Phil Hartman

Philip Edward “Phil” Hartman (born Philip Edward Hartmann; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was ten. After graduating from California State University, Northridge, with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands like Poco and America. Feeling the need for a more creative outlet, Hartman joined the comedy group The Groundlings in 1975 and there helped comedian Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the screenplay for the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Hartman became famous in the late 1980s when he joined the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He won fame for his impressions, particularly of President Bill Clinton, and stayed on the show for eight seasons. Called “the Glue” for his ability to hold the show together and help other cast members, Hartman won a Primetime Emmy Award for his SNL work in 1989. In 1995, after scrapping plans for his own variety show, he starred as Bill McNeal in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. He also had frequent roles on The Simpsons as Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, and others, and appeared in the films Houseguest, Sgt. Bilko, Jingle All the Way, and Small Soldiers.

Hartman had been divorced twice before he married Brynn Omdahl in 1987; the couple had two children together. However, their marriage was fractured, due in part to Brynn's drug use. On May 28, 1998, Brynn shot and killed her husband while he slept in their Encino, Los Angeles, home, then committed suicide several hours later. In the weeks following his death, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly opined 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".

Personal life

Hartman married Gretchen Lewis in 1970 and they divorced sometime before 1982. He married real estate agent Lisa Strain in 1982 and their marriage lasted three years. Strain told People that Hartman was reclusive off screen and "would disappear emotionally ... he'd be in his own world. That passivity made you crazy. Hartman married former model and aspiring actress Brynn Omdahl (born Vicki Jo Omdahl) in November 1987, having met her on a blind date the previous year. Together they had two children, Sean and Birgen Hartman. The marriage had difficulties—Brynn reportedly felt intimidated by her husband's success and was frustrated that she could not find any on her own, although neither party wanted a divorce. Hartman considered retiring to save the marriage. He tried to get Brynn acting roles but she became progressively more reliant on narcotics and alcohol, entering rehab several times. Because of his close friendship with SNL associate Jan Hooks, Brynn joked on occasion that Hooks and Hartman were married "on some other level".

Early life

Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann (later dropping the final "n") in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, on September 24, 1948. He was the fourth of eight children of Doris and Rupert Hartmann. His parents were Roman Catholic, and his father was a salesman specializing in building materials. As the middle child, Hartman found affection hard to earn. "I suppose I didn't get what I wanted out of my family life," he said, "so I started seeking love and attention elsewhere. His family moved to the United States when Hartman was ten, gaining American citizenship in 1990. The family first lived in Connecticut, and moved to the West Coast a few years later. There Hartman attended Westchester High School and frequently acted as the class clown.

Early career

Working alone as a graphic artist, Hartman frequently amused himself with "flights of voice fantasies". Eventually he felt he needed a more social outlet and developed this talent by attending evening comedy classes. He joined the California-based improvisational comedy group The Groundlings in 1975 at the age of 27—while watching one of the troupe's performances, Hartman impulsively decided to climb on stage and join the cast. Hartman met comedian Paul Reubens and the two became friends, often collaborating on writing and comedic material. Together they created the character Pee-wee Herman and developed The Pee-wee Herman Show, a stage performance which also aired on HBO in 1981. Hartman played Captain Carl on The Pee-wee Herman Show and returned in the role for the children's show Pee-wee's Playhouse. Reubens and Hartman made cameos in the 1980 film Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Hartman co-wrote the script of the 1985 feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and had a cameo as a reporter. Although he had considered quitting acting at the age of 36 due to limited opportunities, the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure brought new possibilities and changed his mind. After a creative falling-out with Reubens, Hartman left the Pee-Wee Herman project to pursue other roles.

In addition to his work with Reubens, Hartman recorded a number of voice-over roles. These included appearances on The Smurfs, Challenge of the GoBots, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and voicing characters Henry Mitchell and George Wilson on Dennis the Menace. Additionally Hartman developed a strong persona providing voice-overs for advertisements.

Saturday Night Live

After appearing in the 1986 films Jumpin' Jack Flash and ¡Three Amigos!, Hartman joined the cast and writing staff of NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL). 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 different characters. These included Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Ed McMahon, Barbara Bush, Charlton Heston, Phil Donahue and Bill Clinton; the last was often considered his most well-known impression.

"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, an sic there was really no call for that. Except on Saturday Night Live."

—Hartman on his acting skills.

