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Phil Hartman |
| Phil Hartman | |||||||
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 Hartman in a promotional image |
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| Born | Philip Edward Hartmann September 24, 1948 Brantford, Ontario, Canada |
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| Died | May 28, 1998 (aged 49) Encino, California, United States |
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| Occupation | Actor, voice actor, comedian, graphic artist, writer | ||||||
| Years active | 1979–1998 | ||||||
| Spouse(s) | Gretchen Lewis (1970–unknown) Lisa Strain (1982–1985) Brynn Omdahl (1987–1998) |
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Phil Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family later immigrated to the United States. He attended California State University, Northridge, graduating with a degree in graphic arts and going on to design several album covers. He joined The Groundlings in 1975 and there helped Paul Reubens to develop his character Pee-wee Herman.
He first came to widespread attention in 1986 when he joined the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. There he became famous for his impressions, notably President Bill Clinton. After scrapping plans for his own variety show, he starred as Bill McNeal on the sitcom NewsRadio. He also had frequent roles on The Simpsons, and parts in films such as Houseguest, Sgt. Bilko and Small Soldiers. He was shot dead by his wife Brynn while he slept in his Encino, California home in 1998.
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Hartman was born as Philip Edward Hartmann (later dropping the final "n")1 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada on September 24, 1948 to Doris and Rupert Hartmann.23 He was the fourth of eight children, and his father was a building materials salesman.4 As the middle child, Hartman found that "[he] didn't get what [he] wanted out of [his] family life," and so "started seeking love and attention elsewhere".1 His family emigrated to the United States when Hartman was 10, gaining American citizenship in 1990.5 The family lived in Connecticut at first, moving to the West Coast a few years later, where Hartman attended Westchester High School.1
After graduating, Hartman studied art at Santa Monica City College, dropping out in 1969 to become a roadie with a rock band.1 He returned to school in 1972, this time studying graphic arts at California State University, where he started developing his own graphic arts business which created over 40 album covers for bands including Poco and America, as well as the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash.671 In the late 1970s, he made his first television appearance on an episode of The Dating Game; he won, but was stood up by the bachelorette.7
Working alone as a graphic artist, Hartman frequently amused himself with "flights of voice fantasies". Looking for a creative outlet for his talent, he joined the California-based comedy group The Groundlings in 1975 aged 27.78 Hartman met comedian Paul Reubens while working with the group and the two became friends, often writing and working on material together. One such collaboration was the character of Pee-wee Herman. Hartman and Reubens developed the character for The Pee-wee Herman Show, a stage show which also aired on HBO in 1981.7 Both also made cameos in the 1980 film Cheech & Chong's Next Movie.3 Hartman then co-wrote the script of the 1985 feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure.6 Although he considered quitting acting at the age of 36 due to limited opportunities, the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure opened doors for him as a writer and an actor.9 Hartman played Captain Carl on The Pee-wee Herman Show and returned in the role for the children's show Pee-wee's Playhouse.7 Hartman left after having a creative falling-out with Reubens.710
Aside from his work with Reubens, Hartman appeared in a number of voice-over roles. These included appearances on The Smurfs, Challenge of the GoBots, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo,3 and Dennis the Menace, playing Henry Mitchell and George Wilson.1 Additionally, Hartman developed a strong career providing advertisement voice-overs.8
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As an actor, I felt I couldn't compete. I wasn't as cute as the leading man; I wasn't as brilliant as Robin Williams. The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, an Sic there was really no call for that. Except on Saturday Night Live.
