About Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (né Hartmann; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian and American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, 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. 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 1986, Hartman joined the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a cast member and stayed for eight seasons. 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. After leaving SNL in 1994, Hartman starred as Bill McNeal in the sitcom NewsRadio. He also voiced Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on The Simpsons, and appeared in the films Houseguest (1995), Sgt. Bilko (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), and Small Soldiers (1998). After two divorces, Hartman married Brynn Omdahl in 1987, with whom he had two children. Their marriage was troubled due to his busy work schedule and her substance abuse and domestic violence. In 1998, while Phil was sleeping, Brynn shot and killed him, and later killed herself. He was posthumously inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2012 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014. In the late 1970s, he made his first television appearance on an episode of The Dating Game, where he won. His first onscreen appearance was in 1978's Stunt Rock, an Australian film directed in Los Angeles by Brian Trenchard-Smith.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.