Johnny Hardwick, Voice Of Dale Gribble On 'King Of The Hill' Has Died At 64
The comedian was also a staff writer, story editor, and producer on the series
Tragedy has struck deep in the heart of fictional Arlen, Texas today. Johnny Hardwick, best known as Dale Gribble on the long-running Fox animated sitcom King of the Hill, has died at the age of 64.
Law enforcement was reportedly called for a welfare check to Hardwick's Texas home Tuesday. His body was discovered and pronounced dead there. Foul play is not suspected and the cause of death is understandably still unknown.
Gribble was one of Hank Hill’s best friends, known for his constant paranoia fueled by conspiracy theories, as well as his pocket sand maneuver, full of other eccentricities and foibles matched by a love for his family. He appeared in nearly every episode of the original run from 1997-2010, at 258 of 259 episodes. He worked numerous jobs in those episodes, including most prominently as exterminator, but also camp counselor, bounty hunter, and, of course with Hank, propane salesman. Hardwick also voiced Tug, the announcer who would call many of the town’s events, like the rifle competition and the gay rodeo.
Hardwick was born in Austin, Texas sometime around 1959 (exact birthdate unknown) and started performing stand-up comedy in 1990, eventually landing his first stand-up appearance on The Jon Stewart Show, the show’s first as well in 1994. The next year, an appearance at the Montreal Comedy Festival got him a sitcom offer from NBC president Brandon Tartikoff. When Hardwick’s idea for one garnered little interest from the network, the clock would run out and he was free to move on to King of the Hill, after a routine at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles put him on the radar of creators Greg Daniels and Mike Judge. Impressed with his Texan humor, they made their offer for him to come aboard. There he also would serve as producer, supervising producer, consulting producer, writer and story editor. Outside of King of the Hill and other Dale Gribble appearances, he wasn’t much of an actor, with two other minor roles in 1999. However, in 2015 he started using his YouTube channel he created in 2012, performing covers while donning his character's signature orange hat and shades.
Hardwick’s death does complicate the upcoming King of the Hill revival, which was officially ordered by Hulu in January. Set to age the characters in real time, Hardwick was among those original stars announced to be reprising their roles including Judge as Hank, Kathy Najimy as Hank’s wife Peggy) and Pamela Adlon as their son Bobby, along with Stephen Root as Hank and Dale’s mutual friend Bill Dauterive, Ashley Gardner as Dale’s wife Nancy, and Lauren Tom, who has recently resumed her role as Amy Wong in the streamer’s Futurama revival, as neighbor Minh and also Minh’s daughter Connie. TVLine has been told that Hardwick had not completed recording his lines. However the show goes forward, his passing leaves another hole in the cast, following the deaths of Brittany Murphy, who voiced Hank and Peggy’s niece Luann and died in 2009, and rocker Tom Petty, who voiced Luann’s husband Lucky after he was introduced in 2004. Petty died in 2017.
20th Television Animation and Hulu released a joint statement, reading:
“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.”