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—Hartman on his acting skills.1
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In 1986 (after appearances in the films Jumpin' Jack Flash and ¡Three Amigos!) Hartman joined the cast of NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live and stayed for eight seasons.36 Hartman was known for his impressions, and performed as over 70 different characters during his stint. These included Frank Sinatra, Ed McMahon, Barbara Bush, Phil Donahue and former president Bill Clinton, which was often considered his best-known impression.611 His other Saturday Night Live characters included Eugene, the Anal Retentive Chef and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.1 Hartman first performed his Clinton impression on an episode of The Tonight Show.12 On meeting Clinton in 1993, Hartman remarked "I guess I owe you a few apologies,"12 adding that he "sometimes [felt] a twinge of guilt about [his Clinton impression]."11 However, Clinton did not mind and sent a signed photo with "You're not the president, but you play one on TV. And you're OK, mostly," written on it.11 One of his more famous sketches as Clinton saw the president visit a McDonald's restaurant and explain his policies by eating other customers' food. The writers told him that he was not eating enough during rehearsals for the sketch, so by the end of the live performance, Hartman had eaten so much he could barely speak.12
His backstage nickname on SNL was "the Glue", and he was considered a role model to the younger cast members.3 SNL creator Lorne Michaels explained the reasoning for the name as: "He kind of held the show together. He gave to everybody and demanded very little. He was very low-maintenance."4 According to Jay Mohr's book Gasping for Airtime, the name was coined by Adam Sandler.13 Michaels added that Hartman was "the least appreciated" cast member from commentators outside of the show, and praised his ability "to do five or six parts in a show where you're playing support or you're doing remarkable character work."1 Hartman was nominated for three Emmy Awards for his work on SNL, winning in 1989 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.14
In his final seasons, Hartman became tired of SNL, and left in 1994.11 After co-stars Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Jan Hooks and Dana Carvey had left, Hartman felt "like an athlete who's watched all his World Series teammates get traded off into other directions," and "it was hard to watch them leave because I sort of felt we were all part of the team that saved the show."8 Hartman had originally planned to leave the show in 1991, but Michaels convinced him to stay in order to raise his profile, which was helped by his portrayal of Clinton.8 NBC persuaded him to stay on SNL longer by promising him his own comedy-variety show entitled The Phil Show.11 He planned to "reinvent the variety form" with "a hybrid, very fast-paced, high energy [show] with sketches, impersonations, pet acts, and performers showcasing their talents." Hartman was to be the show's executive producer and head writer.16 Before production began, the network decided that variety shows were dead and scrapped plans for the series. In a 1996 interview, Hartman noted he was glad the show had been scrapped, as he "would've been sweatin' blood each week trying to make it work."11 In 1998, he admitted he missed working on SNL, but had left because he no longer wanted to live in New York City, and moved to Southern California.10
In 1995, Hartman became one of the stars of the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, where he portrayed radio news anchor Bill McNeal. He signed up after being attracted by the show's use of an ensemble cast,17 and joked that he based McNeal on himself with "any ethics and character" removed.10 He made roughly $50,000 per episode of NewsRadio.4 Although the show was critically acclaimed, it was never a ratings hit and cancellation was a regular threat. After the completion of the fourth season Hartman noted "We seem to have limited appeal. We're on the edge here, not sure we're going to be picked up or not," but added he was "99 percent sure" it would be renewed for a fifth season.17 Hartman had publicly lambasted NBC's decision to repeatedly move NewsRadio into different timeslots, although later regretted his comments noting "this is a sitcom, for crying out loud, not brain surgery".10 He also stated that if it were cancelled "it just will open up other opportunities for me."17 Although the show was renewed for a fifth season, Hartman died before production began.18 Ken Tucker praised Hartman's performance as McNeal: "A lesser performer [...] would have played him as a variation on The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter, because that's what Bill was, on paper. But Hartman gave infinite variety to Bill's self-centeredness, turning him devious, cowardly, squeamish, and foolishly bold from week to week."19 Hartman was posthumously nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series for NewsRadio in 1998, but lost to David Hyde Pierce.2014
Hartman provided the voices for a number of characters on the animated series The Simpsons, appearing in more than 50 episodes,6 making his first appearance in the second season episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". He voiced the recurring characters Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure as well as several one-time and background characters. Although originally written as a one-off appearance, Hartman enjoyed working on The Simpsons so the staff wrote further parts for him.21 He often used his McClure voice to entertain the audience between takes while taping episodes of NewsRadio. He remarked, "My favorite fans are Troy McClure fans."10 Hartman was popular among the show's staff. Showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein stated that they used Hartman as much as they possibly could in their seasons, as they were such big fans of him.22 The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said that he "took [Hartman] for granted because he nailed the joke every time,"6 and that his voice acting could produce "the maximum amount of humor" out of any line he was given.23
