We throw around the term “Renaissance man” like it’s a Nerf football at a Memorial Day picnic, yet it’s hard to describe the actor and comedian Martin Mull, who died Thursday at 80, in any other way. On camera, how he’s best known, Mull was instantly recognizable. His sarcastic and smug half-chuckle told you he knew his character’s superiority complex was ridiculous and, given the reality he poked fun at, not-so-sweetly subversive.
He could be lovable on-screen — like when he and Fred Willard got married on “Roseanne” during the sitcom’s glorious 1990s run — but I most appreciated the bite as he played with and poked at the norms of entertainment culture..
