Martin Mull: Difference between revisions
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===Acting=== |
===Acting=== |
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Mull's first well-known acting role was as |
Mull's first well-known acting role was as Garth Gimble in the 1976 television nighttime [[Absurdist fiction|absurdist]] [[soap opera]] ''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]''. This led to work in the [[spin-off (media)|spin-off]] talk show parodies ''[[Fernwood 2 Night]]'' (1977) and ''[[America 2 Night]]'' (1978), in which he played talk show host Barth Gimble (Garth's twin brother), opposite [[Fred Willard]], as sidekick and announcer Jerry Hubbard. Mull also appeared as the neurotic disc jockey Eric Swan in the 1978 movie ''[[FM (film)|FM]]'', his feature film debut. |
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In 1979, Mull appeared in the ''[[Taxi (TV series)|Taxi]]'' episode ''Hollywood Calling''. He created, wrote for and starred in the short-lived 1984 [[CBS]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Domestic Life (TV series)|Domestic Life]]'', 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]]''. |
In 1979, Mull appeared in the ''[[Taxi (TV series)|Taxi]]'' episode ''Hollywood Calling''. He created, wrote for and starred in the short-lived 1984 [[CBS]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Domestic Life (TV series)|Domestic Life]]'', 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]]''. |
Revision as of 17:33, 30 April 2024
Martin Mull | |
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![]() Mull in 2018 | |
Birth name | Martin Eugene Mull |
Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | August 18, 1943
Nationality | American |
Education | New Canaan High School |
Alma mater | Rhode Island School of Design (BFA, MFA) |
Spouse |
|
Children | 1 |
Martin Eugene Mull[1] (born August 18, 1943)[2] 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. Among his other notable roles are Colonel Mustard in the 1985 film Clue, Leon Carp on Roseanne, Willard Kraft on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Vlad Masters / Vlad Plasmius on Danny Phantom, and Gene Parmesan on Arrested Development. He had a recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Russell, the drug-using, humorous pharmacist.
Early life and education
Mull was born in Chicago, the son of Betty Mull, an actress and director, and Harold Mull, a carpenter.[3] He moved with his family to North Ridgeville, Ohio, when he was two years old. They lived there until he was 15 years old, when his family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut. There he attended and graduated from New Canaan High School.[4] He studied painting and graduated in 1965 from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts; in 1967, he earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting, also from RISD.[5]
Career
Music
Mull broke into show business as a songwriter, penning Jane Morgan'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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Martin_Mull.jpg/220px-Martin_Mull.jpg)
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 use the stage trappings of most musical acts, Mull would decorate his stage with comfortable thrift store furniture.[6] Notable live gigs included opening for Randy Newman and Sandy Denny at Boston Symphony Hall in 1973;[7] Frank Zappa at Austin's Armadillo World Headquarters in 1973; Billy Joel in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1974; and for Bruce Springsteen at the Shady Grove Music Fair in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in October 1974. His self-titled debut album, released by Capricorn in 1972, featured many noteworthy musicians, including Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Levon Helm from The Band, Keith Spring of NRBQ and Libby Titus.[8]
Elvis Costello and Gary Sperrazza attribute the remark "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" to Martin Mull.[9][10]
Acting
Mull's first well-known acting role was as Garth Gimble in the 1976 television nighttime absurdist soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. This led to work in the spin-off talk show parodies Fernwood 2 Night (1977) and America 2 Night (1978), in which he played talk show host Barth Gimble (Garth's twin brother), opposite Fred Willard, as sidekick and announcer Jerry Hubbard. Mull also appeared as the neurotic disc jockey Eric Swan in the 1978 movie FM, his feature film debut.
In 1979, Mull appeared in the Taxi episode Hollywood Calling. He created, wrote for and starred in the short-lived 1984 CBS sitcom Domestic Life, 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, and had a rare lead role in Serial. He also starred in a series of commercials for Michelob and Pizza Hut, and in a series of television and radio commercials for Red Roof Inn with Fred Willard. He appeared in the Pecos Bill episode of the Shelley Duvall TV series Tall Tales & Legends. He also did the voice of Vlad Masters / Vlad Plasmius, the main villain in Danny Phantom from 2004 to 2007. From 1997 to 2000, Mull played Willard Kraft on the show Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Sabrina Spellman's principal in seasons 2-4.
Mull has appeared as a guest star on the game show Hollywood Squares, 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, on the TV series Arrested Development. During 2008 and 2009, Mull guest starred in two episodes of the television series Gary Unmarried, as Allison's father.[11]
Mull also starred in the Fox sitcoms Dads and The Cool Kids, the latter with David Alan Grier, Vicki Lawrence, and Leslie Jordan.
