Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a
painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and its spin-off ''
Fernwood 2 Night
''Fernwood 2 Night'' (or ''Fernwood Tonight'') is a comedic television program that was broadcast weeknights from July 1977 to September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement for '' Mar ...
''. Among his other notable roles are Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film ''
Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo ...
'', Leon Carp on ''
Roseanne'', Willard Kraft on ''
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...
'', Vlad Masters/Plasmius on ''
Danny Phantom'', and Gene Parmesan on ''
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
''. He had a recurring role on ''
Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...
'' as Russell, the drug-using, humorous pharmacist.
Early years and education
Mull was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, the son of Betty Mull, an actress and director, and Harold Mull, a carpenter. He moved with his family to
North Ridgeville, Ohio
North Ridgeville is a city located along the eastern border of Lorain County, Ohio. The city's population was 35,552 in 2020. North Ridgeville is the fastest-growing city in northern Ohio. It has been ranked the 13th safest city in the United Sta ...
, when he was two years old. They lived there until he was 15 years old, when his family moved to
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census.
About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...
. There he attended and graduated from
New Canaan High School
New Canaan High School is the only public high school in New Canaan, Connecticut.
In 2017, it was ranked the best public high school in Connecticut, and one of the top 200 in the nation. New Canaan High School was ranked the 74th best STEM high s ...
. He studied painting and graduated in 1965 from the
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts; in 1967, he earned a
Master of Fine Arts in painting, also from RISD.
Career
Musical career
Mull broke into show business as a songwriter, penning
Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six Music recording certification, ...
's 1970 country single, "A Girl Named Johnny Cash", which peaked at No. 61 on ''
Billboard''s country charts. Shortly thereafter, he began his own recording career.
Throughout the 1970s, and especially in the first half of the decade, Mull was best known as a musical comedian, performing satirical and humorous songs both live and in studio recordings. Rather than the stage trappings of most musical acts, Mull would decorate his stage with comfortable
thrift store furniture. Notable live gigs included opening for
Randy Newman and
Sandy Denny
Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer".
After briefly w ...
at
Boston Symphony Hall in 1973;
Frank Zappa at
Austin's
Armadillo World Headquarters
Armadillo World Headquarters (The 'Dillo or Armadillo WHQ) was an influential Texas music hall and beer garden in Austin at 525 Barton Springs Road – at South First Street – just south of the Colorado River and downtown Austin. The 'Dillo fl ...
in 1973;
Billy Joel in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1974; and for
Bruce Springsteen at the Shady Grove Music Fair in
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Gai ...
, in October 1974. His self-titled debut album, released by Capricorn in 1972, featured many noteworthy musicians, including
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and songwriter.
Life and career
Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, a ...
,
Levon Helm from
The Band, Keith Spring of
NRBQ
NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed around 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re ...
and
Libby Titus.
Elvis Costello and Gary Sperrazza attribute the remark "
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" to Martin Mull.
Acting career
Mull's first well-known acting role was as Garth Gimble in the 1976 television nighttime
absurdist soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''. This led to work in the
spin-off comedy talk shows ''
Fernwood 2 Night
''Fernwood 2 Night'' (or ''Fernwood Tonight'') is a comedic television program that was broadcast weeknights from July 1977 to September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement for '' Mar ...
'' (1977) and ''
America 2-Night'' (1978), in which he played talk show host Barth Gimble (Garth Gimble's twin brother), opposite
Fred Willard
Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' W ...
, as sidekick Jerry Hubbard. Mull also played the neurotic disc jockey Eric Swan in the 1978 movie ''
FM'', his feature film debut.
In 1979, Mull appeared in the ''
Taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...
'' episode ''Hollywood Calling''. He created, wrote for and starred in the short-lived 1984
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
Domestic Life
Domestic may refer to:
In the home
* Anything relating to the human home or family
** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication
** A domestic appliance, or home appliance
** A domestic partnership
** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...
'', with
Megan Follows playing his teenaged daughter. In one episode of ''
The Golden Girls'', he played a
hippie who was afraid of the outside world. He had a long-running role as Leon Carp, Roseanne Conner's gay boss (and later business partner) on the TV series ''
Roseanne''.
During the 1980s, Mull played supporting roles in the films ''
Mr. Mom'' and ''
Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo ...
