Richard Moll, Night Court’s Bull, Dies at 80

Summary

• Richard Moll, best known for his role as Bull Shannon in Night Court, has passed away at the age of 80. He was a gifted actor with a unique persona.
• Moll’s big break came with Night Court, where he played the kind-hearted bailiff. The show ran for nine seasons and earned Emmy nominations.
• Throughout his career, Moll appeared in various TV shows and films, including The Flintstones and Batman: The Animated Series.

Richard Moll, the actor best known for portraying bailiff Aristotle Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon in Night Court, has died. He was 80. Moll passed away on Thursday, October 26, in his home in Big Bear Lake, California. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a representative shared:

“The Studio Talent Group mourns the passing of our longtime acting client, the indomitable Richard Moll. A gifted actor and humanitarian he was a caring, loving father with an unmistakably unique persona,” the statement read. “Immensely talented, sometimes misunderstood… He was literally and figuratively a larger-than-life character. He was a wonderful member of the Studio Talent Group family.”

Moll was born on January 13, 1943, in Pasadena, California. He attended UC Berkeley, where he earned a history degree before pursuing an acting career. Before moving on to roles in television and film, he performed Shakespeare at California’s Will Geer Theatre. The beginning of Moll’s decades-long career included minor roles in popular television series like Welcome Back, Kotter, The Rockford Files, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, The Fall Guy, and Fantasy Island.

Related: Markie Post Dies, Night Court Star Was 70

Richard Moll and Night Court

NBC

Moll’s big break occurred when he was cast on NBC’s Night Court as bailiff Bull Shannon. Although intimidating in stature (Moll was 6’8″), his Night Court character was anything but scary: although often a little dense, the bailiff was always kindhearted. Moll starred in the hit series for its nine-season run from 1984 to 1992, and his catchphrase, “Ohh-kay,” remains a memorable part of the sitcom. The series, which starred Harry Anderson and John Larroquette, earned three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In 2023, Night Court was rebooted, with only Larroquette joining in a starring role to reprise his role from the original show. Marsha Warfield also returned as a guest star. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season. Still, its premiere date has been indefinitely delayed due to the now-resolved Writers Guild of America strike and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

In 1986, Moll played the role of Big Ben in Steve Miner’s 1986 horror comedy film House. His portrayal of the film’s antagonist earned the actor a Saturn Award nomination. In 1987, he appeared in two episodes of The Facts of Life.

In the 1990s and throughout the 2000s, he appeared in live-action adaptations of The Flintstones, Jingle All the Way, But I’m a Cheerleader, and Scary Movie 2, among other films, and on television shows including Smallville and Anger Management. Moll also kept busy as a voice actor in numerous video games and animated series, including voicing Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the DC Animated Universe series Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures and Scorpion in Spider-Man: The Series.

His last appearance was in the 2018 horror-comedy Slay Belles, and he is set to appear in Jace Whitman’s Whispers and Shadows posthumously.

Moll, who had retired to Big Bear Lake, was an avid bird watcher. He is survived by his children, Chloe and Mason Moll, ex-wife, Susan Moll, and stepchildren, Cassandra Card and Morgan Ostling. No cause of death has been revealed.

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