MARTIN MULL, R.I.P.

This is one tribute I never expected to write; it’s just too hard. That’s why it’s taken me so long to complete my little tribute to funnyman extraordinaire, Martin Mull, whose death last week was a very painful shock to both Mr. X and me, as well as to his fans around the world.

Although I had not seen Martin and his wonderful wife, Wendy, in a while, we had been close friends back in the day. I very much regret losing touch now—I always foolishly thought there would be more time.

We have so many memories together, but I’ll share just a few here. And I preface it all by telling you that he was as funny and quick-witted in person as he was in all his show business endeavors.

I had first seen Martin Mull when I was just a teen-age audience member watching him perform on the stage of a local venue, Brooklyn College. I was not familiar with him at the time, but a date took me. And when Martin had us audience members take out two coins to randomly hit on the arms of our seats, which simulated music to accompany his guitar-playing, I was a fan forever after. (I still can’t believe that I got to discuss that event with him decades later!)

Fast forward to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s glorious retirement party. I was sitting at a front table with my great friend Angie Dickinson, and strangers-to-me Robert Townsend, former Laker (and Klay Thompson’s father) Mychal Thompson, and Martin and Wendy Mull. It was already a fabulous enough evening, and then Wendy told me that…she and Martin loved my TV show! (My joke later was that Martin hit her under the table to tell her to not get started with me. But he swears that he did not.)

When the party was over, I asked him if he would be a guest on my show. I rarely had guests on, but I knew immediately that Martin would be a super-fun one. And, luckily for me, he said yes!

So a few days later, Martin, Wendy, Mr. X, and I went out to dinner, and then shortly after that, Martin Mull guested on my show, which I still cannot believe all these years later. I will never forget that on the air, Martin told me that, by the end of each episode, I “pretty much have it all covered, in terms of the universe.” [Note: I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures of us to share here, but I haven’t had time to look for that tape, nor for all the analog pix of us from back then.]

We all had an absolutely wonderful time that night—he and I doing the show, the studio audience who could not believe they got to see Martin in such an intimate atmosphere, and later everyone who watched the show, which was a massive LA audience in those days. I was so honored that he deigned to join me for it.

From there, we were friends for several years. The four of us went out to eat a few times, we had a game night at Mr. X and my house, I swam in their pool on occasion, and Martin and I worked together one more time. It was doing the commentary for the Marina Del Rey Christmas Boat Parade together. (I would love to have that audio now!)

One of my favorite times with the Mulls was when Mr. X was out of town shooting a movie during the Super Bowl. Martin loved sports as much as I do, so I went over to watch the game with them. I brought some snacks, but he and Wendy surprised me with an excellent professional meal. But there was just one for only me! I asked why they were not joining me, and it turned-out that they had already eaten some not-fancy home-cooked lunch, (which, of course, I would have loved.) I assumed that they had just not made enough for me to join them, but it turns-out that my considerate friends thought that, as a restaurant critic, I would enjoy fancier food, so Martin had gone out when I was on the way to their house, and picked-up a meal from a classy eatery for me!!! How incredibly kind and special, (and totally unnecessary, by the way,) was that??? But that’s just how Martin Mull was.

By the way, that football game got so intense at the end that Wendy couldn’t watch with us—she went outside near the end to avoid witnessing my deep disappointment if my team had lost! (Never fear, though—they won.) That remembrance still amuses me today.

As more examples of the Mulls’ hospitality, I’ve slept at their house, and they even gave me their daughter’s blue-and-pink dollhouse when she outgrew it! (I, of course, still have it.)

I’m not sure how many people know this, but Martin Mull was an incredible artist. He received his Bachelor of Arts and his Masters at the prestigious art college, RISD (Rhode Island School of Design.) One of my prized possessions is a painting that he did for me for one of my birthdays.

Speaking of Rhode Island, by the way, we had both lived in Providence, although a decade apart, so it was fun to have that in common. And he had even lived in New Canaan, Connecticut as a teen, where I had visited for a week each summer when I was a toddler. So perhaps our paths had crossed there once upon a time.

I’m so grateful that our paths definitely crossed in the grown-up world. Having been friends with Martin Mull was one of the special moments in my life.

So now my heart goes out to Wendy and their daughter, Maggie. And also to all of his friends and fans, including Mr. X and me on both fronts.

R.I.P., Martin Mull.