'', and had a rare lead role in ''
Serial''. He also starred in a series of commercials for
Michelob
Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.
The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...
and
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
, and in a series of television and
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
commercials for
Red Roof Inn with
Fred Willard
Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' W ...
. He appeared in the
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Tex O'Reill ...
episode of the
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...
TV series ''
Tall Tales & Legends''. He also did the voice of
Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius, the main villain in ''
Danny Phantom''.
From 1996-2001, Mull played Willard Kraft on the show Sabrina the Teenage Witch as her principal.
Mull has appeared as a guest star on the game show ''
Hollywood Squares
''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'', appearing as the center square in the show's final season, from 2003 to 2004. In late 2004 and in 2013's Netflix-produced Season 4, he portrayed Gene Parmesan, a
private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
, on the TV series ''
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
''. During 2008 and 2009, Mull guest starred in two episodes of the television series ''
Gary Unmarried,'' as Allison's father.
Mull also starred in the Fox sitcoms ''
Dads'' and ''
The Cool Kids
The Cool Kids are an American hip hop duo composed of rappers Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish. The Cool Kids' music had been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C.A.K.E. Recordings. Reed and Inger ...
'', the latter with
David Alan Grier,
Vicki Lawrence
Vicki Ann Lawrence ( Axelrad; born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence originated multitudes of charact ...
, and
Leslie Jordan
Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...
.
Artistic career
Mull has been a painter since the 1970s, and his work has appeared in group and solo exhibits. He participated in the June 15, 1971 exhibit "Flush with the Walls" in the men's room of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to protest the lack of contemporary and local art in the museum. His work often combines
photorealist
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term ca ...
painting, and the
pop art and
collage styles. He published a book of some of his paintings, titled ''Paintings Drawings and Words'', in 1995. One of his paintings was used on the cover for the 2008
Joyce Carol Oates novel ''
My Sister, My Love''. Another painting, titled ''After Dinner Drinks'' (2008), which is owned by
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
, was used for the cover of ''
Love Has Come for You'', an album by Steve Martin and
Edie Brickell
Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...
.
Personal life
Twice divorced, Mull is married to singer
Wendy Haas
Wendy Haas-Mull (born c. 1949) is an American vocalist and keyboardist best known for her work with the bands Santana (band), Santana and Azteca (band), Azteca.
Biography
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wendy Haas began her musical car ...
. They have a daughter, Maggie, who as of 2021 is a co-executive producer for ''
Family Guy''.
In a 2010 interview on ''
The Green Room with Paul Provenza'', Mull identified himself as an
agnostic, saying "I certainly don't begrudge someone else their choice to follow whatever they do, it's just for me, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I think more harm has come to this planet through organized religion, probably, than any single situation that we've invented."
Filmography
Films
Television
Video games
{, {, class="wikitable sortable"
, -
! Year
! Film
! Role
! class="unsortable" , Notes
, -
, 2005, , ''
Nicktoons Unite!'', ,
Vlad Plasmius, , Voice
, -
, 2006, , ''
Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing
''Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing'' is an racing video game developed by American studio Pronto Games, Inc. and published by ValuSoft, with THQ. It was released on February 15, 2006, in the United States, exclusively for the Microsoft Windows oper ...
'', , Vlad Plasmius, , Voice
Discography
*''Martin Mull'' (1972)
*"Dueling Tubas" (Single) charted at #92 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 (1973); #87 in Canada; #70 in Canada AC
*''Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room!'' (1973)
*''Normal'' (1974)
*''In the Soop with Martin Mull'' (also with: Ed Wise and Les Daniels) (1974)
*''Days of Wine and Neuroses'' (1975)
*''I'm Everyone I've Ever Loved'' (1977)
*''No Hits, Four Errors – The Best of Martin Mull'' (1977)
*''Sex & Violins'' (1978)
*''Near Perfect/Perfect'' (1979)
*''Mulling It Over – A Musical Ouvre-View of Martin Mull'' (1998)
References
External links
*
Martin Mull on Artnet*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mull, Martin
1943 births
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American painters
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American painters
21st-century American comedians
American agnostics
American comedy musicians
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American male painters
Comedians from Illinois
Comedians from Ohio
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
People from New Canaan, Connecticut
People from North Ridgeville, Ohio
Rhode Island School of Design alumni
20th-century American male artists
Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music