King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick’s cause of death cannot be determined due to the extent of decomposition – as it appears the voice actor weighed just 45kg when he died aged 59
- The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble in the iconic animated series from 1997-2010
- He was found dead in his Texas home in August after police were called to a welfare check and found his body
The cause of death of late King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick cannot be determined as his body is too decomposed.
The talented voice actor – who played Hank Hill’s conspiracy theorist neighbor Dale Gribble on the iconic animated series in 258 episodes from 1997-2010 – was found dead in his Texas home in August at the age of 59 after police were called to a welfare check and his body found it.
This is evident from an autopsy report obtained by TMZ, Johnny was found dead in his bathtub with the water still running when he was found. The drain was open and it was not submerged.
The 6-foot-2 star also weighed just 100 pounds at the time of his death.
There were no signs of trauma, but drugs were found at the scene and a toxicology test showed a “presumptive positive test for cannabinoids.”
RIP: Late King of the Hill star Johnny Hardwick’s cause of death cannot be determined because his body is too decomposed – he died in August at the age of 59
Iconic: The talented voice actor played conspiracy theorist and Hank Hill’s neighbor Dale Gribble (left) on the iconic animated series in 258 episodes from 1997-2010
Hardwick also served as a writer, story editor and producer for the show, scoring four Prime Time Emmy nominations.
In 1999, he won an Emmy Award for his work as a producer on King of the Hill.
Hardwick was born in Austin, Texas and attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he graduated with a BS degree in journalism.
He then worked as a bartender at blues bars in Dallas and Austin for ten years before launching his stand-up comedy career in 1990.
He became the first stand-up comedian to appear on The Jon Stewart Show.
In 1995, an appearance at the Montreal Comedy Festival led to a chance meeting with NBC president Brandon Tartikoff, who offered him a sitcom. However, NBC was not interested in Hardwick’s pitch for a Green Acres and Get A Life-inspired show.
Hardwick signed with the Strauss-McGarr agency and began a successful stand-up career performing throughout the US.
After a performance at the Laugh Factory in LA, in which he performed a skit about his father, he was approached by television writer and producer Greg Daniels and Mike Judge of Beavis and Butt-Head who were creating King of the Hill.
Intrigued by Hardwick’s Texas humor, they offered him a writing job on the series, which saw Hardwick move to Silver Lake from Austin.
Hardwick was cast in the role of Gribble after Daniel Stern turned down the opportunity.
In recent years, the star created a YouTube channel where he performed parodies and monologues of songs in the style of Gribble, while wearing his famous sunglasses and orange cap.
Cast: Hardwick (back row right) is seen with the show’s cast in 2005 as they marked the show’s 200th episode
YouTube: In recent years, the star created a YouTube channel where he performed parodies and monologues of songs in the style of Gribble, while wearing his famous sunglasses and orange cap