.”
He’d get to be a true talk show host as Johnny Carson’s replacement on “The Tonight Show.”
Martin 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 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 all things boring. Willard appeared again as a co-star.
He authored and starred in “Rented Lips” (1988), directed by his father, Robert Downey Jr.
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.
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 Mull 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.
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