Brynn Hartman

He was the fourth of eight children of Doris Marguerite (née Wardell; July 17, 1919 – April 15, 2001) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann (November 8, 1914 – April 30, 1998), who sold building materials.

The family was Catholic.

As a child, Hartman found affection hard to earn: "I suppose I didn't get what I wanted out of my family life, so I started seeking love and attention elsewhere."

Hartman was ten years old when his family moved to the United States.

They first lived in Lewiston, Maine, then Meriden, Connecticut, and then on the West Coast, where he attended Westchester High School and frequently acted as the class clown.

Philip Edward Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and graphic designer.

Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States when he was ten years old.

After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands including Poco and America.

Phil Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann (later dropping one "n") on September 24, 1948, in Brantford, Ontario.

After graduating, he studied art at Santa Monica City College, dropping out in 1969 to become a roadie with a rock band.

In the late 1970s, he made his first television appearance on an episode of The Dating Game, where he won.

Working alone as a graphic artist, Hartman frequently amused himself with "flights of voice fantasies".

He returned to school in 1972 to study graphic arts at California State University, Northridge.

He developed and operated his own graphic art business, creating more than 40 album covers for bands including Poco and America, as well as advertising and the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash.

In 1975, Hartman joined the comedy group the Groundlings, where he helped Paul Reubens develop his character, Pee-wee Herman.

Hartman co-wrote the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances as Captain Carl on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse.

In 1975, seeking a more social outlet for his talents, he began attending evening comedy classes by the California-based improvisational comedy group The Groundlings.

While watching one of their performances, he impulsively decided to climb on stage and join the cast.

His first onscreen appearance was in 1978's Stunt Rock, an Australian film directed in Los Angeles by Brian Trenchard-Smith.

After several years of training, paying his way by redesigning the group's logo and merchandise, Hartman formally joined The Groundlings and by 1979 was one of the show's stars.

There Hartman befriended Paul Reubens, with whom he often collaborated on comedic material.

Reubens and Hartman made cameos in the 1980 film Cheech and Chong's Next Movie.

Together they created the character Pee-wee Herman and developed The Pee-wee Herman Show, a live stage show that subsequently aired on HBO in 1981.

Hartman played Captain Carl in the show, and reprised the role for the children's TV show Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Hartman co-wrote the script of the 1985 feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and had a cameo role as a reporter.

He had considered quitting acting at the age of 36 due to the challenges of finding work; but the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure changed his mind.

After a creative disagreement with Reubens, he left the Pee-Wee Herman project to pursue other roles.

In 1986, Hartman joined the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a cast member, and stayed for eight seasons until 1994.

Hartman took more small roles in 1986 films such as Jumpin' Jack Flash and Three Amigos.

He also worked as a voice actor in animated television programs, including The Smurfs, Challenge of the GoBots, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and in Dennis the Menace as Henry Mitchell and George Wilson and most of the adult male characters.

After season 1, Hartman (who by this point had joined the cast of Saturday Night Live) was replaced by Maurice LaMarche.

He developed a strong persona providing voice-overs for advertisements.

After two divorces, Hartman married Brynn Omdahl in 1987, with whom he had two children.

However, their marriage was troubled due to Phil's busy work schedule and Brynn's drug and alcohol abuse.

Nicknamed "Glue" for his ability to hold the show together and help other cast members, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his SNL work in 1989.

He also starred as Bill McNeal in the sitcom NewsRadio, voiced Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on The Simpsons, and appeared in supporting roles in the films Houseguest, Sgt. Bilko, Jingle All the Way, and Small Soldiers.

In 1998, while Phil was sleeping in his bed, Brynn shot and killed him, and later killed herself.

In the weeks following his murder, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes.

Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly wrote 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".

He was posthumously inducted into the Canada and Hollywood Walks of Fame in 2012 and 2014.