Celebrity Nooz: Jim J Bullock

Jim J. Bullock (Actor) - Too Close for Comfort

Updated: 11/14/23

Name: Jim J. Bullock

Birth Name: James Jackson Bullock

Born: February 9, 1955 in Casper, Wyoming, USA

Claim To Fame: Jim J. Bullock is an American actor and comedian of stage, television, and motion pictures. He's best know for playing Monroe Ficus in the sitcom Too Close for Comfort.

Family Life: In 1990, Bullock began a relationship with John Casey. The two were together until Casey's death in 1996.

Info: Was raised Southern Baptist.

Received a music scholarship for Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, but left school without graduating.

In 1996, Bullock's partner of six years, John Casey, died from AIDS-related complications. Bullock announced his partner's death and his coming out as an HIV positive man at the same time. As of 2023, he is still healthy due in part to antiretroviral drugs.

In February of 1999, he was arrested outside a bar in West Hollywood, California, for drug possession, and was sentenced to probation.

Trivia: Credited as "JM J. Bullock" because there was another "Jim Bullock" in the actors union.

Bullock became a notable figure in the entertainment industry in the 1980s when he co-starred on the sitcom Too Close for Comfort as Monroe Ficus.

In 1985, while Too Close For Comfort was being retooled as The Ted Knight Show, Bullock learned that he was HIV positive. He made his diagnosis public 11 years later.

His acting mentor was the late Ted Knight.

Some of his other noteworthy roles include the pilled-up narcoleptic Prince Valium in the 1987 Mel Brooks movie Spaceballs.

He appeared in 5 episodes of ALF as lead character Willie Tanner's brother Neal Tanner.

Bullock was the guest host of a special episode of Super Sloppy Double Dare in 1989 in which host Marc Summers and announcer Harvey played against each other.

He was a regular guest on John Davidson's updated version of the game show Hollywood Squares; Bullock occasionally substituted for Davidson as host.

He briefly hosted a syndicated talk show with ex-televangelist Tammy Faye Messner. The Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show debuted in 1996, but Messner exited the program a few months later following a cancer diagnosis. Bullock continued with new co-host, Ann Abernathy, and the show became The Jim J. and Ann Show until it was canceled.

Mr. Monroe, Bullock's character on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004), was named after his more famous character, Monroe Ficus on Too Close for Comfort (1980).

In 2007, he also performed on the national tour of the Broadway production Hairspray as Wilbur Turnblad, a role he took to the Broadway stage.

Where Are They Now: Most recently Bullock appeared on an episode of the Monday Morning Critic Podcast. He also appears in the documentary 'Commitment to Life' which chronicles the true story of the fight against HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles. It would be nice to see Jim J. Bullock back on television. Maybe he could go back to the game show circuit. He was also great on those. Here's hoping!

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