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Brad Kyle's avatar

I thought I'd leave my little rememberies of Martin here, Michael. It'll last longer than for the 1/2-a-day on Notes! I first saw your Note, and immediately reacted....then, I saw it was your article link! Then, I saw your piece in my inbox! Needless to say, I was a bit rattled by the news. And, you're right....SO underrated, underheard (as a recording artist) and under-appreciated, just all over!

One of my favorite acting turns of his was on "The Golden Girls" (late '80s?) as Tim, the isolationist who had hidden away in his apartment for, like, 20 years! Dorothy (the Bea Arthur character) befriended him to try to get him to step outside and re-join society. He made it one step out into the hallway and said, "I'd forgotten how much I love to travel!"

He, quite literally, did it all: Actor, comic, guitarist, songwriter, singer, recording artist.

Plus, he was a longtime painter who once held an exhibit of his works in the men’s room of a local museum. He called it, “Flush Against the Walls, or I’ll Be Art in a Minute.”

Sometime around the decade change of the ‘60s/’70s, he teamed up with Steve Martin on a short-lived radio show called, “The Steve Martin Mull Show.”

I saw him in Houston in the ‘70s, and got his autograph on a CREEM Magazine “centerfold pin-up”: He was completely nude, with his back to the camera, looking over his right shoulder to camera.

He was holding a large loaf of French bread on his shoulder and wearing a beret. On the pic, he wrote,

“To Brad…..I’m freezing! Martin Mull”

Rest in peace, Marty.

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Hugh Jones's avatar

R.I.P. Martin Mull. The day you posted your piece I was visiting family in an unfamiliar city, and the next day had the opportunity to check out a local record store where lo & behold I found a *mint* white label promo copy of "Fabulous Furniture" complete with promo hype enclosed for $5! Needless to say I bought it and of course when I mentioned that he had just passed to the young clerk at the counter they just stared at me blankly. . . No matter, I've been enjoying the record since and did a deep dive on Youtube recently to watch (and re-watch) "History of White People In America", a few "Fernwoods" and TV talk show appearances. The man was unquestionably an underrated master, right up there with the highly rated Steve Martin and George Carlin - a smart, incisive comic and such a great musician as well. Thank you for your excellent remembrance.

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