Hartman also had roles in many films. His first starring role came in 1995's Houseguest.3 Other roles included Greedy, Coneheads, Sgt. Bilko, So I Married an Axe Murderer, CB4, Jingle All The Way and Small Soldiers, the last of which was his final theatrically released film.3 Hartman noted that "It's fun coming in as the second or third lead. If the movie or TV show bombs, you aren't to blame."7 Hartman preferred working on television to working on film.8 His other roles included appearances on episodes of Seinfeld, The John Larroquette Show, The Dana Carvey Show and the HBO TV film The Second Civil War as the President of the United States.12 He also appeared as kidnapper Randy in the third season finale of 3rd Rock from the Sun, a role written especially for him. He died before filming of the concluding episode could take place. Terry Turner decided to recast the part noting: "I have far too much respect for [Hartman] to try to find some clever way of getting around this real tragedy."6
Hartman noted that his standard character is a "jerky guy", and described his past roles as "the weasel parade",7 adding: "Throughout my career, I've never been a huge star, but I've made steady progress and that's the way I like it."11
Hartman married Gretchen Lewis in 1970, and divorced sometime before 1982. In 1982 he married real-estate agent Lisa Strain; their marriage lasted three years. Strain told People that Hartman was reclusive off screen and "would disappear emotionally [...] he'd be in his own world. That passivity made you crazy."4 Hartman then married former model Brynn Omdahl (born Vicki Omdahl) in 1987, having met on a blind date the previous year.4 Together they had two children, Sean and Birgen Hartman.43 The marriage had difficulties and Brynn was reportedly "intimidated by Phil" and frustrated that she could not find her "own identity", although neither party wanted a divorce. Hartman considered retiring to save his marriage.4 Hartman was close friends with many of his co-stars, including Jon Lovitz and Jan Hooks. Brynn joked to Hooks on occasion that Hooks and Phil were married "on some other level."2425 Hartman enjoyed flying, sailing, and guitars.6
On the evening of May 27, 1998, Brynn Hartman visited the Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo in Los Angeles County, California with producer and writer Christine Zander, who said she was "in a good frame of mind". Brynn returned to the couple's Encino home; she later started a "heated" argument with Hartman. He threatened to leave her if she, having previously been a drug user, started using drugs again. He then went to bed.4 While he slept, Brynn entered his bedroom shortly before 3 a.m. with a 38-caliber handgun and fatally shot him twice in the head and once in his side.4 She was intoxicated, and had recently taken cocaine.26
Brynn drove to the home of her friend Ron Douglas and confessed to the murder, though he initially did not believe her. The pair then drove back to Hartman's house in separate cars. Brynn called another friend and admitted murder to them as well.274 Upon seeing Hartman's body, Douglas called 9-1-1 at 6:20; police arrived and escorted Douglas and the Hartmans' two children from the premises. Brynn, who had locked herself in the bedroom, committed suicide by shooting herself once in the head.284
Los Angeles police stated Hartman's murder was due to "domestic discord" between the couple.29 A friend recalled that Brynn allegedly "had trouble controlling her anger ... She got attention by losing her temper."30 A neighbor of the Hartmans told a CNN reporter that the couple had been experiencing marital problems: "It's been building, but I didn't think it would lead to this."28 Steve Guttenberg, however, commented that the pair were "a very happy couple, and they always had the appearance of being well-balanced."28
Other causes have been cited. At the time of the murder, Brynn Hartman was taking the antidepressant drug Zoloft, which was cited as a cause of her actions. In 1999, a wrongful-death suit was filed by Brynn's brother, Gregory Omdahl, against the drug's manufacturer, Pfizer, and her child's psychiatrist Arthur Sorosky, who provided samples of Zoloft to Mrs. Hartman.31 In July 2007 at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles, Andy Dick had an altercation with Jon Lovitz, who claimed that, a year earlier, Dick had approached him at a restaurant and said, "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you; you're the next one to die." Lovitz alleged that Dick gave cocaine to Brynn, causing her to relapse and eventually leading to her mental breakdown five months later.25
Brynn's sister, Katharine Wright, and her husband, Mike, who have no children of their own, are raising the Hartmans' children in Edina, Minnesota. Hartman's will stipulated that each child will receive their inheritance over several years after they turn 25. The total value of Hartman's estate was estimated at $1.23 million.27 Per Hartman's will, his body was cremated by Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Glendale, California, and his ashes were scattered over Santa Catalina Island's Emerald Bay.2732
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"Clean and unassuming, he had such a casual, no-nonsense way about him. It was that quality that we all find so hilarious, his delightful ability to poke fun at himself and at life with a tongue-in-cheek attitude comparable to, say, Tim Conway or Mel Brooks or Carol Burnett."
