Martin Mull, Actor of 'Clue' and 'Arrested Development,' Dies at 80

Lina Portman1 week ago

0 1 minute read

Martin Mull, a comedian, musician and actor who played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film “Clue” and had memorable roles in television comedies such as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Arrested Development,” is died Thursday at his home. He was 80 years old.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, confirmed the news in a social media post and said he died after a long illness.

Mr. Mull, known for his musicals and paintings, first gained fame as an actor in the 1970s with roles on the television series “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” and its spinoff “Fernwood 2 Night.” He was known for playing Warden Willard Kraft on the 1990s sitcom “Sabrina,” as disguise-addicted detective Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development” and for his long-running role on “Roseanne,” originally as the title character’s boss.

“I am heartbroken to announce that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant battle with a long illness,” Mr Mull’s daughter said in an Instagram post on Friday evening.

“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing commercials for Red Roof Inn. He thought that joke was funny. He never failed to laugh,” she wrote.

Mr. Mull was known for his “dry, humorless style and bland, highly conservative demeanor, which masked a sly, witty, ultra-hip philosophy,” according to his IMDb biography.

Prior to his film career, he was also the practice kicker for the Cleveland Browns, according to the film's website.

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

“My father will be greatly missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and colleagues, his fellow artists, actors and musicians and – a sign of a truly special person – many, many dogs. I loved him very much,” Maggie Mull said in her Instagram post.