Philip Edward Hartman (n̩ Hartmann; September 24, 1948 РMay 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States wh he was t 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, he joined the comedy group the Groundlings, where he helped Paul Reubs develop his character, Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the film Pee-wee's Big Advture and made recurring appearances as Captain Carl on Reubs' 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, Jingle All the Way, and Small Soldiers.
After two divorces, Hartman married Brynn Omdahl in 1987, with whom he had two childr. Their marriage was troubled due to Brynn's drug and alcohol abuse. In 1998, while Phil was sleeping in his bed, Brynn shot and killed him, and later committed suicide. In the weeks following his murder, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of tertainmt 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".
Dragon Age: Absolution
He was the fourth of eight childr of Doris Marguerite (n̩e Wardell; July 17, 1919 РApril 15, 2001) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann (November 8, 1914 РApril 30, 1998),
As a child, Hartman found affection hard to earn: "I suppose I didn't get what I wanted out of my family life, so I started seeking love and atttion elsewhere."
They first lived in Lewiston, Maine, th Merid, Connecticut, and th on the West Coast, where he attded Westchester High School and frequtly acted as the class clown.
Venom (sony's Marvel Universe)
After graduating, he studied art at Santa Monica City College, dropping out in 1969 to become a roadie with a rock band.
He returned to school in 1972 to study graphic arts at California State University, Northridge. He developed and operated his own graphic art business, creating more than 40 album covers for bands including Poco and America, as well as advertising and the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash.
In 1975, seeking a more social outlet for his talts, he began attding eving comedy classes by the California-based improvisational comedy group The Groundlings.
Zero Time Dilemma
After several years of training, paying his way by redesigning the group's logo and merchandise, Hartman formally joined The Groundlings and by 1979 was one of the show's stars.
There Hartman befrided Paul Reubs, with whom he oft collaborated on comedic material. Together they created the character Pee-wee Herman and developed The Pee-wee Herman Show, a live stage show that subsequtly aired on HBO in 1981.
He had considered quitting acting at the age of 36 due to the challges of finding work; but the success of Pee-wee's Big Advture changed his mind.
Super Mario Land
Hartman took more small roles in 1986 films such as Jumpin' Jack Flash and Three Amigos. He also worked as a voice actor in animated television programs, including The Smurfs, Challge of the GoBots, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and in Dnis the Mace as characters Hry Mitchell and George Wilson.
As an actor, I felt I couldn't compete. I wasn't as cute as the leading man; I wasn't as brilliant as Robin Williams. The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, [and] there was really no call for that. Except on Saturday Night Live.
Hartman successfully auditioned to join NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL) in its 12th season, which began on October 11, 1986.
Super Mario 64
He told the Los Angeles Times, "I wanted to do [SNL] because I wanted to get the exposure that would give me box-office credibility so I can write movies for myself."
In his eight seasons with the show Hartman became known for his impressions, and performed as over 70 differt characters. Hartman's original SNL characters include Euge, the Anal Rettive Chef and Unfroz Caveman Lawyer.
His impressions include Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Ed McMahon, Barbara Bush, Charlton Heston, Kelsey Grammer, Michael Caine, Oliver Stone, Phil Donahue, Telly Savalas, Barry Humphries, Kirk Douglas and Bill Clinton—the latter considered his best-known impression.
Ender's Game (film)
Clinton showed good humor and st Hartman a signed photo with the text: "You're not the presidt, but you play one on TV. And you're OK, mostly."
Hartman copied the presidt's "post-nasal drip" and the "slight scratchiness" in his voice, as well as his op, "less intimidating" hand gestures. Hartman opted against wearing a larger prosthetic nose wh portraying Clinton, as he thought it would be distracting. He instead wore a wig, dyed his eyebrows brighter, and used makeup to highlight his nose.
In one of Hartman's sketches as Clinton, the presidt visits a McDonald's restaurant and explains his economic policies in the metaphor of eating other customers' food. The writers told him that he was not eating ough during rehearsals for the sketch – by the d of the live performance, Hartman had eat so much he could barely speak.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
However, according to You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman by Mike Thomas, author and staff writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, the nickname was created by SNL cast member and Hartman's frequt on-scre collaborator Jan Hooks.
SNL creator Lorne Michaels explained the name: "He kind of held the show together. He gave to everybody and demanded very little. He was very low-maintance."
Michaels also added that Hartman was "the least appreciated" cast member by commtators outside the show, and praised his ability "to do five or six parts in a show where you're playing support or you're doing remarkable character work".
List Of Steven Universe Characters
Hartman won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for SNL in 1989, sharing the award with the show's other writers. He was nominated in the same category in 1987, and individually in 1994 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.
By 1993, almost every cast member who was there during Hartman's first year on SNL had left the show, including Jon Lovitz, Jan Hooks and Dana Carvey. Hartman said he felt "like an athlete who's watched all his World Series teammates get traded off into other directions ... It was hard to watch them leave because I sort of felt we were all part of the team that saved the show."
Hartman said he thought it was time to leave because the show was "getting less sophisticated" and his style of humor did not fit with the less intellectual comedy of newer cast members like Adam Sandler.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever
Hartman had originally planned to leave the show in 1991, but Michaels convinced him to stay to raise his profile; his portrayal of Clinton contributed to this goal.
He planned to "reinvt the variety form" with "a hybrid, very fast-paced, high ergy [show] with sketches, impersonations, pet acts, and performers showcasing their talts". Hartman was to be the show's executive producer and head writer.
Before production began, however, the network decided that variety shows were too unpopular and canceled the series. In a 1996 interview, Hartman noted he was glad, as he "would've be sweatin' blood each week trying to make it work".
Monsters At Work
Hartman became one of the stars of the NBC sitcom NewsRadio in 1995, portraying radio news anchor Bill McNeal. He signed up after being attracted by the show's writing and use of an semble cast,
Although the show was critically acclaimed, it was never a ratings hit and cancellation was a regular threat. After the completion of the fourth season, Hartman commted, "We seem to have limited appeal. We're on the edge here, not sure we're going to be picked up or not", but added he was "99 perct sure" the series would be rewed for a fifth season.
Hartman had publicly lambasted NBC's decision to repeatedly move NewsRadio into differt timeslots, but later regretted his commts, saying, "this is a sitcom, for crying out loud, not brain surgery".
Lum (urusei Yatsura)
K Tucker praised Hartman's performance as McNeal: "A lesser performer ... would have played him as a variation on The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter, because that's what Bill was, on paper. But Hartman gave infinite variety to Bill's self-cteredness, turning him devious, cowardly, squeamish, and foolishly bold from week to week."
Hartman was posthumously nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1998 for his work on NewsRadio, but lost to David Hyde Pierce.
He made his first appearance in the second season episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Although he was originally brought in for a one-time appearance, Hartman joyed working on The Simpsons and the staff wrote additional parts for him. He voiced the recurring characters
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