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Hartman was deeply mourned in Hollywood. Rehearsals for The Simpsons were canceled on the day of his murder as was that night's The Groundlings performance.6 The season five premiere of NewsRadio "Bill Moves On" saw Hartman's character dying of a heart attack, while the other characters reminisced about his life. Jon Lovitz joined the show in his place from the following episode onwards.18 A special episode of Saturday Night Live, commemorating Hartman's time on the show, was aired on June 13, 1998.34 Don Ohlmeyer said that Hartman "was blessed with a tremendous gift for creating characters that made people laugh. Everyone who had the pleasure of working with Phil knows that he was a man of tremendous warmth, a true professional and a loyal friend."28 Steve Guttenberg expressed his shock at Hartman's death, and Steve Martin called him "a deeply funny and very happy person".28 Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly concluded that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper," and "was a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with".6
Out of respect, the writers on The Simpsons retired Hartman's characters, rather than finding another voice actor.23 The episode "Bart the Mother" marked his final appearance on the show, and was dedicated to him.18 Before his death, Hartman had expressed an interest in making a live action film about Troy McClure, with many of The Simpsons production staff stating that they would have loved to help create it.35 He noted that he was "looking forward to his live-action movie, publicizing [McClure's] Betty Ford appearances."7 Matt Groening called Hartman "a master."6
At the time of his murder, Hartman was preparing to voice Zapp Brannigan, a character on Groening's other animated series Futurama, which was written specifically for him.36 Billy West took over the role. After Hartman died, the lead character in Futurama, Philip J. Fry, was named in Hartman's honor.36 West's original audition characterization formed the basis for Brannigan's voice and West later said that he purposefully tweaked Zapp's voice to better match Hartman's portrayal out of respect.36 Along with Lovitz, Hartman was also planning to appear in the indie film The Day of Swine and Roses, which was scheduled to begin production in August 1998.6
In 2007, Entertainment Weekly named Hartman the eighty-seventh greatest television icon of all time,37 and Maxim placed Hartman at the top of their list of the top ten Saturday Night Live performers.38
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Gong Show Movie | Man at airport with gun | Credited as "Phil Hartmann" |
| Cheech & Chong's Next Movie | Actor being filmed in the background | ||
| 1982 | Pandemonium | Reporter | Credited as "Phil Hartmann" |
| 1984 | Weekend Pass | Joe Chicago | |
| 1985 | Pee-wee's Big Adventure | Reporter Rodeo Announcer |
Also co-wrote screenplay |
| 1986 | Last Resort | Jean-Michel | |
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Fred | Credited as "Phil E. Hartmann" | |
| ¡Three Amigos! | Sam | Credited as "Philip E. Hartmann" | |
| 1987 | Blind Date | Ted Davis | |
| The Brave Little Toaster | Air Conditioner Hanging Lamp |
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| Amazon Women on the Moon | Baseball announcer | ||
| 1989 | Fletch Lives | Bly Manager | |
| How I Got Into College | Bennedict | ||
| 1990 | Quick Change | Hal Edison | |
| 1993 | Loaded Weapon 1 | Officer Davis | |
| CB4 | Virgil Robinson | ||
| Coneheads | Marlax | ||
| So I Married an Axe Murderer | John "Vicky" Johnson Alcatraz guide |
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| 1994 | Greedy | Frank | |
| The Pagemaster | Tom Morgan | ||
| 1995 | The Crazysitter | The Salesman | |
