Johnny Hardwick Dead: 'King Of The Hill' Voice Actor Was 64

Updated with statement from Hulu and 20th Television Animation Johnny Hardwick, who voiced the conspiracy-minded character Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, died August 8 at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 64.

Hardwick and his character with the distinctive Texas drawl had been with the Emmy-winning animated series since its debut in 1997 through its final episode on Fox in 2010. Earlier this year, Hulu, where the reruns currently stream, announced that Hardwick would return for the series’ streaming revival. He had not completed recording the new season at the time of his death.

The actor’s death was confirmed by the Austin coroner’s office. No foul play is suspected, and a cause of death is pending per the coroner’s investigation.

In a statement, Hulu and 20th Television Animation said, “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.”

King of the Hill, created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, and follows the life of Hank Hill (Judge), wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) and teenaged son Bobby (Pamela Adlon). Other voice actors on the series are Stephen Root, Lauren Tom and Ashley Gardner.

Born John Michael Hardwick in Austin, the actor got his start in local stand-up comedy in 1990. He’d eventually make appearances on The Jon Stewart Show and at L.A.’s The Laugh Factory and the Montreal Comedy Festival.

Hardwick was credited as a producer and writer of King of the Hill during the early Fox seasons. He was Emmy-nominated with the show as a supervising producer in 2001 and 2002, and shared the Emmy as a producer in 1999 when King of the Hill was named Outstanding Animated Program.

Since the original run of King of the Hill ended, Hardwick had launched his own popular YouTube channel.

The Hulu revival from 20th Television Animation was announced last January, with Judge and Daniels returning to exec produce. Saladin Patterson will join the production as an executive producer and showrunner.

Denise Petski contributed to this report.