Johnny Hardwick, voice actor who played Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, dies aged 64

Johnny Hardwick, the voice actor behind King of the Hill’s Dale Gribble, has died aged 64, the Austin, Texas coroner’s office confirmed on Thursday (10 August).

A cause of death is pending per the coroner’s investigation.

Austin native Hardwick lent his voice to the conspiracy theorist character for 258 episodes of the long-running animated sitcom.

He served as a staff writer, story editor, and producer for the show as well, winning an Emmy Award in 1999 for his role in production.

King of the Hill, created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, follows the life of Texas man Hank Hill (Judge), his wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) and teenage son Bobby (Pamela Adlon).

Hardwick started out as a stand-up comic, getting his first break appearing on The Jon Stewart Show in the early 1990s.

After a stand-up show in Los Angeles, Hardwick was approached by Daniels and Judge, who offered him a job writing on the programme.

Dale Gribble was originally offered to Daniel Stern; however, they were unable to reach an agreement with the Home Alone star and Hardwick stepped in, going on to play the character for 13 years.

In a 2019 interview, Hardwick expressed his adoration for the role, which allowed him to stay incognito. “I did it the whole time and was completely anonymous… that’s meant so much to me,” he said.

Hardwick was set to star in a revival of King of the Hill at Hulu, which was announced in January.