The world of television has lost a comedian.
Martin Mull, a beloved comedian and veteran star of several hit TV shows, died this week at age 80.
According to the actor’s daughter, who broke the sad news via Instagram, Mull had been battling an illness for an unspecified period of time.
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 7 Photo by Martin Mull](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-1039728352-1015x1024.jpg)
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 8 Photo by Martin Mull](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-1039728352-1015x1024.jpg)
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant battle with a long illness,” his daughter wrote in confirmation, adding:
“He was known for excelling in every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials.
“He would find that joke funny. He was never funny.
The actor rose to prominence in the 1970s after starring in the soap opera parody series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its spinoffs, Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night.
Television viewers in the 1990s knew Mull for her roles in hit shows like Sabrina, The Teenage Witch and Roseanne.
Later in his impressive and respected career, Mull appeared in and starred in Two and a Half Men, Arrested Development, The Ranch, and The Cool Kids.
In 2016, he was nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearance on Veep.
From 1998 to 2004, Mull was also a regular on the game show Hollywood Squares in a series of 425 episodes, many of them as the important central square.
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 9 Martin Mull on the red carpet](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-1033001548-710x1024.jpg)
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 10 Martin Mull on the red carpet](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-1033001548-710x1024.jpg)
In a previous AV Club interview, Mull — who studied painting and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in painting — was asked how a painter found his way into acting, to which he responded:
“You know, every painter I know has a day job. They’re either teaching art at some college or driving a taxi or something.
“And I just happened to be lucky enough to get a day job that’s extraordinary and really fun and gets a lot of ink.”
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 11 GettyImages 958640956](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-958640956-683x1024.jpg)
![Martin Mull cause of death: Legendary TV star dies at 80 12 GettyImages 958640956](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-958640956-683x1024.jpg)
Mull’s daughter concluded in her lovely tribute:
My father will be greatly missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and co-workers, by other artists, comedians and musicians and – the sign of a truly exceptional person – by his many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously..
Martin Mull is survived by his wife, the former Wendy Haas, an actress and songwriter he married in 1982; and his daughter Maggie, a writer and TV producer.
We send our condolences to his friends, family and loved ones. May Mull rest in peace.