Johnny Hardwick, ‘King Of The Hill’ Writer, Producer, And Dale Gribble Voice Actor, Dies At 64

Johnny Hardwick, a voice actor, producer, writer, and story editor on King of the Hill, died on August 8 at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 64.

Hardwick’s death was confirmed by the coroner’s office, but no cause of death has been announced.

Hardwick is best known for voicing the iconic conspiracy theorist Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, which ran for 13 seasons and 259 episodes from 1997-2010. Hardwick voiced Dale for the show’s full run and appeared in all but one of its episodes.

Born John Michael Hardwick in Austin, Texas, he attended Texas Tech University and graduated with a degree in journalism.

He began his performance career doing local stand-up comedy in the early 1990s. His act became more popular over time, and he eventually appeared on The Jon Stewart Show and at L.A.’s The Laugh Factory.

It was during one of those Laugh Factory performances that Hardwick caught the eye of King of the Hill co-creator Greg Daniels. He and Mike Judge were developing the Texas-set series at the time, and Hardwick’s southern comedy seemed a natural fit.

In a 1999 interview with the Austin Chronicle, Hardwick recalled:

I was doing a comedy showcase out in L.A. and Greg Daniels happened to be there with his wife, who was a development person at WB at the time. So I happened to be on this stage talking about my dad in Texas, and Greg just sort of hired me as a writer. And then, after a series of incredibly lengthy auditions, I ended up with the part of Dale Gribble.

Hardwick was a producer and writer during the original seasons of King of the Hill. He received Emmy nominations as a supervising producer in 2001 and 2002 and shared an Emmy win as a producer in 1999 when the show won the award for best animated program.

Apart from his work on King of the Hill, Hardwick appeared on reality shows including Ace of Cakes and Boomer vs Zoomer. He also continued to voice the Dale Gribble character in other media including a King of the Hill video game. He also maintained a Youtube page where he could regularly be seen in Dale’s traditional orange cap and reflective sunglasses.

A King of the Hill revival had been rumored for several years and was officially ordered at Hulu in January of this year. Hardwick was attached to reprise the role of Dale alongside other returning cast members. He did not complete his voice work on the revival before his passing.

Hulu and 20th Television Animation released a statement after news of Hardwick’s death was made public which reads: “Johnny Hardwick was an incredibly 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. Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family as we mourn the loss of one of the animation greats. His voice gave life to one of our most iconic characters, and he will be truly missed.