Johnny Hardwick, a voice actor and comedian best known as the voice of Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, has died.
Police responded to a call for a welfare check and found Hardwick, who was 64, dead in his Austin home on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The medical examiner’s office will determine a cause of death, but police said the case is not being investigated as a homicide, the outlet reported.
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Hulu and 20th Television Animation said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that Hardwick was a 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.”
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“Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family as we mourn the loss of one of the animation greats,” the studio and the subscription service added in their statement. “His voice gave life to one of our most iconic characters, and he will be truly missed.”
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Hardwick voiced the character of Gribble — the chain-smoking bounty hunter who sported a Mack cap and aviator glasses— in over 250 episodes of King of the Hill from 1997 until the television program’s end in 2010. Gribble was one of the best friends and neighbors of Hank Hill, the protagonist of the show set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas.
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Show creator Mike Judge told The New York Times in 2009 the setting was inspired by the Dallas suburb of Richardson, where he once lived. Aside from voicing Gribble, Hardwick also was a story editor, staff writer and producer for the show. He had three Emmy nominations and won one in 1999 as a producer.
Hardwick was an Austin native and graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with a degree in journalism. According to the university, he began performing stand-up at comedy clubs in Dallas and Austin.
Hardwick continued his career in comedy until performing at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles where King of the Hill co-creator Greg Daniels offered him a writing job. Aside from the show, Hardwick voiced Gribble in the King of the Hill video game (2000) and Warped Kart Racers (2022).
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He also appeared in reality TV shows Ace of Cakes (2009) and Boomer vs. Zoomer (2019). Hardwick was set to reprise his role of Gribble in a reboot of the show that will air on Hulu, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Hardwick recorded “a couple of new episodes but had not completed his work.”
After the show’s end, Hardwick often posted on YouTube as Gribble, even performing covers of songs in the character’s voice. He had amassed about 19,000 subscribers and over 600,000 total views.
Each time, he regaled viewers sporting Gribble’s signature orange cap and aviator, mirrored sunglasses.