Johnny Hardwick

John Michael Hardwick † (December 31, 1958 – August 8, 2023 [aged 64])https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362548/ was an American actor. He was best known as the voice of Dale Gribble in the animated American television series King of the Hill. 
== Personal life ==
John was born in Austin, Texas on December 31, 1958. He performed stand-up comedy after graduating from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He was approached by Greg Daniels for a writing job for King of the Hill at one of his shows. 
== Career ==
In 1990, Johnny 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.
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. 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.
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. He performed the role for the show's entire 13-year run and appeared in 257 of 258 episodes. 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.
== History ==
On September 10, 2012https://www.youtube.com/@johnnyhardwick9962/about, He created a YouTube channel, though it had no uploads until 2015. In December 2018, he started regularly uploading new content. As of May 2023, the channel had 17,500 subscribers and over 608,000 views, primarily streaming song parodies and monologues in Dale's voice.
== Death ==
Johnny Hardwick was found dead at home in Austin on August 8, 2023, at the age of 64.https://www.tmz.com/2023/08/10/king-of-the-hill-dale-johnny-hardwick-voice-actor-dead-dies/ In November, it was reported that his body was found badly decomposed and a cause of death could not be immediately established.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/johnny-hardwick-cause-manner-of-death-undetermined-1235662677/ 
==References==
Category:Comedy YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2012
Category:Deceased YouTubers