A sad day for all Texans and fans of the works of Mike Judge as the series King of the Hill loses one of its most iconic talents. Voice actor Johnny Hardwick, known for portraying the redneck exterminator Dale Gribble, has sadly passed away.
Hardwick was set to reprise his role as Dale for the upcoming King of the Hill reboot. So far, no cause of death has been given. The only details that were given is that he passed away at his home in Austin, Texas.
The character of Dale Gribble is a close friend of the series’ protagonist Hank Hill. He primarily worked as an exterminator, among other odd jobs. He is an avid conspiracy theorist who often came to wild conclusions. He also loves his wife Nancy (despite her frequent affairs) and his non-biological son Joseph.
Dale is often considered to be one of the show’s most popular characters, causing much of the hoopla and chaos that gets the group into trouble. He is also one of Hank’s closest and most loyal friends and can usually be trusted.
🇺🇸Here’s Mike Judge & Johnny Hardwick talking about Dale Gribble🇺🇸
— RockinPins (@RockinPins) August 10, 2023
.#mikejudge #dalegribble #johnnyhardwick #kingofthehill pic.twitter.com/K4GyjVrfYw
Johhny Hardwick was originally brought on as a writer for King of the Hill but eventually became the voice of Dale when the show was being developed. He would voice the character for its entire original run from 1997 – 2010, appearing in 257 of the 258 episodes.
Outside of the show, Hardwick would provide the voice of Dale in other projects such as the King of the Hill video game for PC in 2000, as well as the 2022 mobile game Warped Kart Racers which is a crossover racing game between Fox’s various adult comedy series such as Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill and Solar Opposites.
With Hardwick gone, it is currently unknown if he had already recorded lines for the upcoming reboot or if a new voice actor will be able to step in.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. He will be missed.
Source: IGN
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