For instance, today I learned that Phil Hartman was Canadian, born on this day in 1948, although his family moved to the US when he was 9. He was fluent in German, which always impresses me, mainly because it's my least favourite language; I have to admire the intestinal fortitude of anyone who dares to speak it. He was also a graphic designer who created the iconic line drawing of a running horse on the Poco album Legend.Phil Hartman has long been my favourite cast member from Saturday Night Live; on a show renowned for the talent and variety of its performers, Hartman was clearly the most talented, the most varied of them all. Whether doing an impersonation (Reagan, Sinatra, Clinton) or a character of his own (the recurring Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, the one-off - and my personal favourite - Suzan, or a score of others) his commitment and focus were admirable. When he left after eight seasons his tenure was then the longest of any cast member to date.
Hartman's considerable gifts were also well-used on The Simpsons, where he memorably voiced both Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. He played Captain Carl on Pee-wee's Playhouse. He added to the pool of talent on Newsradio and made a couple of brilliant appearances on 3rd Rock from the Sun; a cliffhanger on that show had to be re-written to accommodate his untimely death.
In May 1998 his evil bitch of a wife murdered him before killing herself (at the time she was also drunk, coked off her tits, and taking Zoloft); she's now burning in Hell, the world has been deprived of his many gifts, their children are orphans, and as you can tell I'm still bitter.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment