Martin Mull, comedian and actor in ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘Roseanne,’ dies at 80: NPR

LOS ANGELES — Martin Mull, whose ecoteric, funny humor 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.

Mull’s daughter, television writer and comic book artist Maggie Mull, 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 spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight.” .

“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for making commercials for Red Roof Inn,” Maggie Mull said in an Instagram post. “He thought that joke was funny. He never failed to laugh. My dad will be greatly missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and colleagues, his fellow artists, comedians and musicians, and — a sign of a truly exceptional person — many, many dogs.”

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 Hollywood’s trendy clubs in the 1970s.

“In 1976, I was a guitarist and a comic sitting in 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 drummer on ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.’ Four months later, I had my own show.

His time on the Strip was commemorated in the 1973 country rock classic “Lonesome LA Cowboy” where the Riders of the Purple Sage paid 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 goes.

On “Fernwood Tonight” (sometimes titled “Fernwood 2 Night”), he played the role of 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. The show 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 characters that were a little shady, a little slimy and often cloying, 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 appeared in, became a cult classic.

The 1980s also brought what many considered his best work, “A History of White People in America,” a mockumentary first shown on Cinemax. Mull co-created the show and played the role of a “60 Minutes”-style investigative reporter investigating all things ugly and mundane. Willard was once again a co-star.

He wrote and starred in 1988’s “Rented Lips” alongside Robert Downey Jr., whose father, Robert Sr., was the director.

His co-star Jennifer Tilly said in an X-rated post on Friday that Mull was “such a witty, charismatic and kind person.”

In the 1990s, he was best known for his recurring role on several seasons of “Roseanne,” in which he played a boss who was warmer and less sleazy than 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.”

“I’m very proud of what I did in Veep, but I’d like to think it’s probably more collective, at my age it’s more collective,” Mull told the AP after his nomination. “It could go back to Fernwood. »

Other comedians and actors were often his biggest fans.

“Martin was the best,” “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig said on loved every moment spent with a legend Fernwood Tonight had such an influence in my life.

Mull is survived by his daughter and musician Wendy Haas, his wife since 1982.