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Phil Hartman

Phil Hartman

Birthday: 1948-09-24 | Place of Birth: Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Philip Edward Hartman (né Hartmann; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States when he was ten years old. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands including Poco and America. In 1975, Hartman joined the comedy group the Groundlings, where he helped Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances as Captain Carl on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse. In 1986, Hartman joined the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a cast member, and stayed for eight seasons until 1994. Nicknamed "Glue" for his ability to hold the show together and help other cast members, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his SNL work in 1989. He also starred as Bill McNeal in the sitcom NewsRadio, voiced Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on The Simpsons, and appeared in supporting roles in the films Houseguest, Sgt. Bilko, Jingle All the Way, and Small Soldiers. After two divorces, Hartman married Brynn Omdahl in 1987, with whom he had two children. However, their marriage was troubled due to his busy work schedule and her drug and alcohol abuse. In 1998, while Hartman was sleeping in his bed, Omdahl shot and killed him, and later killed herself. In the weeks following his murder, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper... a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with". He was posthumously inducted into the Canada and Hollywood Walks of Fame in 2012 and 2014.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2019
The Last Days of Phil Hartman

as    Self (archive footage)

2006
2003
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley

as    Various (archive footage) (uncredited)

2001
The Continental: Anticipation

as    The Continental Announcer (voice)

1998
Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night

as    Chauncey (voice)

1998
Small Soldiers

as    Phil Fimple

1998
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman

as    Self / Various Characters

1997
The Second Civil War

as    The President

1997
The Second Civil War

as    The President

1996
Sgt. Bilko

as    MAJ Colin Thorn

1996
Jingle All the Way

as    Ted Maltin

1995
Houseguest

as    Gary Young

1994
Greedy

as    Frank

1994
The Crazysitter

as    The Salesman

1993
The Twelve Days of Christmas

as    Hollyberry

1993
Coneheads

as    Marlax

1993
So I Married an Axe Murderer

as    Ranger John "Vicky" Johnson

1993
CB4

as    Virgil Robinson

1991
One Special Victory

as    Mike Rutten

1990
Tom & Jerry Kids Show

as    Calaboose Cal (voice)

1990
Quick Change

as    Hal Edison