Over 13 seasons and 259 episodes, Fox’s King of the Hill covered the weird, but sweet lives of some of Arlen, Texas’ most outrageous characters. One such figure was Dale Gribble, the exterminator/conspiracy theorist who stood out as one of Hank Hill’s most loyal friends. Memorably voiced on co-creator Mike Judge’s series by actor Johnny Hardwick, we honor the man behind that character, as Mr. Hardwick has been reported to have died at the age of 64.
The news broke through TMZ, who was informed by “law enforcement sources” that the actor was found dead in his home on Tuesday. This discovery came as the result of a wellness check, and at the time of this reporting, there’s no cause revealed, nor any suspicion of foul play.
Discovered as a comedian through series like An Evening at the Improv and The Jon Stewart Show, the Austin-born actor eventually caught the attention of Mike Judge and Greg Daniels. The rest was history, as Dale Gribble was born and ready to cause all sorts of trouble. Thanks to his Texan roots, Johnny Hardwick also became a key player behind the scenes of King of the Hill.
Serving in various capacities on the show as a writing and producing talent, he would win an Emmy as a producer at 1999’s 51st Emmy Awards. Winning the honor of Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less), Johnny would be nominated twice more in that same category, in 2001 and 2002, as a Supervising Producer.
One of Hardwick’s most notable accomplishments is the fact that out of the original 259 episode-run of King of the Hill, he was present as Dale for all but one. The show would eventually be cancelled by Fox in 2008, the same year the network greenlit its 13th season.
After that point, Johnny Hardwick would appear in some reality shows, while mostly taking to YouTube with musical performances and comedy sketches. Some of this involved the Dale Gribble persona he helped cultivate throughout all of those hours in the recording booth.
With Johnny Hardwick’s legacy secured in this series’ history, his involvement in the Hulu-bound revival was one of the reasons to be excited about King of the Hill’s return. Unfortunately, there are no reports as to how much Hardwick was able to participate in this upcoming venture.
It's bittersweet to think of this point in particular, as Mike Judge's suggestion that the characters would change in the gap of time spanning between that original finale and now. With Dale being such a wild character, and Johnny Hardwick really digging into that aspect of the role, who knows what could have been?
Should Johnny be absent from King of the Hill's big revival, it'd be totally understandable. Those mirrored sunglasses of skepticism and insanity would only be that much harder to fill, as Mr. Hardwick truly made the role his own. We here at CinemaBlend send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Johnny Hardwick, in these times of remembrance and grief.
