History Creator / PhilHartman

** He would have been the front man for his own video game franchise, ''VideoGame/{{Blasto}}'', but it never happened due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasto_(video_game) the one game]] releasing a months before his death.

* Corpsing: AVERTED, big time! During his tenure on SNL, he was legendary for his ability to keep it together and not crack up and break character, even under the more dire of circumstances. This ability to master keeping a straight face made the rare occasions when he did break (you could count them on one hand) all the more amusing and charming. Essentially, he was the anti Jimmy Fallon.

* Corpsing: AVERTED, big time! During his tenure on SNL, he was legendary for his ability to keep it together and not crack up and break character, even under the more dire of circumstances. This ability to master keeping a straight face made the rare occasions when he did break (you could count them on one hand) all the more amusing and charming. Essentially, he was the anti Jimmy Fallon.

The outpouring of sympathy was immense. ''Simpsons'' creator Creator/MattGroening had Hartman's characters Hutz and [=McClure=] retired from the show (though those two characters did appear in some of the comic book stories), and named ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' protagonist Phillip J. Fry in honor of Hartman, while Creator/BillyWest took over as the voice of Zapp Brannigan ([[TheOtherMarty who was supposed to be voiced by Hartman]]). ''Series/NewsRadio'' pressed on one more season, this time with his friend Creator/JonLovitz, before being cancelled, because as his castmates put it, "Phil would've wanted us to."

** He would have been the front man for his own video game franchise, ''VideoGame/{{Blasto}}'', but it never happened due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasto_(video_game) the one game]] releasing two months before his death.

* HeAlsoDid: Hartman was also an artist who worked with rock groups. He designed the logo for Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung, as well as album covers for Music/{{America}}, Poco, and Creator/TheFiresignTheatre.

!![[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons You might remember him from such films as...]]:

!![[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons You may remember him from such films as...]]:

* LargeHam: One of the few men who could rival William Shatner for theatricality.

* ThePollyana: No matter how bad things get, his characters almost never lost their unflappable cool or cheerful disposition.

* FamousLastWords: On a technicality, at least. His final movie role before his tragic murder was providing the English voice of [[CatsAreSnarkers Jiji]] for the English dub of Studio Ghibli's ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService''. In the middle of the film, Kiki starts losing contact to hearing Jiji speak to her. The last words that Jiji says before Kiki discovers that she can no longer understand him and Hartman's last words on film are "Kiki, can you hear me?!"

Philip Edward Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born comedian and actor famous for starring on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1986 to 1994,[[note]]Considered by many to be the show's second GoldenAge after fumbling around blindly in utter mediocrity from 1980 with Jean Doumanian's cast to nearly getting canceled in 1985 with Creator/LorneMichaels' return featuring a disjointed cast of semi-famous people and bizarre writing from writers who didn't know how to work with the cast on making them funny as a unit.[[/note]] for his guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as incompetent attorney Lionel Hutz (who has a law office at the local mall called "I Can't Believe It's a Law Firm") and washed-up B-movie actor Troy [=McClure=], and for starring as Bill [=McNeal=] on the sitcom ''Series/NewsRadio''. He was the most prolific guest star on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ever.

** [[https://sb2tlopg.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/interview-with-dean-goss/ He nearly became the announcer/sidekick]] for the second season of ''[[Series/LetsMakeADeal The All-New Let's Make A Deal]]'', but [[Series/HighRollers Dean Goss]] got the gig instead, as Goss was being considered by Monty Hall to be his replacement, only for syndicator Telepictures to cancel it instead, fearing not being able to sell the show without Hall.

!!You may remember him from such films as...:

Hartman had a strained marital life. Having married twice and divorced both times just a few years later, he eventually wed Brynn Omdahl in 1987. However, his success became intimidating to Brynn, who sought increasing solace in drugs and entered rehab numerous times as Hartman continuously tried to help her break into acting. On May 27, 1998, their marriage reached a breaking point: Hartman and Brynn entered a heated argument over her drug addiction, with Hartman threatening to leave her (something neither of them had previously discussed or even considered) if she couldn't remain sober before eventually retiring to bed. That night, Brynn took a combination of cocaine and alcohol, entered her husband's bedroom, and shot him to death just before 3 A.M. on the morning of May 28. Three hours later, she killed herself.

