Hi, I’m Troy McClure!
I do in fact remember him from enormous numbers of movies. And TV shows. And of course scads and scads of Saturday Night Live sketches. He was wonderful on NewsRadio, of course, which was basically going to be his vehicle to stardom. I was heartbroken when he died but still couldn’t stop myself thinking, “Andre the Giant, We Hardly Knew Ye!” Though I think he kind of would’ve been okay with that. He was so damned iconic and so memorable and just vanished into so many roles that he has to have been proud of his talent.
He was one of eight children of a large Catholic family, one of the many gifts Canada has given us over the years. (You may know other natives of Brantford, Ontario, such as Jay Silverheels and Wayne Gretzky!) The family immigrated in the late ‘50s, when young Hartmann (as he was originally) was about ten. He became a graphic artist, designing some forty album covers over the years. He joined the Groundlings, where he became friends with Jon Lovitz and Paul Reubens. (He helped develop Pee-wee Herman!) And, in 1986, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.
For eight seasons, he was the glue that held the cast together. Genuinely, I don’t know a single person who has a “Phil Hartman was a jerk” story. Everyone loved him, and everyone thought he was funny. Sassy, you might say. He did great impersonations, goodness knows; his Frank Sinatra is iconic for a reason. He helped Jan Hooks get over her stagefright. He was the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. Choosing just one SNL character would be impossible, which is why I didn’t even try. How could you pick between Bill Clinton eating people’s McDonald’s food or the robot who does repairs?
He did 52 episodes of The Simpsons. Let that sink in; the man died in 1998 and still did 52 episodes. If you’re not singing that you hate every ape you see, from chimpan-a to chimpanzee or offering me your penknife, I’m not sure we can be friends. He apparently said his favourite fans were Troy McClure fans, so that’s nice. He was also Lionel Hutz. He was Lanley—Lyle Lanley. He was Clinton again. He was a few other characters over the course of the series. He was the first choice to be Zapp Branigan on Futurama, too, and Philip J. Fry was named after him.
And, yeah, there’s the other stuff. I still cry laughing at the look he gives Mike Myers in So I Married an Axe Murderer. Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service—I know not everyone likes a dubbed anime, but come on, it’s Phil Hartman as a sassy cat. Bill McNeal, who’s an article all to himself. He was fantastic. Jon Lovitz allegedly punched Andy Dick on the set of NewsRadio for his indirect role in Hartman’s death, and who among us wouldn’t take the chance if we had it?
If you are half as nice as Phil Hartman was, maybe you’ll consider contributing to my Patreon or Ko-fi!
