Marjorie I. “Marg” Mullen Has Died
She was not on the list.
Marge Mullen, a Brevard retiree who was the script supervisor and later camera director on nearly every episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Murphy Brown, died Wednesday, Sept. 13 in North Carolina. She was 89. Mullen was also one of television’s first woman directors. In 1996, after filming the ninth season of Murphy Brown, she moved from California and bought a home in the Connestee Falls development outside Brevard. She lived there until 2014 and was a resident of The Lodge at Mills River at the time of her death. From the early 1960’s through the mid-1990’s, she had an enviable Hollywood career, working on three of the finest situation comedies of her era. In his acceptance speech for the 1965 Emmy for the best show on television (the Van Dyke show) creator Carl Reiner rattled off 12 names without comment, including those of the stars, and writers Jerry Belson and Garry Marshall. He then ended his speech with this: “And this one, it’s with all my heart, a girl who we on the show feel is one of the most tremendous talents on the show, she is the script girl and I mean this sincerely, Marge Mullen.” With allowances for the parlance of the day, she was actually 38. 2 It’s as unlikely that a script supervisor would be singled out for awards praise today, as it is that she’d be referred to as a “girl.” But Reiner’s praise spoke of the behind the scenes contribution Mullen made throughout her career. She was an essential contributor during the sitcom week as scripts were written, thrown out, rewritten and finally taped before live audiences. Speaking with interviewer Mark Maron about creating The Mary Tyler Moore Show, James L. Brooks said the run-through for the first episode bombed. The problem was the audience didn’t laugh at Valerie Harper’s character, Rhoda, Mary’s abrasive neighbor. Between the run-though and the taping, Brooks says, Mullen suggested having one of the characters, possibly a girl, who also lived in the building, be fond of Rhoda. That would make it safe for the audience to like her too. The scenes were quickly rewritten, the show was filmed the same night, and the taping audience loved it. “We went from Z to A,” Brooks said. The show ran for seven seasons, won three Emmys for Outstanding Comedy and led to three successful spinoffs. Marjorie I. Mullen was born in Brooklyn in 1927 and graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont. Her first job in show business was as a production assistant on The Home Show, starring Arlene Francis. She later worked on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. She moved to L.A. in the early 1960’s and soon found work on Dick Van Dyke. She told friends and family back East that she “got to go to work and laugh for a living.” Indeed, her easy, 3 infectious laugh and her ability to know humor from pretense were qualities creators, stars and showrunners found invaluable. During the 1970’s, she was part of one of the first initiatives to promote women as television directors. She was one of the original 19 women admitted to the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Directing Workshop for Women in 1974. Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn, Julia Phillips, Lee Grant and Lily Tomlin were among her classmates. Mullen went on to direct four episodes of Mary Tyler Moore from 1975 – 77. At length, she preferred supporting artists behind the scenes and chose not to pursue directing. One of her nephews is married to Karyn McCarthy, executive producer on HBO’s Ballers; McCarthy’s daughter, Natalie Lindeman, Mullen’s great-niece, is the show’s script coordinator. She is survived by one sister, Helen Fink of Brevard, NC. Also, two nieces and six nephews, including: Kathleen Mullen of St. Thomas, USVI; Christopher and Cynthia O’Connor Mullen of Bloomfield, MI; Liam and Theresa Mullen of Dearborn, MI; Profs. Kieran Mullen and Theresa Vaughn of Norman, OK; Leslie Lindeman and Karyn McCarthy of Altadena, CA; Dr. Paul and Susan Lindeman of Miami, FL; Janet Lindeman of River Forest, IL; and Hayden Fink of Hendersonville, NC. She is also survived by 14 great-nieces and nephews.
