CAUSE OF DEATH: Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble has passed away

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble has passed away.

Law enforcement was called to Hardwick’s Texas home Tuesday for a welfare check and discovered his body. According to TMZ, Johnny was pronounced dead at the scene and there was no foul play suspected. The cause of his death is still unknown.

King of the Hill, created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, is set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, and follows the life of Hank Hill (Judge), wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) and teenaged son Bobby (Pamela Adlon). Other voice actors on the series are Stephen Root, Lauren Tom and Ashley Gardner.

Born John Michael Hardwick in Austin, the actor got his start in local stand-up comedy in 1990. He’d eventually make appearances on The Jon Stewart Show and at L.A.’s The Laugh Factory and the Montreal Comedy Festival.

Hardwick was credited as a producer and writer of King of the Hill during the early Fox seasons. He was Emmy-nominated with the show as a supervising producer in 2001 and 2002, and shared the Emmy as a producer in 1999 when King of the Hill was named Outstanding Animated Program.

But most fondly remember Johnny from later in his career as his character on the animated sitcom “King of the Hill,” a 13-season long animated show. His character Dale was an exterminator, smoker, gun fanatic, and conspiracy-theorist and best friend of the show’s lead Hank. Johnny’s voice was used in 258 episodes of the hit series which ended in 2010.

Born in Austin, Texas Johnny graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with a degree in journalism. After he graduated, he worked as a bartender in blues bars until he rose to fame as a stand-up comedian when he landed his first set on “The Jon Stewart Show.”

Since the original run of King of the Hill ended, Hardwick had launched his own popular YouTube channel.

The Hulu revival from 20th Television Animation was announced last January, with Judge and Daniels returning to exec produce. Saladin Patterson will join the production as an executive producer and showrunner.