Man, this one hurts.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of King of the Hill. As a person who loves dry, southern humor, this show was hilarious in every aspect to me.
And the one character that had the driest and most hilarious humor of them all, was the character Dale Gribble, as he always had some hilarious conspiracy theorist, boomer one liners.
With that being said, it hurts me to say that Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble, has passed away at the age of 64.
According to TMZ, law enforcement sources say that they were called to Hardwick’s home in Texas on Tuesday for a welfare check, where they discovered him dead at the scene. No foul play is suspected.
Hardwick got his start in stand-up comedy back in 1990 in Texas, ultimately landing him his first stand-up appearance on The Jon Stewart Show.
Johnny was the voice of Dale on 258 of the 259 episodes of King of the Hill, portraying the character from the very first episode that aired in January 1997, and continued to be the voice until the final episode in 2010.
He was also set to be the voice once again for the upcoming revival of the show, but its unclear if he had started recording yet or not.
Johnny was also known for covering songs on his YouTube channel, rocking the iconic Dale orange hat and sunglasses.
RIP to a legend.
