Hollywood & Crime: The Tragic Murder of Phil Hartman
The legendary SNL and The Simpsons funnyman died at the hands of his own wife.
(Content warning: This piece talks about issues of violence, drug addiction, and suicide.)
As a kid, I always wondered why we didn’t get more episodes of The Simpsons with Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Their appearances were always guaranteed to make me laugh and they popped up in some of my all-time favourite episodes of the show, like “A Streetcar Named Marge” and “A Fish Called Selma” (“I’m going to Sea World!”) I knew they were voiced by the same actor and just assumed he had retired or didn’t want to do the show anymore. It wasn’t until I was in my teens and saw the name Phil Hartman mentioned on a website of tragic deaths that I learned the truth. Three decades later and it’s still one of the most devastating deaths in Hollywood history.
Everyone loved Phil Hartman. Born in Ontario, Canada, he went to art school in California and carved out a living as a graphic designer for album art and band logos, doing roadie work on the side and hanging out with everyone, from Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin. He was a funny guy but also an easy-going kind who fit into every social clique: the stoners, the surfers, the jocks, the rockers, the nerds, and so on. Eager to find something new, he started training at the legendary improv comedy troupe The Groundlings. There, he met Paul Reubens and helped him to develop the legendary Pee-Wee Herman, writing for the show and movie and starring as Captain Carl. Hartman and Reubens had a falling out over creative differences, but by that point in time, Hartman had landed his big solo break: Saturday Night Live.
Over the course of eight seasons, Hartman became one of SNL's most legendary cast members. He was nicknamed Glue thanks to his reliability and ease in working with others. He held everything together, helping his colleagues to crack tough sketches or overcome stage fright. Lorne Michaels has talked about how underappreciated Hartman was in his time because he was so low-key and consistent, but he was also one of the people who helped to revive SNL after its nadir in the early ‘80s. His impression of Bill Clinton put him front and centre during the election years, but he could impersonate seemingly anyone. On The Simpsons and later NewsRadio, he had an uncanny ability to make every line sing. Post-SNL careers are inconsistent, but everyone seemed in agreement that Hartman was destined for big things.
His private life was a different matter. He was twice divorced by the time he got to SNL. His second wife, Lisa Strain, said he was very closed off when he wasn’t working and “would disappear emotionally.” Whenever he got into someone, he’d go hot and cold in frustrating ways. He could be loving but also extremely distant without warning. In 1986, he went on a blind date and met Brynn Omdahl.
