Martin Mull, Roseanne and Sabrina the Teenage Witch Star, Dies at 80

Martin Mull, a prolific actor, musician, and painter known for his work on projects like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Danny Phantom, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and Arrested Development, has passed away at the age of 80. The news of Mull’s passing was announced by his daughter, Family Guy co-executive producer Maggie Mull, via Instagram. Mull’s passing occurred on Thursday, 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,” she wrote. “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 was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 18, 1943. After earning a bachelors and masters degree in painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, he got his start in the entertainment industry as a musician and songwriter. In addition to writing Jane Morgan’s 1970 hit “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” Mull toured around for years opening for acts like Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa, and Billy Joel. He released his debut album, Martin Mull, in 1972. 

Soon after, Mull broke into the acting world playing Garth Gimble on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its subsequent spinoff series. His next notable sitcom role was as Leon Carp in Roseanne, a role he would ultimately play for 46 episodes. This was then followed by Willard Kraft, the school principal on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as roles on The Ellen Show, Danny Phantom, and Two and a Half Men. He also played a version of DC’s Pied Piper on a 1977 episode of The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, and Marlin Pfinch-Lupus on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. One of his best-known television roles might be as the fan-favorite character Gene Parmesan, whose various disguises always delighted Jessica Walter’s Lucille Bluth, on Arrested Development. Mull’s later television work included ‘Til Death, Dads, The Cool Kids, and Veep, the latter of which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

On the film side, Mull made his feature debut in 1978’s FM, and had roles in Mr. Mom, Clue, 101 Dalmatians, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jingle All the Way, and A Futile and Stupid Gesture. Outside of movies and television, he released a total of ten studio albums and was a prolific painter, publishing the art book Paintings Drawings and Words in 1995. His work has been used on the covers of Joyce Carol Oates’ 2008 novel My Sister, My Love, and Steve Martin and Edie Brickwell’s 2013 album Love Has Come for You.

Our thoughts are with Mull’s family, friends, and fans at this time.