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Hartman's two long-running ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' characters Troy [=McClure=] and Lionel Hutz lived on despite his death, albeit [[DemotedToExtra relegated to silent cameos]]. His [[''Series/NewsRadio'']] character Bill [=McNeal=] [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim did die of an off-screen heart attack, however.]]

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Hartman's two long-running ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' characters Troy [=McClure=] and Lionel Hutz lived on despite his death, albeit [[DemotedToExtra relegated to silent cameos]]. [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim His ''Series/NewsRadio'' character Bill [=McNeal=] did die of an off-screen heart attack, however.]]

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Hartman's two long-running ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' characters Troy [=McClure=] and Lionel Hutz lived on despite his death, albeit [[DemotedToExtra relegated to silent cameos]]. His ''Series/NewsRadio'' character Bill [=McNeal=] did die of an off-screen heart attack, however.

Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born comedian and actor famous for starring on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1986 to 1994,[[note]]Considered by many to be the show's second GoldenAge after fumbling around blindly in utter mediocrity from 1980 with Jean Doumanian's cast to nearly getting canceled in 1985 with Creator/LorneMichaels' return featuring a disjointed cast of semi-famous people and bizarre writing from writers who didn't know how to work with the cast on making them funny as a unit.[[/note]] for his guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as incompetent attorney Lionel Hutz (who has a law office at the local mall called "I Can't Believe It's a Law Firm") and washed-up B-movie actor Troy [=McClure=], and for starring as Bill [=McNeal=] on the sitcom ''Series/NewsRadio''. He was the most prolific guest star on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ever.

Hartman had a strained marital life. Having married twice and divorced both times just a few years later, he eventually wed Brynn Omdahl in 1987. However, his success became intimidating to Brynn, who sought increasing solace in drugs and entered rehab numerous times as Hartman continuously tried to help her break into acting. On May 27, 1998, their marriage reached a breaking point: Hartman and Brynn entered a heated argument over her drug addiction, with Hartman threatening to leave her [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness (something neither of them had previously discussed or even considered)]] if she couldn't remain sober before eventually retiring to bed. That night, Brynn took a combination of cocaine and alcohol, entered her husband's bedroom, and shot him to death just before 3 A.M. on the morning of May 28. Three hours later, she killed herself.

Hartman had a strained marital life. Having married twice and divorced both times just a few years later, he eventually wed Brynn Omdahl in 1987. However, his success became intimidating to Brynn, who sought increasing solace in drugs and entered rehab numerous times as Hartman continuously tried to help her break into acting. On May 27, 1998, their marriage reached a breaking point: Hartman and Brynn entered a heated argument over her drug addiction, with Hartman threatening to leave her [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness (something neither of them had previously discussed or even considered)]] if she couldn't remain sober before eventually retiring to bed. That night, Brynn took a combination of cocaine and alcohol, [[MurderSuicide entered her husband's bedroom, and shot him to death just before 3 A.M. on the morning of May 28. Three hours later, she killed herself]].

** He would have been the front man for his own video game franchise, ''Blasto'', but it never happened due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasto_(video_game) the one game]] releasing two months before his death.

* HeAlsoDid: Hartman was also an artist who worked with rock groups. He designed the logo for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, as well as album covers for Music/{{America}}, Poco, and Creator/TheFiresignTheatre.

** He would have been the front man for his own video game franchise but it never happened due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasto_(video_game) the one game]] releasing two months before his death.

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Hartman's two long-running ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' characters Troy [=McClure=] and Lionel Hutz were never seen again after his death, but this absence was not explained so it's assumed they lived on off-screen. (His ''Series/NewsRadio'' character Bill [=McNeal=] did die of on off-screen heart attack however.)

Hartman has been consistently praised as one of SNL's best performers. His memorable celebrity impressions included Music/FrankSinatra, Creator/CharltonHeston, UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, Ed [=McMahon=], Creator/KirkDouglas, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Barbara Bush, and UsefulNotes/BillClinton (years before Darrell Hammond would also be famous for the impression).[[note]]In fact, a lot of Darrell Hammond's memorable impressions were made famous by Phil Hartman, like UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, Dick Cheney, and Music/JohnnyCash.[[/note]] His original characters included Eugene the Anal-Retentive Chef (who also appeared as an anal-retentive carpenter and an anal-retentive sportsman) and The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. His ability to adapt to any performance and keep the cast working together earned him the nickname "Glue" from co-star Creator/AdamSandler.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Many of his characters were sleazy or unpleasant, but Hartman himself was well-liked by those he worked with.