Martin Mull Dies: ‘Clue’ & ‘Roseanne’ Star Was 80

Martin Mull, best known for his roles on Roseanne and in Clue, has died. He was 80.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, posted the news on Instagram. “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,” 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.” See the post below.

 

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Mull was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18, 1943. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with an MFA in painting. While in school, he played guitar in a band and wrote his own songs, and when the folk music scene became popular, he played solo gigs and his songs and banter took on a comedic tone. He released five albums of comic infused folk music between 1972 and 1975. (He was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album for Sex and Violins in 1979.)

Mull played twins Garth and Barth Gimble on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman after he initially met with creator Norman Lear about writing for the show. Garth was fatally impaled on an aluminum Christmas tree, but Barth continued on Fernwood 2 Night and America 2-Night, which satirized talk shows and started Mull’s collaboration with Fred Willard.

Mull played Colonel Mustard in Clue, and his other film credits include Mrs. Doubtfire, Mr. Mom, and Jingle All the Way. In TV, he was best known for Roseanne, playing her gay boss, Leon Carp, with Willard as his domestic partner, as well as Principal Willard Kraft on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. His numerous guest spots over the years included Taxi, The Golden Girls, L.A. Law, The Nanny, Law & Order: SVU, Psych, Community, Veep (for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 2016), NCIS: Los Angeles, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. His final credits were episodes of Not Dead Yet and The Afterparty in 2023.

Mull is survived by his wife, Wendy Haas, and his daughter Maggie Mull.