Monday, June 1, 1998
Beloved voices gone with loss of Hartman
ACTOR: ‘Saturday Night Live’ star was famous for his
impersonations
By Lonnie Harris
Daily Bruin Contributor
When Phil Hartman died Thursday morning of a gunshot wound in
his Encino home, 99 others died right along with him. Hartman had
proclaimed himself the "Man of 99 Voices" on the "Tonight Show"
several years back, after Jay Leno asked him just how many
different impersonations he could do. The voices ranged from Phil
Donahue to Ed McMahon to President Clinton.
"As an actor, I felt I couldn’t compete," Hartman once said. "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, and there was really no call for that. Except
on ‘Saturday Night Live.’"
His ability to blend perfectly into an accurate characterization
often beleaguered Hartman during his tenure on "SNL," where the
phrase "over-the-top" is an understatement. While colleagues
including Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and the late Chris Farley were
gaining national prominence for their outrageous characters,
Hartman sat on the sidelines and perfectly emulated Ronald Reagan
or Jack Nicholson. Hartman once complained, jokingly of course,
that he was never approached on the street by fans, probably
because so few knew what he actually looked like.
"I come from that Jonathan Winters sensibility, where I kind of
‘trip’ – I just go with it," Hartman told an interviewer in 1995.
"It’s transcendental, because I’ll go into a sketch and come out of
it and it’s like waking up from a dream. The more I get that
feeling, the happier I am."
Accordingly, Hartman was quite happy moving from "Saturday Night
Live" to doing other film and television work. He joined an
ensemble cast in the then new sitcom "NewsRadio," which just closed
its third season. He became the voice of several characters on "The
Simpsons," including Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. He starred in
many Hollywood films, including "Jingle All The Way," "House
Guest," and this summer’s upcoming "Small Soldiers."
But before Hollywood made Hartman a household name, he cut his
teeth with the Groundlings, a well-known Los Angeles Comedy Troupe
which spawned the careers of other notables, including Pee Wee
Herman and Steve Guttenberg.
In a statement released to the press Thursday afternoon, the
Groundlings said that Hartman "will be greatly missed, not only by
those of us who knew him personally, but also by the millions of
people who appreciated his remarkable talent."
The details of Hartman’s death are still sketchy, though police
believe that Hartman was shot by his wife, who then proceeded to
kill herself. No further explanation was provided. Hartman’s two
children, ages 9 and 6 were found by police at Hartman’s Encino
home Thursday morning upset but physically unharmed.
The Associated Press
Actor Phil Hartman was found shot to death in his home
Thursday.