Martin Mull Cause of Death: Comic Actor Dies at 80

Martin Mull passed away on Friday, according to his daughter. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a hipster because of his esoteric humor and acting. He became a popular guest performer 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.”

Martin Mull, Comic Actor, Dies at 80:

Martin Mull, the witty comedian, actor, singer-songwriter, and painter who rose to prominence in the soap opera parody Fernwood 2 Night and Mary Hartman, has passed away. He was eighty.

Mull’s daughter, Maggie Mull, posted on social media that her father passed away at home on Thursday following a “valiant fight against a long illness.”

She stated, “He was known for doing Red Roof Inn commercials and excelling at every creative discipline imaginable.” He would laugh at that joke. He was always witty. My dad’s wife and daughter, friends, colleagues, other artists, comedians, musicians, and — indicative of a genuinely remarkable guy — many dogs will all miss him terribly. I cherished him dearly.

Martin Mull’s Television Appearances:

In the 1990s, Mull also had successful runs as Roseanne Barr’s (Roseanne Connor’s) homosexual friend and confused principal Willard Kraft on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and as Leon Carp, the gay employer on Roseanne.

On Arrested Development, he portrayed Gene Parmesan, a master of disguise and private investigator. On Two and a Half Men, he played a pharmacist who wasn’t above sampling his product. In 2016, he received his lone Emmy nomination for portraying political strategist Bob Bradley on Veep.

The astute In addition to co-writing and starring in the 1985 Cinemax mockumentary The History of White People in America and its 1986 sequel, Mull was also a regular collaborator with Fred Willard. On the big screen, he also played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film Clue. Recently, he appeared as an elderly gentleman on the Fox comedy series The Cool Kids, an acid-tripping lawyer on Netflix’s The Ranch, and an ABC rerun of Not Dead Yet.

Mull, who had a gift for songwriting and humor, achieved early success in 1970 when country music icon Jane Morgan sang his parody of Cash’s song “A Boy Named Sue,” titled “A Girl Named Johnny Cash.” It spent five weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.

Later, Mull performed pop tune parodies he had written, like “Loser’s Samba,” “Santa Doesn’t Cop Out on Dope,” and “Jesus Christ Football Star,” while playing the guitar at nightclubs. He was an opening act for artists such as Frank Zappa, Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. Levon Helm of The Band was the drummer on his self-titled first album, published by Capricorn Records in 1972.

Mull is no Weird Al-style parody artist, and even the humor is evident in his recordings, according to Stewart Mason’s review of the eccentric musician on AllMusic.com. “His albums are skewed pop/rock/jazz with a strong jazz influence, featuring humorous lyrics by singer/songwriters.”

But Mull shot to national prominence as the very different identical twins Garth and Barth Gimble from Fernwood, Ohio, the legendary location of the Norman Lear production Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

Louise Lasser played a modest housewife in Mary Hartman, a comedy that aimed to ridicule America’s infatuation with pop culture and materialism. She struggled to stay sane in the mundane hell of suburban America. Mull began appearing in the syndicated series in 1976 for its second season, and he soon rose to prominence as one of the show’s most hated characters: the abusive husband, Garth.

“I assumed I was hired just for my comedic skills,” Mull stated in a 2014 interview. “When we suddenly got all this high drama reminiscent of Virginia Woolf, I was a little taken aback.” The persona didn’t appeal to me at all. It was complicated for me since I detest violence, and wife-beating is incredibly disgusting to me.

Mull was hesitant, but his sneaky, off-center attitude and razor-sharp comedic timing made Garth work. When Gimble shot his wife in the closet and kissed the door before leaving for work, the audience laughed, even though it made them wince.

Mull was selected by Al Burton, the creative supervisor of the series, who thought he would be ideal for the contentious role. “Martin is unique,” he remarked. “Despite his unique hatefulness, he is a very captivating performer.”

Despite having only a few appearances in the 325 episodes of the program, Garth had a spectacular farewell. He was impaled on the star atop an aluminum Christmas tree in his closet in one of the most gory tale turns in TV history.

However, Mull’s time at Fernwood was only beginning. In the show’s last month, he made a comeback as Barth Gimble, a smarmy character who struggled to fit in with small-town life. Barth chose to live quietly in Fernwood for reasons that were never fully disclosed (although it was implied that his predicament included a minor in Miami).

Fernwood 2 Night:

Fernwood 2 Night was established by Lear as a spinoff when Mary Hartman terminated in 1977. Produced by Alan Thicke, Barth played a talk show presenter dressed in a leisure suit who thought he was the Tri-County’s Johnny Carson due to his excessive ego.

Gimble’s sidekick, Jerry Hubbard (Willard), came on the scene. To Gimble’s perpetual frustration, Hubbard embodied the height of ignorance. When a female visitor brought up the topic, Hubbard inquired naively whether a cure had been found for gynecology.

“Barth would be the host of the town’s first talk show, ‘Talk to a Jew,’ and inviting guests to share their UFO sightings.” In 2015, Rolling Stone published an article. The show’s mocking of the formula’s clichés, which were made even more ridiculous by the public-access production values, “set the pace for the faux-sincere showbiz parodies and fake late-night programming (see Larry Sanders) that would become a comedy staple in the years to come.” Martin Mull and Fred Willard are a brilliant comic duo who don’t get enough credit for their work.

Many of Lear’s friends requested to be on Fernwood 2 Night, which became a cult success. Since the creators could not reconcile the presence of so many well-known people with a tiny Ohio town, they rescheduled the program to the fictional “unfinished furniture capital of the world,” Alta Coma, California. After changing its name to America 2-Night, Gimble and Hubbard interviewed Jim Nabors, Carol Burnett, Charlton Heston, and Burt Lancaster.

Martin Eugene Mull, Who is He?

On August 18, 1943, Martin Eugene Mull was born in Chicago. His mother, Betty, was an actress and director, while his father, Harold, was a carpenter. He grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, and North Ridgeville, Ohio.

His first goal was to become a painter, so he attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a master’s and bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Mull started bands to raise money for his tuition, and the experience introduced him to the entertainment industry.

The tracks “Ventriloquist Love” (example lyrics: “Whenever I kiss you / your lips never move”) and “I Made Love to You in a Former Life” were on his debut album. His following two albums were Days of Wine and Neurosis (1974) and Martin Mull and His Fabulous Items in Your Living Room!! (1973), a live CD where Mull did stand-up routines.

Lear received a recommendation for Mull from someone who saw him play at a nightclub.

Following his early success on television, Mull was signed by ABC Records, which released his albums I’m Everyone I Ever Loved and Sex and Violins. Frank DeVol, who portrayed Happy Kyne, the bandleader on Fernwood 2 Night, produced the latter album, which was nominated for a Grammy in the best recording category.

The CBS sitcom Domestic Life, which he co-created with Steve Martin and Craig Kellem, featured him as a Seattle television pundit and ran for ten episodes in 1984. He stayed longer on Roseanne, where Leon married a character portrayed by Willard in 1995 in one of the first homosexual marriages on television.

Mull also had recurring parts on several other sitcoms, including American Dad!, Dads, Life in Pieces, The Ellen Show, and The Jackie Thomas Show.

In addition to playing Tuesday Weld in Bill Persky’s 1980 film Serial, he also starred in Mr. Mom (1983), FM (1978), O.C. and Stiggs (1985), Far Out Man (1990), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jingle All the Way (1996), and Killers (2010). He also appeared as himself in Robert Altman’s The Player (1992). His third wife, Wendy Haas, whom he wed in 1982, and Maggie, a TV writer-producer (Life in Pieces), are among his survivors.