Don Mueller and his dog Maximilian are shown in this June 2010 file photo.

International playwright, composer, former TV host, professor and pastor Don Mueller, 83, says his body and memory aren’t working at optimum level these days, but he still gets excited about helping others. He accompanies performers at the Swingtime concerts held several times a year in Lawrence to raise money for charities like Hospice Care in Douglas County and Doctors without Borders.

“Serving others is in my blood,” Mueller says.

So is music and playwriting.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, he started playing piano at 4.

“Once I heard a tune played, I remembered it and played it by ear,” he explains. “I can play in any key, and that makes me a better accompanist than soloist.”

He also loved writing plays at school.

“None of them were ever performed back then,” he says, “But it was a good excuse to get out of class for rehearsals.”

Mueller graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature, did postgraduate work at Boston University School of Theology, was ordained a United Methodist minister, then served in churches in Ohio and Indiana. While serving in Stockton, Calif., he began a music and drama ministry and, encouraged by his good friend and colleague, the Rev. Bob Moon, Mueller became a professional playwright.

His first plays, “Eyes upon the Cross,” “The Galilean Incident” and “Look to the Hill,” were performed in churches around California and published by Baker Plays. He was asked to develop and lead a weekly television show called “Wonder Window” aimed at 3- to 5-year-olds. It ran for a year in black and white and was so successful a second color show was syndicated to national stations.

Mueller founded a traveling group called MASC (Methodist Actors Serving the Church.) When an old friend from seminary days, James Edward Doty, then president of Baker University, heard about the group’s success, he invited Mueller to Baker in 1968. Mueller became assistant professor of speech and religious drama and founded the Baker pLaymen, who performed to great acclaim all over the United States.

When Bishop Abel Muzorewa invited the group to Rhodesia, Mueller wrote “See Here Moses,” based on Ian Smith’s iron rule. Assisted by three Baker students and 12 locals, the musical was performed at 11 black Rhodesian churches.

“No white churches ever invited us to perform,” Mueller says.

His play “Eyes upon the Cross” has been translated into Dutch and Arabic, and it was part of Jerusalem’s Good Friday celebrations for several years. He’s also written “Dreadful Doings at the Cider Mill,” a musical based on the life of Baldwin mayor Lucy Sullivan and her all-female council, and a version of the “Wizard of Oz.”

To commemorate Baldwin’s centennial in 1970, Mueller wrote “The Ballad of Black Jack.” It played successfully at the Maple Leaf Festival and the Lawrence Art Center over the years. A love song from the Ballad, “You’ll Sing His Song,” is frequently played at weddings all over the country.

“I’ve received many blessings in my life,” Mueller says.

“I try to be a blessing to others.”