Art
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.[12] His work often combines photorealist painting, and the pop art and collage styles.[13] 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.[14] Another painting, titled After Dinner Drinks (2008), which is owned by Steve Martin, was used for the cover of Love Has Come for You, an album by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell.[15]
Personal life
Twice divorced, Mull is married to singer Wendy Haas. They have a daughter, Maggie,[16][17][18] 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."[19]
Filmography
Films
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | FM | Eric Swan | |
1980 | Serial | Harvey Holroyd | |
1980 | My Bodyguard | Mr. Peache | |
1981 | Take This Job and Shove It | Dick Ebersol | |
1982 | Flicks | Tang/Arthur Lyle | aka "Loose Joints" |
1983 | Mr. Mom | Ron Richardson | |
1983 | Private School | Pharmacy Guy | Uncredited |
1984 | Bad Manners | Warren Fitzpatrick | aka Growing Pains |
1985 | Television Parts | Himself | |
1985 | California Girls | Elliot | |
1985 | Clue | Colonel Mustard | |
1985 | O.C. and Stiggs | Pat Coletti | |
1986 | The Boss' Wife | Tony Dugdale | |
1988 | Rented Lips | Archie Powell | |
1988 | Portrait of a White Marriage | Himself (as talk show host) | |
1989 | Cutting Class | William Carson III | |
1990 | Ski Patrol | Sam Marris | |
1990 | Far Out Man | Dr. Leddledick | |
1992 | Miracle Beach | Donald Burbank | |
1992 | Dance with Death | Art | |
1993 | Mrs. Doubtfire | Justin Gregory | |
1994 | How the West Was Fun | Bart Gifooley | |
1994 | Mr. Write | Dan Barnes | |
1996 | Edie & Pen | Johnnie Sparkle | |
1996 | Jingle All the Way | D.J. | |
1996 | 101 Dalmatians | Wildlife Presenter | |
1997 | Beverly Hills Family Robinson | Doug Robinson | |
1998 | Zack and Reba | Virgil Payne | |
1998 | Richie Rich's Christmas Wish | Richard Rich Sr. | |
2000 | Attention Shoppers | Charles | |
2002 | The Year That Trembled | Wayne Simonelli | |
2004 | A Boyfriend for Christmas | Martin Grant | |
2006 | Relative Strangers | Jeffry Morton | |
2010 | Killers | Holbrook | |
2011 | Oliver's Ghost | Clive Rutledge | |
2013 | Tim's Vermeer | Himself | |
2018 | A Futile and Stupid Gesture | Modern Doug Kenney |
Television
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1976–1977 | Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | Garth Gimble/Barth Gimble | 49 episodes |
1977 | Fernwood 2 Night | Barth Gimble | 44 episodes |
1977 | The New Adventures of Wonder Woman | Hamlin Rule/Pied Piper | Episode: "The Pied Piper" |
1978 | America 2-Night | Barth Gimble | 65 episodes |
1979 | Taxi | Roger Chapman | Episode: "Hollywood Calling" |
1983 | Sunset Limousine | Mel Shaver | Television film |
1984 | Domestic Life | Martin Crane | 10 episodes |
1985 | The History of White People in America | Himself | |
1985 | Lots of Luck | Frank Maris | Television film |
1990 | The Golden Girls | Jimmy | Episode: "Snap Out of It" |
1991 | Get a Life | Sandy Connors | |
1991–1997 | Roseanne | Leon Carp | 46 episodes |
1992–1993 | The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | 2 episodes |
1993 | Family Dog | Skip Binsford | Voice, 10 episodes |
1994 | Burke's Law | Wayne Hudson | Episode: "Who Killed Good Time Charlie?" |
1995 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Marlin Pfinch-Lupus | Episode: "Whine, Whine, Whine" |
1997 | Over the Top | Brookes Jenson | Episode: "The Review" |
1997–2000 | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Willard Kraft | 73 episodes |
1998 | The Simpsons | Seth | Voice, episode: "D'oh-in' in the Wind" |
2000 | Family Guy | Mr. Harris | Voice, episode: "If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin'" |
2000 | Just Shoot Me! | Stan | Episode: "Slamming Jack" |
2000 | The Wild Thornberrys | Dennis Tucker | Voice, episode: "Birthday Quake"[20] |
2001–2002 | The Ellen Show | Ed Munn | 18 episodes |
2002 | Dexter's Laboratory | M.A.R. 10 | Voice, episode: "Lab on the Run" |
2002 | Teamo Supremo | Governor Kevin | Voice |
2003 | Reba | Dr. Todd | Episode: "Encounters" |
2004 | Half & Half | Bob Tyrell | 1 episode |
2004 | Reno 911! | Jim Kringle | |
2004–2007 | Danny Phantom | Vlad Masters / Vlad Plasmius | Voice, 16 episodes[20] |
2004–2013 | Arrested Development | Gene Parmesan | 4 episodes |
2005–2011 | American Dad! | Father Donovan | Voice, 10 episodes |
2007 | The War at Home | Principal Fink | 3 episodes |
2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Gideon Hutton | Episode: "Retro" |
2008 | My Boys | Dr. Clayton | Episode: "Opportunity Knocks" |
