Jack Mullaney was a dark-haired, congenial-looking actor who excelled in playing the role of the gangly and goofy nice guy type, a characteristic that was prevalent in innocuous 1950s and '60s film and TV comedy. Born on September 18, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mullaney's on-screen presence was often that of the best buddy of the star, who rarely got the pretty coed. His characters were typically huggable, clean-cut, and the kind of poorschmucks that every mother would want as a son.
Mullaney's early career in film began in 1957, where he provided amiable comic relief in minor roles, often playing the periphery of silly, youth-oriented fluff. Some of his notable film appearances include the roles of an Air Force captain in The Absent Minded Professor (1961),Vincent Price's slow-thinking assistant Igor in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965),and Elvis Presley's klutzy sidekick in Tickle Me (1965). He also appeared in Presley's film Spinout (1966),although the film received little fanfare.
Mullaney's television work, however, served him better, with notable roles as the sure-to-please bellhop on The Ann Sothern Show (1958) and the accident-prone supply officer on Ensign O'Toole (1962). Although these roles were not strong enough to propel him to comedystardom, Mullaney's best showcases were as the bungling scientist on My Living Doll (1964) starring Robert Cummings and the genial astronaut who ends up in the Stone Age in It's About Time (1966) co-starring Frank Aletter, Imogene Coca, and Joe E. Ross.
Mullaney's mode of comedy went out of style with the Vietnam Era, and despite a few glimpses of him in such 1970s films as Little Big Man (1970) and Where Does It Hurt? (1972),he was unable to sustain his career. Little was heard about Mullaney in the ongoing years until the news of his untimely death on June 1982 at the age of 52. He died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, due to complications from a stroke, and after services in California, was interred at the St. John Vianney Columbarium at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.