Hartman's original Saturday Night Live characters included Eugene, the Anal Retentive Chef and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. Hartman first performed his Clinton impression on an episode of The Tonight Show. When he met Clinton in 1993 Hartman remarked, "I guess I owe you a few apologies", adding later that he "sometimes felt a twinge of guilt about [his Clinton impression]". Clinton showed good humor and sent Hartman a signed photo with the text: "You're not the president, but you play one on TV. And you're OK, mostly. One of Hartman's more famous sketches as Clinton saw the president visit a McDonald's restaurant and explain his policies by eating other customers' food. The writers told him that he was not eating enough during rehearsals for the sketch – by the end of the live performance, Hartman had eaten so much he could barely speak.

Backstage at SNL, Hartman was called "the Glue", a name coined by Adam Sandler, according to Jay Mohr's book Gasping for Airtime. SNL creator Lorne Michaels explained the reason for the name: "He kind of held the show together. He gave to everybody and demanded very little. He was very low-maintenance. Hartman often helped other cast members. For example, he aided Jan Hooks in overcoming her stage fright. Michaels added that Hartman was "the least appreciated" cast member by commentators 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". Hartman was nominated for three Emmy Awards for his work on SNL, winning in 1989 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.

Death

On the evening of May 27, 1998, Brynn Hartman visited the Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo in Encino, California, with producer and writer Christine Zander, who said she was "in a good frame of mind". After returning to the couple's nearby home, Brynn started a “heated” argument with Hartman, who threatened to leave her if she started using drugs again, and went to bed. While Hartman slept, Brynn entered his bedroom shortly before 3 a.m. with a .38 caliber handgun and fatally shot him twice in the head and once in his side. She was intoxicated, and had recently taken cocaine.

Brynn drove to the home of her friend Ron Douglas and confessed to the killing but initially he did not believe her. The pair drove back to the house in separate cars after which Brynn called another friend and confessed a second time. Upon seeing Hartman's body, Douglas called 911 at 6:20 a.m. Police subsequently arrived and escorted Douglas and the Hartmans' two children from the premises, by which time Brynn had locked herself in the bedroom and committed suicide, shooting herself once in the head.

Los Angeles police stated Hartman's death was due to "domestic discord" between the couple. A friend recalled that Brynn allegedly “had trouble controlling her anger... She got attention by losing her temper. A neighbor of the Hartmans told a CNN reporter that the couple had been experiencing marital problems: “It's been building, but I didn't think it would lead to this. Steve Guttenberg commented that the pair was “a very happy couple, and they always had the appearance of being well-balanced”.

Other causes for the incident were later suggested. Before committing the act, Brynn was taking the antidepressant drug Zoloft. A wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in 1999 by Brynn's brother, Gregory Omdahl, against the drug's manufacturer, Pfizer, and her child's psychiatrist Arthur Sorosky, who provided samples of Zoloft to Brynn. Hartman's friend and former SNL colleague Jon Lovitz has accused Hartman's former NewsRadio co-star Andy Dick of re-introducing Brynn to cocaine, causing her to relapse and suffer a nervous breakdown. Dick claims to have known nothing of her condition. In 2006, Lovitz claimed that Dick had approached him at a restaurant and said, "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you; you're the next one to die. The following year at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles, Lovitz and Dick had a further altercation over the issue. Dick does not believe he is at fault in relation to Hartman's death.

Response and legacy

Hartman was widely mourned in Hollywood. NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer stated that Hartman "was blessed with a tremendous gift for creating characters that made people laugh. Everyone who had the pleasure of working with Phil knows that he was a man of tremendous warmth, a true professional and a loyal friend. Steve Guttenberg expressed his shock at Hartman's death, and Steve Martin said he was "a deeply funny and very happy person". Matt Groening called him "a master", while director Joe Dante said, "He was one of those guys who was a dream to work with. I don't know anybody who didn't like him. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly concluded that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper," and "a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with". In 2007 Entertainment Weekly ranked Hartman the eighty-seventh greatest television icon of all time, and Maxim named Hartman the top Saturday Night Live performer of all time.

Rehearsals for The Simpsons were canceled on the day of Hartman's death, as was that night's performance by The Groundlings. The season five premiere episode of NewsRadio, "Bill Moves On", finds Hartman's character, Bill McNeal, has died of a heart attack, while the other characters reminisced about his life. Jon Lovitz joined the show in his place from the following episode. A special episode of Saturday Night Live commemorating Hartman's work on the show aired on June 13, 1998. Rather than substituting another voice actor, the writers of The Simpsons retired Hartman's characters, and the season ten episode "Bart the Mother" (his final appearance on the show) was dedicated to him.