# Richard Mulligan
**Richard Mulligan** (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor best known for his Emmy-winning comic roles as Burt Campbell on the satirical sitcom *[Soap](https://www.edgepedia.org/soap-tv-series)* (1977–1981) and as Dr. Harry Weston on *Empty Nest* (1988–1995). He died of colon cancer at his home in Los Angeles at age 67.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | November 13, 1932, Bronx, New York; September 26, 2000, Los Angeles, of colon cancer[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) • [2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/richard-mulligan/) |
| Signature roles | Burt Campbell in *Soap* (1977–1981, 86 episodes); Dr. Harry Weston in *Empty Nest* (1988–1995, 170 episodes)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/) |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, 1980 (*Soap*) and 1989 (*Empty Nest*); nominated in 1981, 1990, and 1991[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/richard-mulligan) |
| Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical, 1989, for *Empty Nest*[5](https://www.deseret.com/2000/9/29/19531297/richard-mulligan-stage-film-tv-actor-dies-at-67/) |
| Family | Younger brother of film director Robert Mulligan, who directed *To Kill a Mockingbird*; one son, James[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) |
| Training | Served in the US Navy, then studied playwriting at Columbia University before turning to acting[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) |
| Recognition | Hollywood Walk of Fame star for Television, 1993[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/richard-mulligan/bio/3000084794/) |
## Early life and stage career
Mulligan was born in the Bronx, the son of a New York Irish-Catholic policeman.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) He served in the US Navy and then enrolled at Columbia University to study playwriting.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) His entry into acting was accidental: while delivering a play he had written to a community theater, the director asked him to audition for the role of Andrew Mayo, a farmer's son in [Eugene O'Neill](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-oneill)'s *Beyond the Horizon*. Mulligan later said he auditioned to understand what actors do, hated it, was cast anyway, and eventually "got bit by the acting bug."[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) His longtime assistant David Fisher described the same sequence: Mulligan went to a theater to "hawk a play he had written" and ended up in the cast, after working extensively as a stage manager.[8](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/2000/09/28/TV-actor-Richard-Mulligan-is-dead-at-67/9826970113600/)
His Broadway debut came in 1960 in [Arthur Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-penn)'s production of *All the Way Home*, understudying and occasionally going on for [Arthur Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-hill) in the lead.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) His later stage credits included *Never Too Late*, *Mating Dance*, and a 1972 television film of *Harvey* in which he appeared with [James Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-stewart).[8](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/2000/09/28/TV-actor-Richard-Mulligan-is-dead-at-67/9826970113600/) • [1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/)
## Television: Soap and Empty Nest
**Soap.** Mulligan's breakthrough came as Burt Campbell in *Soap*, the ABC parody of daytime soap operas created by the producing team of [Susan Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-harris), Tony Thomas, and Paul Junger Witt. The series, which ran from 1977 to 1981 and followed the wealthy Tates and the struggling Campbells, was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) Burt, a bewildered blue-collar stepfather to [Billy Crystal](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-crystal)'s character, was accused of his own son's murder and, in one of the show's more outlandish plots, kidnapped and cloned by aliens.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) Mulligan won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1980 and was nominated again in 1981.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/richard-mulligan) He did not attend the 1980 ceremony to accept the award because he was participating in the [Screen Actors Guild](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild) strike.[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/richard-mulligan/bio/3000084794/)
**Empty Nest.** The same producers cast him in *Empty Nest*, a spinoff of *The Golden Girls* that ran on NBC from 1988 to 1995. He played Dr. Harry Weston, a widowed pediatrician raising three adult daughters, with a large dog named Dreyfuss as his confidant.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) "He's certainly different from my role on Soap," Mulligan said in a 1988 interview. "This guy's a good doctor who cares deeply about his patients. His wife died 18 months ago and he still can't take the ring off."[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) The role brought a second Emmy in 1989, plus nominations in 1990 and 1991, and a 1989 Golden Globe.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/richard-mulligan) • [5](https://www.deseret.com/2000/9/29/19531297/richard-mulligan-stage-film-tv-actor-dies-at-67/)
Mulligan appeared in four series created by Susan Harris: *Soap*, *The Golden Girls*, *Empty Nest*, and *Nurses* (1991), playing Dr. Harry Weston in the latter three.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/trivia/) The Los Angeles Times counted him among a select group of actors associated with more than one successful series.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-29-me-28705-story.html)
