'Fuller House' Writer and Producer Was 52
Marsh McCall, an original writer on Late Night With Conan O’Brien who went on to work on sitcoms including Just Shoot Me!, Last Man Standing and Fuller House, has died. He was 52.
McCall died unexpectedly Sunday night at his home in Studio City, his agent, Nancy Jones at CAA, told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death is known.
A former humor columnist for the now-defunct Peninsula Times Tribune in the San Francisco area, McCall began his show business career on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, working alongside Louis C.K., Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk and others and sharing an office with Andy Richter. He was one of the first six writers hired for the show.
Related Stories
About a year later, McCall came to Los Angeles and joined Just Shoot Me!, the NBC workplace comedy that starred Laura San Giacomo, George Segal, Wendie Malick and David Spade. He executive produced 97 episodes and wrote 11 installments of the Steve Levitan-created show, which ran for seven seasons, from 1997 through 2003.
McCall wrote for and exec produced the Tim Allen starrer Last Man Standing at ABC, and his sitcom credits include The Naked Truth, Men at Work, I’m With Her and Jennifer Falls.
McCall and Nia Vardalos co-created the 2003 CBS series My Big Fat Greek Life, based on the latter’s hit 2002 movie, and he created with Michael Leeson and John Lithgow the NBC show Twenty Good Years, which lasted just a month in 2006.
McCall wrote and exec produced for Fuller House, the Netflix reboot that premiered in 2016. A third season is upcoming.
A statement from series creator Jeff Franklin and the “Fuller House family” said they were “heartbroken.”
“He was our brightest shining star, always smiling and always there with the perfect joke,” they said. “Beyond his immense talent, he was the happiest comedy writer we’ve seen, and his love of life was contagious. We will miss him dearly, and our hearts go out to his beautiful family and a universe of friends who adored him.”
On Facebook, Fuller House writer Craig Shoemaker called McCall “a man of balance, integrity, intelligence and grace, showing this newcomer to a writers room how it’s done the right way. Marsh treats others with respect and kindness, while remaining passionate and focused on the work. He’s a guide without the title, simply being genuine, engaging and funny, while still banging out the work to be done.
“Marsh is one authentic, generous spirit, and now his spirit has passed on. In a state of shock right now, the day suddenly halted by profound sadness from this horrible news.”
A big Beatles and Monty Python fan, McCall was raised in Palo Alto, Calif., and graduated from Stanford, and his father taught at the school.
Survivors include his wife Jasa and daughter Stella.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbvLpbCwp5%2BZv6a8zqurnqpemLyue82erqxnl5q7pr7ApWSnnaeofK6t0ayfZqWTmK6tuIydnJqcXZvCrbjEq2Shp6Wosm7D0aKrnqpdpb%2BwsNScnKtlp5bAboGRZmhpaGZpf3R7
