Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor, comedian and singer.
While he's best known as an actor, it took him a while to fully launch that part of career. He studied fine art at the Rhode Island School of Design, earning a master's degree, then turned around and devoted most of The '70s to being a comedic Singer-Songwriter, recording seven studio albums and performing as an opening act for the likes of Frank Zappa, Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. "Miami", a satirical Bossa Nova number, is probably his most famous song. Strong evidence points to Mull having originated the famous maxim "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."
Starting with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, he became a fixture in TV and movies, including playing Colonel Mustard in Clue, plus roles on Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Danny Phantom, Arrested Development and Two and a Half Men. He was also a regular celebrity during the Tom Bergeron run of The Hollywood Squares and was the center square for its final season.
Selected Filmography:
- Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-1977): Garth Gimble/Barth Gimble.
- Fernwood Tonight (1977-1978): Barth Gimble.
- My Bodyguard (1980): Mr. Larry Peache.
- Mr. Mom (1983): Ron Richardson.
- Clue (1985): Colonel Mustard.
- Roseanne (1991-1997): Leon Carp.
- Mrs. Doubtfire (1993): Justin Gregory.
- Jingle All the Way (1996): D.J.
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1997-2000): Willard Kraft.
- Danny Phantom (2004-2007): Vlad Plasmius/Vlad Masters.
- Arrested Development (2004-2013): Gene Parmesan.
- American Dad! (2005-2011): Father Donovan.
- Two and a Half Men (2008-2013): Russell.
- dads (2013-2014): Crawford Whittemore.
- NCIS: Los Angeles (2017): Edward 'Eddie' O'Boyle
- Not Dead Yet (2023): Monty
Tropes associated with Martin Mull's comedy and music include:
- Ambiguous Syntax: The refrain of "Miami" ("Am I in heaven, or am I in Miami?") could be taken to mean Miami is like Heaven, or that it's the opposite of Heaven.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: His version of the title joke in The Aristocrats.
- Hello, Sailor!: Hinted at in his sea shanty "Men"
:We're men and friends until the end and none of us are sissies,
At night we sleep in separate beds and blow each other kissies!
(And blow each other kissies!) - Pretty Fly for a White Guy: His song "The Blacks Are Giving Me the Blues" is about the strain of trying to be this.
- Spelling Song: "Miami"Spell Miami and then
Ask me why
Am I?
M-I-A...
Am I in heaven, or am I in Miami? - This Is a Song: The opening of "Miami".Here's a tune that's kind of lazy
It's not smart and it sure ain't crazy
And when you hear the melody, you know you might get ill
It's what you'd hear in elevators in Brazil.
