We have sad news to report today. It has been announced that Martin Mull, the hugely talented comedian and actor known for playing Colonel Mustard in Clue, Leon Carp in Roseanne, Gene Parmesan in Arrested Development, and more, has died at the age of 80.
The news was revealed by Martin’s daughter Maggie on Instagram. “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness,” Maggie wrote. “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. 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 got his start as a songwriter, penning A Girl Named Johnny Cash for singer Jane Morgan. He later set off on his own as a musical comedian before making the leap to acting. He quickly found fame as Garth Gimble in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, but the wife-beating character was not one he enjoyed playing.
“I thought they hired me because I was a comedian,” Mull said in 2014. “I was kind of surprised when all of a sudden we got all this Virginia Woolfish high drama. I didn’t like the character at all. I don’t care for violence, and wife beating is particularly repugnant to me, so it was quite hard.” He also played Barth Gimble, Garth’s twin brother, in the talk show parodies Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night alongside Fred Willard, who played his sidekick and announcer.
He went on to appear in TV shows such as The Golden Girls, The Larry Sanders Show, Just Shoot Me!, The Ellen Show, Reba, Reno 911, The War at Home, Two and a Half Men, ‘Til Death, Dads, Community, Life in Pieces, The Ranch, The Cool Kids, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and more. He also plays Willard Kraft in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the principal of Westbridge High and was nominated for an Emmy for his guest-starring role in HBO’s Veep. Mull was also a prolific voice actor, lending his talents to The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Wild Thornberrys, Dexter’s Laboratory, Danny Phantom, American Dad!, and Bob’s Burgers.
Mull also appeared in movies such as FM, Serial, Mr. Mom, Cutting Class, Ski Patrol, Mrs. Doubtfire, How the West Was Fun, Jingle All the Way, 101 Dalmatians, Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, and more.
Our thoughts go out to Martin Mull’s family and friends. He was such a unique and underrated talent and will be greatly missed.
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