Martin Mull, the comedic actor known for his roles on television series including Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Arrested Development, as well as in films Clue and Mr. Mom, has died at the age of 80.
Mull died following a “valiant fight against a long illness,” his daughter, Maggie Mull, announced in an Instagram post on Friday.
Mull initially got his start as as musician. He wrote “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” which became a hit for country musician Jane Morgan in 1970, and combined his talents as a musical comedian by playing shows opening for the likes of Frank Zappa, Bruce Springsteen, and Randy Newman throughout the 1970s.
Transitioning into acting, Mull landed his first major roles in the absurdist soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its subsequent spin-offs series Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night.
Beginning in the late 1980s, Mull played Roseanne Conner’s gay boss, Leon Carp, on Roseanne. He also portrayed Colonel Mustard in a feature film adaptation of the board game Clue and co-starred opposite Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom.
Mull’s other notable roles included as Willard Kraft, the principal on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and private investigator Gene Parmesan on Arrested Development. He also voiced Vlad Masters / Vlad Plasmius on the Nickelodeon cartoon Danny Phantom.
