Johnny Hardwick, the Voice of Dale Gribble, Dies at 64

Dale Gribble, King of the Hill's arch-conspiracy theorist and the best exterminator in Arlen, Texas. The iconic cartoon character was voiced by Austinite Johnny Hardwick, who has died at the age of 64. (Image Courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

A sad day for Austin's comedy scene and fans of King of the Hill worldwide: Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble and a mainstay of Austin's nineties alternative comedy scene, has died in his Austin home, aged 64.

Hardwick was born in Austin on Sept. 21, 1958: After graduating from Texas Tech with a BS in Journalism, he bounced between Dallas and Austin as a bartender before turning his hand to standup in 1990. He quickly became a mainstay of the Austin comedy scene, working the Velveeta Room (which he called "the funniest room in America"), and by the mid-90s his star was already on the national ascent.

In 1993, he became the first standup to appear on The Jon Stewart Show, the daily MTV chat show that lead to Stewart taking over The Daily Show After one pitch to MTV for an Austin-based comedy show fell apart in development, Hardwick secured a slot on the New Faces bill at the 1995 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, Canada. However, on the basis of his tape, before he even packed his passport he had booked a face-to-face meeting with Brandon Tartikoff, then head of New World Entertainment. That quickly lead to a sitcom development deal with New World, and rapid changes for Hardwick, who was pulled from the New Faces lineup (can't be a new face with a TV deal) and then opened up for Steven Wright in his festival-closing show at the 2,400 capacity St. Denis Theatre.

Hardwick was set to become a star in his own right with his own sitcom, but all those plans were put on hold in 1997 when the first episode of king of the Hill aired.

As Hardwick told the Chronicle in 1999, he was performing a comedy showcase in L.A., based on his father in Texas. Producer Greg Daniels and his wife, Susanne Lieberstein Daniels (now Global Head of Original Content for YouTube, then working in development at Warner Brothers), saw the set and approached Hardwick about joining their new animated sitcom, created by his fellow Texan, Mike Judge. But they wanted him as a writer, not a voice talent.

It wasn't until the original choice for the part of Hank Hill's friend Dale Gribble (Home Alone star Daniel Stern) dropped out due to contract negotiations that Hardwick auditioned and was cast, changing the show and his career forever.

In the first episode, Dale was merely Hank Hill's idiot friend mispronouncing words. He could have just been a typical skinny, mirror-shaded redneck, but instead he came to represent a very particular kind of Texas. Hardwick described the character's look as being inspired by William S. Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson, and Dale lived inside a non-continuous maelstrom of conspiracy theories. He spoke to a particular kind of Texas, convinced that the government is uniquely invested in their day-to-day actions but barely a blip on anyone's radar. He was a gun-collecting radical who would lock himself in his basement if danger really loomed. Moreover, Dale was convinced that he knew how the world worked at the grandest level, but oblivious to the fact his wife was sleeping with her masseur, and his teenage son looked nothing like him. And Hardwick defined Dale both through his nasally monotone (usually delivering one of his baffling conspiracy rants) and his weaselly shriek, delivered like a fainting Victorian heroine, as he leapt under a table at the slightest noise.

King of the Hill dominated Hardwick's career for the next 12 years, until the finale aired on Fox on Sept. 13, 2009. Hardwick not only played Dale (appearing in all but one of the 258 episodes), but was also a writer for the show, story editor, and producer, being nominated for four Emmys and finally winning one as a producer in 1999. After the show ended, he disappeared from the public eye, finally launching his own YouTube channel with monologues delivered as Dale Gribble's alter ego, Rusty Shackleford, and spoof songs. However, he had recently been announced as returning to the part of Dale officially, as part of the planned King of the Hill revival at Hulu.

Hardwick's fellow cast members have already started sharing their condolences. Breckin Meyer, who played Dale's son Joseph, tweeted "Was lucky enough to have Johnny Hardwick as my pops Dale for almost a decade. He will be so damn missed! RIP"

Phil Hendrie, who voiced multiple supporting characters in the show, echoed those sentiments, tweeting, "Terrible news. Rest in peace Johnny."