Martin Mull, the comedian and actor best known for his roles in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Clue, Arrested Development and Roseanne, has died. He was 80.
The beloved actor died on Thursday at his home, according to his daughter, the TV writer and producer, Maggie. Mull died “after a valiant fight against a long illness,” she said. The illness was not disclosed.
“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red roof Inn commercials,” Maggie wrote in her caption to a black and white photo of her late father reclining on his leather chair and giving a dog belly scratches. “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 made an indelible mark in 1976 when he appeared in Norman Lear’s satirical soap opera series, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, as Garth and Barth Gimble, and then in the 1977 spinoff, Fernwood 2 Night. He made his big screen debut the following year in the comedy, FM, but it’s his role as Colonel Mustard in the 1985 comedy mystery, Clue, that made him a clutch performer.
Mull would go on to star in a number of film and TV projects, including as Leon Carp on Roseanne, Gene Parmesan on Arrested Development and principal Willard Kraft on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Mull made a bit of TV history when his character on Roseanne married Fred Willard’s character, Scott, during season 8 in 1995 to mark one of TV’s first gay weddings.
He had dozens of cameos and recurring roles, including as the hilarious but ethically compromised pharmacist, Russell, on Two and a Half Men.
Mull earned his only Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2016 when he portrayed Bob Bradley, a political operative, on HBO’s Veep. He later appeared on Netflix’s The Ranch, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gracie and Frankie and he starred on the short-lived sitcom, The Cool Kids, starring Mull, David Alan Grier, Vicki Lawrence and the late Leslie Jordan.
There was no shortage of talent. Mull also played guitar at nightclubs, often singing parodies, and later opening for Randy Newman and Bruce Springsteen, among others. He dropped his self-titled album in 1972, and his “Dueling Tubas” (a parody of “Dueling Banjos”) even peaked at No. 92 on Billboard‘s Hot 100.
He was also an avid painter. In fact, he studied at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts and painting.
Mull is survived by his wife, Wendy, and daughter, Maggie.
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