Comedic actor Martin Mull, who was known for Fernwood 2 Night and Clue, died on Thursday, June 27, 2024. His daughter, Maggie, shared that he passed at home following a long illness. He was 80 years old.
Mull starred in Fernwood 2 Night (later America Tonight), a satirical mock talk show on which he played the fake show’s host Barth Gimble. In Clue he played the easily startled and verbally outmatched Colonel Mustard. He was a regular guest star on Roseanne as her boss Leon Carp, who not only matched Roseanne’s biting wit, but was also a gay man who got married in one of television’s first gay weddings.
Born on August 18, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, Mull grew up in Ohio and Connecticut. He studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, earning a Bachelor’s degree and Masters in Fine Arts. His career in entertainment began as a comedian songwriter, penning the song “A Girl Named Johnny Cash.” He became known for writing and singing satirical songs, with albums like Days of Wine and Neuroses and I’m Everyone I’ve Ever Loved.
Mull’s acting career kicked off in the 1970s TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (his first series as Barth Gimble). He did an episode of Wonder Woman, was in the movies Serial, My Bodyguard, and Mr. Mom, starred in the series Domestic Life, and he was in the HBO mockumentary The History of White People in America.
He wrote and starred in Rented Lips, starred in the short-lived show His & Hers, appeared on The Larry Sanders Show, had a small role in Mrs. Doubtfire, and he was in Jingle All the Way. Mull starred in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Principal Kraft, starred in the sitcom The Ellen Show, and he also hosted Hollywood Squares in the late ‘90s to early 2000s.
Mull had a memorable guest spot on Laws & Order: SVU, and he had a recurring role on Two and a Half Men as a pharmacist who sells and uses drugs illegally. He had a recurring role on Arrested Development as Gene Parmesan, an inadequate private investigator who often wore silly disguises. Mull starred in the single season sitcom Dads, and played a political aid on Veep, earning an Emmy nomination. His later work included guest spots on Grace and Frankie, Not Dead Yet, and The Afterparty.
