Death of King Of The Hill star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after voice actor suddenly dies at home in Texas aged 59
Death of King Of The Hill star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after voice actor suddenly dies at home in Texas aged 59
- The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble in the iconic 1997-2010 animated series
- He was found dead at his home in Texas on Tuesday after police were called for a welfare check and found his body
- Hardwick was pronounced dead at the scene with no suspicion of a crime – the cause of death is currently unknown
The death of King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after his sudden passing at the age of 59.
The talented voice actor — who played Hank Hill conspiracy theorist neighbor Dale Gribble on the iconic animated series in 258 episodes from 1997-2010 — was found dead at his Texas home on Tuesday after police were called to a welfare check and his body.
It was reported that Johnny was pronounced dead at the scene with no foul play involved – with cause of death unknown at the time, reported TMZ.
And three days after his death, the cause of his death remains a mystery, but police are reported to have confirmed that the death is “not being investigated as a homicide,” reports Subway.
It is said that the cause of death will ultimately be determined by the medical examiner’s office.
RIP: The death of King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after his sudden passing at age 59
Iconic: The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble (left) in the iconic animated series in 258 episodes from 1997-2010
Hardwick served as a staff writer, story editor and producer for King of the Hill and scored four Prime Time Emmy nominations.
In 1999, he won an Emmy Award for his work as producer of King of the Hill.
A native of Austin, Texas, Hardwick attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, graduating with a BS degree in journalism.
He then worked as a bartender in blues bars in Dallas and Austin for ten years before launching his stand-up comedy career in 1990.
He became the first stand-up comedian to appear on The Jon Stewart Show.
In 1995, a performance at the Montreal Comedy Festival led to a chance meeting with NBC president Brandon Tartikoff, who offered him a sitcom. However, NBC was not interested in Hardwick’s pitch for a Green Acres and Get A Life inspired show.
Hardwick signed with the Strauss-McGarr agency and began a successful stand-up career performing all over the US.
After performing at LA’s Laugh Factory in which he performed a skit about his father, he was approached by television writer and producer Greg Daniels and Mike Judge of Beavis and Butt-Head who were making King of the Hill.
Cast: Hardwick (back row right) can be seen with the show’s cast in 2005 as they marked the show’s 200th episode
YouTube: In recent years, the star created a YouTube channel on which he performed parodies and monologues of songs in the style of Gribble, while wearing his famous sunglasses and orange cap
Intrigued by Hardwick’s Texan wit, they offered him a job as a writer on the series, which saw Hardwick move to Silver Lake from Austin.
Hardwick ended up taking the role of Gribble after Daniel Stern turned down the opportunity.
In recent years, the star created a YouTube channel on which he performed parodies and monologues of songs in the style of Gribble, while wearing his famous sunglasses and orange cap.