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Prolific actor and singer Martin Mahr has passed away.
Merle, known for her performances in “Mary Hartman,” “Roseanne” and “Veep,” as well as her role as Colonel Mustard on the ’80s cult comedy “Clue,” was 80 years old.
Friday, her daughter Maggie It took She paid tribute to her late father on Instagram, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my dad passed away on June 27th at his home after a long illness. He excelled in every creative endeavor imaginable and was also known for his Red Roof Inn commercials. He would have thought those jokes were funny – there was never a time when he wasn’t. He will be deeply missed by his wife and daughters, friends and colleagues, fellow artists, comedians, musicians and, as a testament to the incredible man he was, his many dogs. I loved him with all my heart.”
Mull was born in Chicago on August 18, 1943. He studied painting in the 60s and received his MFA from RISD. He continued to paint throughout his life.
In 1970, he wrote the country hit “A Girl Named Johnny Cash” for Jane Morgan. He became known as a comedic singer and opened for rock stars Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Randy Newman and Frank Zappa.
In 1972 he released his highly acclaimed self-titled album.
Merle made her notable acting debut in 1976 as twins Garth and Bass Gimble in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. The year-long soap opera became a widely parodied pop culture phenomenon and spawned two spin-offs, Two Nights at Fernwood (1977) and Two Nights in America (1978), both of which starred Merle.
Malle made numerous guest appearances on series such as “Taxi” (1979) and “The Golden Girls” (1990), as well as regular roles on “Domestic Life” (1984), “His & Hers” (1990), “The Family Dog” (1993), “Ellen” (2001-2002) and “The Cool Kids” (2018-2019).
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Merle and the late Fred Willard famously played a couple in more than 40 episodes of “Roseanne” (1991-1997). When their characters married in the 1995 episode “December Bride,” it marked the first time the series depicted a gay wedding involving recurring characters.
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He also played Willard Kraft in 73 episodes of Sabrina: The Teenage Witch (1997–2000).
His subsequent television appearances include Arrested Development (2004–2013), American Dad! (2005–2011), Two and a Half Men (2008–2013), ‘Til Death (2010), Dads (2013–2014), Community (2015), Life in Pieces (2015–2017), The Ranch (2016–2018), I’m Sorry (2017–2019), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2020), Grace and Frankie (2022), Not Dead Yet (2023), and his final television appearance, The Afterparty (2023).
He earned his only Emmy nomination for playing psychopathic politician Bob Bradley in Veep (2016).
Merle made a number of indelible impressions in films, including FM (1978), Serial (1980), My Bodyguard (1980), Mr. Mom (1983), and Clue (1985). Clue was a commercial flop with three possible endings. It eventually garnered a cult following and led to the 2022 documentary Who Done It: The Clue Documentary.
Malle also appeared in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jingle All the Way (1996) and 101 Dalmatians (1996). His last feature film was 2018’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture, and his most recent work was as a voice actor in the 2023 video game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.
Mull is survived by his third wife, Wendy, and a daughter.
