Johnny Hardwick

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox youtuber John Michael Hardwick (December 31, 1958 – c. August 8, 2023)<ref name="latimes">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nypost"/> was an American voice actor, comedian, writer, producer and YouTuber. He was best known as the voice of Dale Gribble in the animated American television series King of the Hill.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He also served as a staff writer,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> story editor, and producer on the show. He was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards three times, winning once in 1999 with the rest of King of the HillTemplate:'s production team.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

John Michael Hardwick was born in Austin, Texas, on December 31, 1958.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="hr">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nypost">Template:Cite news</ref> He attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After graduating with a BA degree in journalism, he worked for a decade as a bartender in live blues bars in Dallas and Austin, including Nick's Uptown, Sixth Street Live and The Greenville Bar & Grill.Template:Cn

Career

Starting in 1990, Hardwick performed stand-up comedy for a number of years, appearing at such venues as the Dallas Improv and the Velveeta Room in Austin and appearing on shows including Evening at the Improv and Caroline's Comedy Hour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the first comic to appear on The Jon Stewart Show. In 1995, he worked the Montreal Comedy Festival, where Brandon Tartikoff saw his set and signed him to a sitcom on NBC, which never materialized.<ref name="Rolling Stone">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

After Hardwick signed with the Strauss-McGarr agency, he was continually booked in stand-up across the United States. While at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, he performed a set about his father in Texas.<ref name="austinchronicle" /> Afterward, he was approached by television writers and producers Greg Daniels and Mike Judge, who were helping create the Texan-themed comedy King of the Hill.<ref name=":0" />

The role of Dale Gribble was originally offered to Daniel Stern, but producers were unable to agree with Stern on a salary. Instead, Hardwick won it by not arguing about money.<ref name="austinchronicle">Template:Cite web</ref> He performed the role for the show's entire original 13-year run and appeared in 257 of 258 episodes.<ref name=":0" /> At the time of his death, he was set to reprise the role again in the upcoming revival. It was later revealed that Hardwick had recorded "a couple" of new episodes for the revival prior to his death. He voiced six of the 10 episodes in the 14th season. Dale Gribble was performed by Toby Huss in the remaining four episodes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="KH2024">Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 12, 2012, Hardwick created a YouTube channel, though it had no uploads until 2015. In December 2018, he started regularly uploading new content. As of June 2025, the channel has 24,000 subscribers and over 930,000 total views. The channel’s content primarily consists of song parodies and monologues in the voice of Dale Gribble.<ref name="YouTube channel">Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2025, two years after Hardwick's death, new episodes of King of the Hill were released where he reprised his role as Dale Gribble. The seventh episode of the revival and Hardwick's final episode featuring him "Any Given Hill-Day" is dedicated to him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Death

On August 8, 2023, Hardwick was found dead face-up in the bathtub at his home in Austin following a welfare check by local authorities. He was 64 years old at the time of his death.<ref name="hr"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="latimes"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=WhiteReporter>Template:Cite web</ref> In November, it was reported that the moderate decomposition of his body left the cause and manner of death unable to be established, but the examiner noted that his death appeared to be relatively sudden, that drowning was unlikely, and there were no obvious signs of trauma.<ref name=WhiteReporter/><ref name=PeopleDeath>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Ruta Wakening	Jester	Independent film<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1999	Natural Selection	Documentary Director (voice)	Short film<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	The Collegians Are Go!!	Sleepy Student
2019	Shadows of Sofia	Template:N/a	Consulting producer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	An Evening at the Improv	Himself	<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref>
1997–2010; 2025	King of the Hill	Dale Gribble, Additional voices	Six 2025 episodes recorded prior to death (posthumous release)<ref name="KH2024"/> Also producer, supervising producer, consulting producer, writer and story editor<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite web</ref>
2003	The Making of King of the Hill	Himself	Television documentary<ref name="auto"/>
2009	Ace of Cakes	Himself	Episode: "King of Charm City"<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	King of the Hill	Dale Gribble	PC game<ref name="auto"/>
2022	Warped Kart Racers		Mobile game; archival recording<ref name="auto"/>

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Barenaked Ladies: Get in Line	Dale Gribble	Voice

External links

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