In May 2023, it was announced that production had formally begun on a revival series of the animated sitcom King of The Hill, distributed by Hulu. While no release date has been announced, actor Stephen Root, who voices Bill Dauterive, revealed in an interview with Screen Rant that table reads were currently in progress, and that the reboot will be set after a significant time jump into the future.
On August 10th, 2023, news broke that Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble as well as a writer and showrunner for the sitcom, had died suddenly at the age of 64. How far into production the series currently is is unknown, and the showrunners will use their discretion regarding what to do with Hardwick’s character.
Sadly, many other voice actors from the original series have passed away, long before the revival was in production. Their characters will likely either be written out or have a reduced role in the upcoming series, and their contributions and talents will be sorely missed by viewers.
Victor Aaron
Victor Aaron was the original voice actor for John Redcorn, a Native American healer and paramour of Nancy Gribble, as well as the secret biological father of Joseph Gribble. Aaron had only completed voice work on two episodes before his death on September 4th, 1996 — several months before the first episode aired in January 1997.
Victor Aaron died in a car accident at the age of 39. His final episode, “Order of The Straight Arrow,” was dedicated to his memory. After his death, fellow Native American actor Jonathan Joss took over as the voice of John Redcorn.
David Carradine
David Carradine is widely known for his roles in various martial arts features, as well as playing the titular role in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies and Martin Scorsese films. Carradine also provided a guest role on King of The Hill as Junichiro, Hank Hill’s half-brother that was conceived during his father Cotton’s deployment in Japan during the Second World War.
Junichiro was modeled as a sort of Japanese answer to Hank, with the older brother sharing a distinct likeness with his American brother. As well as visual similarities, the two have highly similar personalities and mannerisms, such as exclaiming “bwahhh!” when startled. Junichiro works in robotics and robotic accessories, similar to Hank’s passion for propane and propane accessories.
David Carradine voiced Junchiro in two episodes during season six, but the character also reappeared in a non-speaking role without Carradine’s voice acting in season 11. Carradine died in 2009 at the age of 72, from an asphyxiation accident while staying in Bangkok, Thailand.
Johnny Hardwick
Johnny Hardwick was working as a stand-up comedian at the Laugh Factory when he was scouted for King of The Hill by the show’s creator, Mike Judge. Originally, Dale Gribble was meant to be voiced by actor Howard Stern, but Stern later dropped out of the role. Dale Gribble was a core part of Hank Hill’s neighborhood friend group, working as a bug exterminator and later a bounty hunter, often getting into schemes thanks to his fanatic interest in conspiracy theories. Much of Dale’s character, particularly his voice and mannerisms, were developed when Hardwick took over the role. Hardwick also served as a writer, producer, and story editor of the show.
Johnny Hardwick died suddenly from undisclosed causes on August 8th, 2023, at the age of 64. Previously, it had been announced that Hardwick would reprise his role in the series revival, and the stage of production that has been completed by the time of his death is currently unclear. What will happen regarding the role of Dale Gribble and Hardwick’s voice work will likely be decided and confirmed in the future.
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy provided the voice of Luanne Platter throughout the show’s 13-season run. Luanne was the niece of Peggy Hill, brought into the Hill family home after her mother stabbed her stepfather with a fork during a drunken brawl. From 1997-2000, Murphy also provided the voice of Joseph Gribble, the son of Nancy and Dale Gribble — although his biological father was secretly John Redcorn.
A movie star in her own right outside of her TV roles, Brittany Murphy died on December 20th, 2009, at just 32 years old. The manner of her death has been widely disputed, but her official cause of death cites “acute pneumonia and severe anemia.” Her husband, Simon Monjack, died of similar causes six months later.
The final episode of King of The Hill’s 13th and final series officially ended in September 2009, meaning that Murphy seemingly finished her voice work on the final season prior to her death. After the series’ cancellation, four extra episodes were commissioned to wrap up the series, airing in May 2010. Luanne does not appear in these final four episodes, and the timeline of the production of these additional episodes is not entirely clear.
Tom Petty
Iconic musician Tom Petty, although not an actor by trade, provided the voice of Lucky Kleinschmidt on King of The Hill in 29 episodes, spanning from 2004 to 2009. A recurring role on the series, Lucky was the boyfriend and later husband of Luanne Platter, as well as the father of their daughter Gracie. Real name Elroy, “Lucky” got his nickname after receiving a $50,000 settlement after slipping and falling on a puddle of urine at Costco. Living off of his ambulance-chasing money and struggling to hold down a job, the Hill family were initially suspicious of Lucky and his relationship with and influence on Luanne, although their attitudes towards him later changed.
Tom Petty died on October 2nd 2017, at the age of 66. The cause of his death was officially cited as an accidental drug overdose, partly from medications used to treat various medical conditions. Given that Brittany Murphy has also sadly passed away, it is likely that Lucky and Luanne’s family will be written out of the revival series out of respect to their voice actors.
