King of the Hill has lost its Dale Gribble. The actor who voiced Dale, Johnny Hardwick, has died at the age of 64, and needless to say, there’s been an outpouring of love for him and the energy he brought to the classic sitcom. Hardwick is only of the talents who were involved with King of the Hill, however. Another notable contributor in the voice acting department was Toby Huss.
Huss, 56, voiced the character of Kahn for the show’s entire run. Kahn, whose full name is Kohng Koy “Kahn” Souphanousinphone, was the neighbor of the titular Hill family, and he’s typified by his snobbish and arrogant attitude. The character was an indelible part of King of the Hill, but what some viewers don’t know is that Huss voiced another character on the show in addition to Kahn.
Huss was the voice of Cotton Hill, aka Hank Hill’s dad. Cotton first appeared in the pilot episode, and would be brought back sporadically over the years, culminating in his death in the season 12 episode “Death Picks Cotton.” Huss talked about the differences between playing Kahn and Cotton, and why both of them were equally enjoyable, during a 2015 interview with the AV Club:
“Cotton is really fun because he’s a righteous guy. He was a very limited man, but he was a really heartfelt dude, too. And we liked him. And then Kahn was fun because he was such an a**hole. He could be. He had some sweetness to him too, but he was a real problematical asshole most of the time. [Laughs.] It’s fun to do that guy.”
Who voices Kahn on King of the Hill?
Huss’ tenure as Khan ended when King of the Hill did, in 2010, but he has continued to land supporting roles in acclaimed films and TV shows. He played Felix “Stumpy” Dreifuss on the HBO drama Carnivàle (2003–2005), and John Bosworth on the AMC period thriller Halt and Catch Fire (2014-17). The latter earned him some of the best reviews of his career.
Huss’ plate is just as full in the 2020s. He reunited with King of the Hill creator Mike Judge for the animated comedy Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe (2022), and he had live-action roles in the acclaimed 2022 biopics Blonde and Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story. He played makeup artist Allan “Whitey” Snyder in the former, and the titular singer’s father, Nick, in the latter.
The actor currently plays a supporting role in the Paramount Plus thriller Fatal Attraction. The series is based on the 1987 film of the same name, and sees Huss showcase his talents opposite Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson.
Sadly, Huss will not be involved in the upcoming Hulu revival of King of the Hill. TV Line confirmed that he isn’t on the cast list, which means the character of Kahn will either be absent or recast with someone else. This makes sense, given that Kahn is an Asian character, and Huss was born and raised in Iowa. Fortunately, the multi-talented actor is not hurting for work.