Martin Mull, a veteran character actor who appeared in more than a hundred films and television shows has died, his daughter Maggie, a TV writer and producer, announced his death on Instagram, writing,
“I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness, 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, who was also a guitarist and painter, came to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and the starring role in its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight,” on which he played Barth Gimble, the host of a satirical talk show.
“In 1976 I was a guitar player and sit-down comic appearing at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear walked in and heard me,” Mull told The Associated Press in 1980. “He cast me as the wife beater on ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.’ Four months later I was spun off on my own show.”
His further TV work included sitcoms like “Taxi,” “The Golden Girls,” “Two and a Half Men” and “The Cool Kids.” His final television role was in two episodes of the Apple TV+ sitcom “The Afterparty” in 2022. Millennials may best know Mull as the nosy principal Willard Kraft from ABC’s “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” for which Mull appeared in over 70 episodes.
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,” “‘Til Death,” “Dads,” “Community,” “Life in Pieces,” “The Ranch,” “The Cool Kids,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and more. 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 was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his role as Bob Bradley in four episodes of HBO’s “Veep.”
The actor’s first film role was in 1978’s “FM” and his final film appearance was in 2018’s “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” alongside comedian Will Forte. Among Mull’s most notable film roles included parts in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Jingle All the Way,” and “101 Dalmatians.” In film, Mull was likely best known for his portrayal as Colonel Mustard in the 1985 cult classic comedy “Clue.”
Born in Chicago to an actress and a carpenter, Mull began his show business career as a songwriter and became known as a musical comedian. He opened for Frank Zappa and Bruce Springsteen at numerous live gigs in the early 1970s.
