LOS ANGELES – Martin Mull, whose funny, esoteric comedy and acting made him a sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star in series including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday.
Mull’s daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness”.
Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, achieved national fame with a recurring role on the satirical soap opera created by Norman Lear, “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and the lead role on its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight,” in which he played Barth Gimble, host of a satirical talk show.
“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,” Maggie Mull said in an Instagram post. “He would find that joke funny. He was never funny. My father will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and co-workers, fellow artists, comedians and musicians, and – the 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. He combined his music and comedy in Hollywood’s hip clubs in the 1970s.
“In 1976, I was a guitarist and comedian, appearing 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 beater in ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman . Four months later, my own program was separated.”
In the 1980s, he appeared in films such as “Mr. Mom” and “Clue”, and in the 1990s he had a recurring role on “Roseanne”.
He would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development” and be nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for a guest role on “Veep.”
“I’m really proud of what I did on ‘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 used to be his biggest fans.
“Martin was the best”, director of “Bridesmaids” Paulo Feig said in a post X. “So funny, so talented, such a nice guy. I was lucky enough to perform with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and cherished every moment alongside a legend. Fernwood Tonight was very influential in my life.”
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