Photo: Johnny Hardwick/Facebook
Johnny Hardwick, who voiced the character of Dale Gribble on the iconic FOX animated series King of the Hill, has died at the age of 64, TMZ reports.
Local authorities discovered Hardwick's body while performing a welfare check at his Texas home on Tuesday (August 8) and the voice actor was pronounced dead at the scene, law enforcement sources told the website on Thursday (August 10). No foul play is suspected and Hardwick's cause of death has yet to be determined publicly.
King of the Hill creator Mike Judge, who also provided the voice of main character Hank Hill, paid tribute to Hardwick in a post shared on Instagram Thursday.
"Sorry for everyone’s loss! We are gunna miss you Johnny! Sha sha and just like sand thru a pocket he’s the stars now," Judge wrote.
Hardwick began a career in stand-up comedy in his home state of Texas in 1990, which culminated with an appearance on The Jon Stewart Show.
The voice actor began his signature role of Dale Gribble, the conspiracy theory-obsessed friend and neighbor of Hill, in 1997 and continued the role through conclusion of the show's original run in 2010. Hardwick was scheduled to return as Gribble for the streaming revival of King of the Hill, according to Hulu, which will stream the new series and already airs reruns on its subscription service.