## Film work
Mulligan made his feature film debut in a small dramatic role in *Love With the Proper Stranger* (1963), directed by his older brother Robert Mulligan.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) His first major movie role was in *One Potato, Two Potato* (1964), a drama about interracial marriage.[8](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/2000/09/28/TV-actor-Richard-Mulligan-is-dead-at-67/9826970113600/) Ten years after his Broadway debut, Arthur Penn cast him as a psychotic General George Armstrong Custer in the revisionist western *[Little Big Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-big-man-film)* (1970), opposite [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman).[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1)
Serious film roles were rare afterward. He appeared in the disaster spoof *The Big Bus* (1976) as a husband celebrating his divorce with his ex-wife, and in *Teachers* (1984) as a history teacher who dresses up as Custer and [George Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-washington) in class and turns out to be an escaped mental patient.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) He also appeared in four [Blake Edwards](https://www.edgepedia.org/blake-edwards) comedies, including *S.O.B.* (1981), in which he played a film director turning a disastrous family musical into a pornographic hit, and *Trail of the Pink Panther* (1982), *Micki and Maude* (1984), and *A Fine Mess* (1986).[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-29-me-28705-story.html) For Disney, he provided the voice of Einstein the dog in the animated film *Oliver & Company* (1988).[11](https://d23.com/a-to-z/mulligan-richard/)
## Personal life and death
Mulligan was married and divorced several times. The Guardian's obituary says four marriages, including one to the actress [Joan Hackett](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-hackett), his co-star in *The Group* (1966), and a 1992 marriage to the 32-year-old Serina Robinson that lasted 10 months and ended in litigation over her tabloid account of the breakup.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1) The Washington Post and [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) put the number at five, identifying the 1992 wife as the adult-film actress Rachel Ryan, also known as Serina Robinson; he was not married at the time of his death.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) • [12](https://www.tvguide.com/news/richard-mulligan-dies-53203/) He had one son, James, by his first wife.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1)
Illness prevented him from working after *Dog's Best Friend* and an unsold television pilot, both 1997.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-29-me-28705-story.html) He died on September 26, 2000, at his home in Los Angeles after a long battle with colon cancer.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/) He was cremated, and no memorial service was held, at his own request.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/trivia/) Colleagues remembered him as a hard-working performer and a gentle, easygoing man off screen; his *Soap* co-star [Robert Mandan](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-mandan) said he was "personally not at all like Burt."[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/richard-mulligan/)
## References
1. [Richard Mulligan, Sitcom Star, Dies, The Washington Post (2000)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/09/29/richard-mulligan-sitcom-star-dies/b16907a4-4743-4b03-8296-a6debf0b2055/)
2. [Richard Mulligan, Hollywood Star Walk, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/richard-mulligan/)
3. [Richard Mulligan, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/)
4. [Richard Mulligan, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/richard-mulligan)
5. [Richard Mulligan, stage, film, TV actor, dies at 67, Deseret News (2000)](https://www.deseret.com/2000/9/29/19531297/richard-mulligan-stage-film-tv-actor-dies-at-67/)
6. [Richard Mulligan, obituary by Ronald Bergan, The Guardian (2000)](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/06/guardianobituaries1)
7. [Richard Mulligan Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/richard-mulligan/bio/3000084794/)
8. [TV actor Richard Mulligan is dead at 67, UPI (2000)](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/2000/09/28/TV-actor-Richard-Mulligan-is-dead-at-67/9826970113600/)
9. [Richard Mulligan, Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/trivia/)
10. [Richard Mulligan; Starred in Sitcoms 'Soap,' 'Empty Nest', Los Angeles Times (2000)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-29-me-28705-story.html)
11. [Mulligan, Richard, D23 (Disney Archives)](https://d23.com/a-to-z/mulligan-richard/)
12. [Richard Mulligan Dies, TV Guide (2000)](https://www.tvguide.com/news/richard-mulligan-dies-53203/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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