2008–2013 | Two and a Half Men | Russell | 6 episodes |
2009 | Eastwick | Milton Philmont | 1 episode |
2010 | 'Til Death | Whitey/Mr. White | 12 episodes |
2013 | Psych | Highway Harry | Episode: "100 Clues" |
2013–2014 | Dads | Crawford Whittemore | 19 episodes |
2015 | Community | George Perry | 2 episodes |
2015–2017 | Life in Pieces | Gary Timpkins | 4 episodes |
2016 | Veep | Bob Bradley | 4 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series |
2016–2018 | The Ranch | Jerry | 7 episodes |
2017 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Eddie (Edward O'Boyle) | Episode: "Old Tricks" |
2017–2019 | I'm Sorry | Martin | 6 episodes |
2018–2019 | The Cool Kids | Charlie | Main role (22 episodes) |
2020 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Admiral Walter Peralta | Episode: "Admiral Peralta" |
2020 | Bless This Mess | Martin | Episode: "The Table" |
2020 | Bob's Burgers | Shopkeeper | Voice, episode: "Local She-ro" |
2022 | Grace and Frankie | H.W. Wallingford | Episode: "The Last Hurrah" |
2023 | Not Dead Yet | Monty | 2 episodes |
Video games
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Nicktoons Unite! | Vlad Plasmius | Voice[20] |
2006 | Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing | Vlad Plasmius | Voice |
Discography
- Martin Mull (1972)
- "Dueling Tubas" (Single) charted at #92 on Billboard's Hot 100 (1973); #87 in Canada;[21] #70 in Canada AC[22]
- 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
- ^ "The Complete History of Martin Mull" (PDF). The Flint Voice. March 6, 1981. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
- ^ "Today in history". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
- ^ Ely, Robert (December 7, 1979). "Martin Mull has interest in art, penchant for humor". St. Petersburg Times.
- ^ "Martin Mull". Patterson & Associates. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
- ^ "Martin Mull Witnesses the "Madness"". Rhode Island School of Design. 2013-04-24. Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
- ^ Alterman, Loraine (3 June 1973). "Martin Mull's Fabulous Furniture". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Tech, (May 11, 1973)". Learningace.com. Retrieved 2016-08-26.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The History of the Band, (March 2013)". The Band. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
- ^ "Writing About Music". Quote Investigator. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Quotes Uncovered: Dancing About Architecture". Freakonomics. 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Gary Unmarried". The Futon Critic. 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
- ^ Cook, Greg (June 15, 2011). "Local Artists Commemorate -and re-stage -a legendary protest". The Phoenix. Boston. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ Martin Mull, Artnet
- ^ Format Follies, Pt. 3, Christopher Currie, Furious Horses (blog), April 1, 2009
- ^ Neale, April (2013). "Steve Martin's 'Love has Come For You' celebrates Martin Mull's artistry, tour dates (VIDEO) Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine", Monsters And Critics.
- ^ Wojciechowski, Michele "Wojo" (September 27, 2013). "FOX's Dads Star Martin Mull: The Accidental Comedian". Parade. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ "Martin Mull Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Lavin, Cheryl (September 4, 1994). "Martin Mull". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ The Green Room with Paul Provenza, July 15, 2010, archived from the original on 2021-12-21
- ^ a b c "Martin Mull (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 9, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles" (PDF). RPM: 15. May 19, 1973.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 A.C." (PDF). RPM: 20. June 9, 1973.
External links
- Martin Mull at IMDb
- Martin Mull on Artnet
- Martin Mull discography at Discogs
- 1943 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American comedians
- 20th-century American male actors
- 20th-century American male artists
- 20th-century American musicians
- 20th-century American painters
- 21st-century American comedians
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American musicians
- 21st-century American painters
- 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 Chicago
- Comedians from Ohio
- Male actors from Chicago
- People from New Canaan, Connecticut
- People from North Ridgeville, Ohio
- Rhode Island School of Design alumni
- Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music
- Comedians from Connecticut