The death of ‘King Of The Hill’ star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after the voice actor suddenly died at home in Texas aged 59
- The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble on the legendary animated series from 1997 to 2010
- He was found dead at his Texas home on Tuesday after police called for a welfare check and found his body
- Hardwick was pronounced dead at the scene with no crime suspected – the cause of death is currently unknown
The death of ‘King of the Hill’ star Johnny Hardwick remains a mystery after his sudden death at the age of 59.
The talented voice actor, who played Hank Hill’s conspiracy theorist Dale Gribble on the legendary animated series from 1997 to 2010 in 258 episodes, was found dead at his Texas home on Tuesday after police called a welfare check and found his body.
It was reported that Johnny was pronounced dead at the scene with no crime suspected – the cause of death was unknown at the time, TMZ reported.
And three days after his death, the cause of death remains a mystery, but police are said to have confirmed the death “is not being investigated as a homicide,” Metro reports.
It is said that the cause of death will ultimately be determined by the coroner.
RIP: King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick’s death remains a mystery following his sudden death aged 59
Iconic: The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble (left) in 258 episodes from 1997 to 2010.
Hardwick wrote, edited and produced King of the Hill and received four Prime Time Emmy nominations.
In 1999 he won an Emmy Award for his work as a producer on King of the Hill.
A native of Austin, Texas, Hardwick attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and graduated with a BS in journalism.
He then worked as a bartender at blues bars in Dallas and Austin for a decade before beginning his career as a stand-up comedian in 1990.
He was the first stand-up comedian to appear on The Jon Stewart Show.
In 1995, an appearance 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 show inspired by Green Acres and Get A Life.
Hardwick signed with the Strauss-McGarr agency and began a successful stand-up career, performing throughout the United States.
After appearing at LA’s Laugh Factory, performing a skit about his father, he was approached by television writer-producer Greg Daniels and Mike Judge from Beavis and Butt-Head, who were filming King of the Hill.
Cast: Hardwick (back row right) is seen with the cast of the series in 2005 as they celebrated the 200th episode of the series
YouTube: In recent years, the star has created a YouTube channel where he has performed song parodies and gribble-style monologues while sporting his famous sunglasses and orange beanie
Intrigued by Hardwick’s Texas humor, they offered him a job writing the series, after which Hardwick moved from Austin to Silver Lake.
Hardwick eventually landed the role of Gribble after Daniel Stern turned down the opportunity.
In recent years, the star launched a YouTube channel where he performed song parodies and gribble-style monologues while sporting his famous sunglasses and orange beanie.