Script and Continuity Department
Debbie Allen, Lee Curreri, Cynthia Gibb, Erica Gimpel, Bill Hufsey, Carlo Imperato, Valerie Landsburg, and Gene Anthony Ray in Fame (1982)
Fame
7.1
TV Series
script supervisor
1982–1985
Generation (1985)
Generation
5.2
TV Movie
script supervisor
1985
Carrie Wells in The Bad Seed (1985)
The Bad Seed
5.5
TV Movie
script supervisor
1985
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984)
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac
5.9
TV Movie
script supervisor
1984
Heart of Steel (1983)
Heart of Steel
5.9
TV Movie
script supervisor
1983
Missing Pieces (1983)
Missing Pieces
6.4
TV Movie
script supervisor
1983
Ted Danson, Shelley Long, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, Nicholas Colasanto, and Rhea Perlman in Cheers (1982)
Cheers
8.0
TV Series
script supervisor (as Marge Mullen)
1982
Callahan (1982)
Callahan
6.3
TV Movie
script supervisor
1982
Pandemonium (1982)
Pandemonium
5.2
script supervisor
1982
First Monday in October (1981)
First Monday in October
6.4
script supervisor
1981
The Five of Me (1981)
The Five of Me
6.4
TV Movie
script supervisor (as Marge Mullin)
1981
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd (1980)
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd
7.2
TV Movie
script supervisor
1980
The $5.20 an Hour Dream (1980)
The $5.20 an Hour Dream
7.1
TV Movie
script supervisor
1980
Priscilla Barnes, Michael Brandon, and Andrea Marcovicci in A Vacation in Hell (1979)
A Vacation in Hell
4.3
TV Movie
script supervisor
1979
Linda Blair and Lee Purcell in Summer of Fear (1978)
Summer of Fear
5.5
TV Movie
script supervisor
1978
Charlayne Woodard in Cindy (1978)
Cindy
7.1
TV Movie
script supervisor (as Marge Mullen)
1978
John Hillerman and Betty White in The Betty White Show (1977)
The Betty White Show
6.8
TV Series
dialogue supervisor (as Marge Mullen)
1977
Edward Asner, Valerie Harper, and Mary Tyler Moore in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8.3
TV Series
script supervisor
1970–1977
Phyllis (1975)
Phyllis
6.4
TV Series
script supervisor
1975
Fay (1975)
Fay
6.2
TV Series
script supervisor
1975
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971)
The New Dick Van Dyke Show
6.6
TV Series
script supervisor
1971–1974
Valerie Harper in Rhoda (1974)
Rhoda
6.8
TV Series
script supervisor
1974
The Nancy Dussault Show
5.2
TV Special
script supervisor
1973
Jack Elam, James Garner, Harry Morgan, and Suzanne Pleshette in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Support Your Local Gunfighter
6.8
script supervisor
1971
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969)
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
6.1
script supervisor
1969
Where It's At (1969)
Where It's At
4.9
script supervisor
1969
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
Support Your Local Sheriff!
7.5
script supervisor
1969
Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
The Dick Van Dyke Show
8.4
TV Series
continuity
script continuity
1961–1966
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title (1966)
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
4.5
script supervisor
1966
Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, and Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
The Andy Griffith Show
8.4
TV Series
continuity
1962
Additional Crew
Candice Bergen in Murphy Brown (1988)
Murphy Brown
6.9
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1988–1997
Mr. Rhodes (1996)
Mr. Rhodes
6.9
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1996
Corey Feldman, Adam Biesk, Farrah Forke, David Kaufman, Peter Scolari, and Stephen Tobolowsky in Dweebs (1995)
Dweebs
7.7
TV Series
technical co-ordinator
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1995
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer in Friends (1994)
Friends
8.9
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1995
Shelley Long and Treat Williams in Good Advice (1993)
Good Advice
6.3
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1994
Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser in Mad About You (1992)
Mad About You
6.8
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1992
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards in Seinfeld (1989)
Seinfeld
8.9
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1990
Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer in My Sister Sam (1986)
My Sister Sam
6.9
TV Series
technical coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1986–1988
Scott Bakula and Gedde Watanabe in Gung Ho (1986)
Gung Ho
5.9
TV Series
technical coordinator
1986–1987
Mary Tyler Moore and James Farentino in Mary (1985)
Mary
6.9
TV Series
technical coordinator
1986
Insight (1960)
Insight
7.4
TV Series
assistant to producers
production assistant (as Marge Mullen)
1966–1977
Hey, Landlord (1966)
Hey, Landlord
7.3
TV Series
script continuity
1966
Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
The Dick Van Dyke Show
8.4
TV Series
script continuity
1963–1966
Camera and Electrical Department
Andy Dick, Dave Foley, Maura Tierney, Khandi Alexander, Phil Hartman, Vicki Lewis, Joe Rogan, and Stephen Root in NewsRadio (1995)
NewsRadio
8.0
TV Series
camera coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1995
Muddling Through (1994)
Muddling Through
6.1
TV Series
camera coordinator (as Marge Mullen)
1994
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