Martin Mull: star of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Roseanne dies aged 80 | Ents & Arts News

Martin Mull was “never disturbed,” his daughter wrote on social media as she confirmed his death after a long illness.

Martin Mull, who starred in hit TV series such as Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Arrested Development, has died at the age of 80.

Mull's daughter, television writer and comic book artist Maggie Mull, said he died at his home on Thursday after a “valiant fight against a long illness.”

The American actor, known for his role in the 1970s satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its spin-off Fernwood Tonight, was “never short of laughs”, Ms Mull said.

“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for directing commercials for Red Roof Inn,” Ms. Mull wrote on Instagram.

“He would find that joke funny. He never failed to laugh.

“My father will be greatly missed by his wife and daughter, his friends and work colleagues, his fellow artists, actors and musicians and – a sign of a truly exceptional person – many, many dogs.”

Mull was born in Chicagogrew up in Ohio and Connecticut and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome, and was known for his blond hair and neatly trimmed mustache.

In the 1990s, he rose to fame for his recurring role in several seasons of the popular sitcom Roseanne, in which he played the boss of the main character, Leon Carp.

To millennials, he is perhaps still best known as the director of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, playing the bossy principal Kraft.

Melissa Joan Hart, who played Sabrina, paid tribute to a “wonderful man” on Instagram, writing: “Rest in peace my friend. The incredible Martin Mull (Director Kraft) has left us to his eternal rest.

“I have very fond memories of working with him and was impressed by his immense body of work, which before Sabrina the Teenage Witch included Roseanne and Mr. Mom among the projects I knew him for.”

He would later appear on Arrested Development as private detective Gene Parmesan and was nominated for his first Emmy in 2016 for a guest appearance on Veep.

“What I did on Veep, I'm very proud of, but I'd like to think it's probably more collective, at my age it's more collective,” Mull said after his nomination.

“It could go all the way back to Fernwood. »

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Other comedians and actors were often Mull's biggest fans.

“Martin was the best,” Bridesmaids director Paul Feig told X.

“So funny, so talented, so kind. I was lucky enough to perform with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and enjoyed every moment spent with a legend.

“Fernwood Tonight has been such an influence in my life.”

Mull is survived by his daughter Maggie and musician Wendy Haas, his wife since 1982.