| Houseguest | Gary Young | ||
| Stuart Saves His Family | Announcer | Uncredited | |
| 1996 | Sgt. Bilko | Major Colin Thorn | |
| Jingle All the Way | Ted Maltin | ||
| 1998 | Small Soldiers | Phil Fimple | Posthumously released |
| Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night | Additional voices | Posthumously released | |
| Kiki's Delivery Service | Jiji | Dub of Japanese film; posthumously released directly to video. |
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo | Additional voices | |
| 1980 | The Six O'Clock Follies | Unnamed role | |
| 1981 | The Pee-wee Herman Show | Captain Carl | |
| The Smurfs | Additional voices | ||
| 1983 | The Pop 'N Rocker Game | Announcer | |
| 1984 | Challenge of the GoBots | Additional voices | |
| Magnum, P.I. | Newsreader | Episode "The Legacy of Garwood Huddle" | |
| 1985 | The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo | Additional voice | Episode "It's a Wonderful Scoob" |
| 1986 | Dennis the Menace | Henry Mitchell George Wilson Various characters |
Replaced by Maurice LaMarche after the first season. |
| 1986-1987 | Pee-wee's Playhouse | Captain Carl | Also writer Series regular; left after season one. |
| 1986-1994 | Saturday Night Live | Various characters | Also writer Main cast member; appeared in 155 episodes. |
| 1987 | DuckTales | Sea Captain | Episode "Scrooge's Pet" |
| 1988 | Fantastic Max | Additional voices | |
| 1990 | Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures | Additional voices | Episode "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure to Go" |
| On the Television | Various characters | Episode "M. Superior" | |
| TaleSpin | Ace London | Episode "Mach One for the Gipper" | |
| Gravedale High | Additional voices | ||
| Tiny Toon Adventures | Octavius | Episode "Whale's Tales" | |
| 1991 | Captain Planet and the Planeteers | Russian Ambassador | Episode "Mind Pollution"; uncredited |
| Empty Nest | Tim Cornell | Episode "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" | |
| Darkwing Duck | Paddywhack | Episode "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain" | |
| One Special Victory | Mike Rutten | TV film | |
| 1991-1998 | The Simpsons | Troy McClure Lionel Hutz Various characters |
Recurring guest star; appeared in 53 episodes. "Bart the Mother" aired posthumously |
| 1992 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Phil Diamond | Episode "Lewis and Son" |
| 1993 | Daybreak | Man in abstinence commercial | TV film; uncredited |
| Animaniacs | Dan Anchorman | Episode "Broadcast Nusiance" | |
| The Twelve Days of Christmas | Additional voice | TV film | |
| 1994 | The Critic | Adolph Hitmaker Bernie Wasserman Professor Blowhard |
Episode "Eyes on the Prize" |
| 1995 | The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show | Various characters | |
| The John Larroquette Show | Otto Friedling | Episode "A Moveable Feast" | |
| 1995-1998 | NewsRadio | Bill McNeal | Main cast member; appeared in 75 episodes. Hartman died between the fourth and fifth seasons. |
| 1996 | The Dana Carvey Show | Larry King | Episode "The Mountain Dew Dana Carvey Show" |
| Caroline in the City | Host | Episode "Caroline and the Letter"; uncredited | |
| The Ren & Stimpy Show | Additional voices | Episodes "Stimpy's Pet/Ren's Brain" and "Space Dogged/Feud for Sale" | |
| Seinfeld | Man on phone | Episode "The Package"; uncredited | |
| 1996-1998 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Phillip Randy |
Episodes "Lonely Dick" and "Eat, Drink, Dick, Mary" |
| 1997 | The Second Civil War | President of the United States | TV film |
| 1999 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Game show host | Episode "The Empress's Nightingale" Final recorded performance; posthumously aired. |
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