Comedian, voice actor, writer and producer Johnny Hardwick — best known for playing the lovable crackpot Dale Gribble on King of the Hill (1997-2010) — was reportedly found dead at his home in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, August 8. The 64-year old’s death was confirmed by the coroner’s office, which has yet to report a cause.
Hulu, which announced an order for the reboot of the hit toon back in January, and 20th Television Animation issued a statement on Hardwick’s passing:
“Johnny Hardwick was an incredibly beloved member of the King of the Hill family, whose tremendous talent, brilliant humor and friendship will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to work with him over the past 25 years. Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family as we mourn the loss of one of the animation greats. His voice gave life to one of our most iconic characters, and he will be truly missed.”
Born September 21, 1958, John Michael Hardwick was raised in Texas, where King of the Hill is set. He graduated with a journalism degree for Texas Tech University and spent the next 10 years working as a bartender in Dallas and Austin. In 1990, Hardwick began performing stand-up comedy, and by 1995 he was successful enough to earn a spot as the first comedian to appear on The Jon Stewart Show.
It was during a set at Los Angeles’ famous Laugh Factory when Hardwick’s riffing on his Texan father caught the attention of television writer-producer Greg Daniels and Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge, who were developing King of the Hill. Hardwick was invited to write for the animated series and moved to L.A. When salary negotiations with Home Alone star Daniel Stern fell through, Hardwick won the role of chain-smoking, cuckolded paranoiac Dale Gribble. He played the character for the show’s entire run, appearing in 257 of its 258 episodes over the course of 13 years.
In addition to playing Dale, Hardwick wrote 20 episodes of the two-time Emmy-winning sitcom — which centers on suburban good ol’ boy Hank Hill, his family and neighbors in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. He also served as a producer, supervising producer and consulting producer for the series.
After King of the Hill, Hardwick returned to Texas and eventually launched a fairly popular YouTube channel, where he posted videos performing songs on the piano and guitar as well as embodying characters like Rusty Shackleford (Dale’s alter ego/identity theft persona in the show) and Chuck Eastwedge, golf guru.
Hardwick was due to reprise his iconic role in the Hulu reboot of King of the Hill, which will be set in the present day.
